holiday dinner party

I have learned that holiday parties, and dinner parties in general, while a lot of work, are so much fun. I guess I am going to have to make this a thing. I wanted to keep my decorations simple, and to use mostly materials that I already had to keep the cost as minimal as possible. I also didn't want to purchase a lot of expensive stuff that could only be used for one month out of the year. I made a bunch of white paper chains and also red pom pom garlands and then just looped them around the living room and also throughout the entry hallway. I attached all my white twinkle lights together as well to outline the bay windows in the living room. (It was surprisingly difficult to photograph the window decorations!)

For the dinner party I made a tablecloth out of a few yards of red floral fabric (also found while cleaning out my parents house) and used the dishes I painted almost a year ago (more on that here) my rediscovered vintage silverware and some white linen napkins I sewed up real quick while I was making the tablecloth. I tied the napkins with some red and white twine and added a clementine to each setting (It was fun to pick out all the one with pretty leaves at the store though it did earn me some odd looks). The centerpiece was just some tea candles in mason jars and folded paper gemstones. 

Since I wanted my guests to be able to chose where they sat, but I still like personalizing things, I decided to make little named tags for the wine glasses which I set out on the bar. This actually proved very helpful in not getting the wine mixed up!

The appetizers were set out on trays painted with chalkboard paint and. There were prosciutto cups filled with pear and goat cheese, and crostini topped with zucchini pesto, or hummus and roasted peppers. I was a bit nervous to be doing so many new to me recipes of this party but they all turned out to be excellent so I guess my gamble paid off.

That picture of the appitizer trays snapped with my phone no less was the last I managed to take before guests arrived and we were busy making cocktails, pouring wine, catching up and of course finishing up all the cooking. Dinner was a delicous success though and everyone had a good time. I managed to get one quick picture of the dessert because my co-host and co-chef made it so beautiful (apple tart with maple glaze). I was very proud of us for managing to pull this off. We did have the oven on from 3pm until about 7 and at one point every surface of my tiny kitchen was covered and we had at least four open sticks of butter (!!!) but it was so satisfying to make such a nice sit down dinner for friends. It was just sad I couldn't invite more people due to the limitations of my tiny table (I guess I will just have to start looking into (making?) a bigger one?!