My DIY Centerpiece

We are hosting Christmas dinner at our house for the first time ever this year, and while I was decorating, I couldn't find anything I liked in my decorations that would work well for a centerpiece. While are only hosting my brother, his wife, and their daughter on Christmas day, Nate and I both wanted something festive on our table that we could enjoy all season. So, along came Pinterest. I love that site for so many reasons, not the least of which is for decorating ideas. I found this picture and thought it would be perfect!

Link credit here.

I was so excited and had everything I needed except for the vase, but I showed this picture to Nate. He was less than impressed. "It doesn't look very Christmas-y," he said. Granted, I knew he looks at a picture and sees...exactly what is in the picture. I look at it and see the possibilities or how I would do it differently. I am the artsy-crafty one and can visualize it with our silver platter, our ornaments, and on our table. Nate, not so much. He was obviously reacting to the colors, and since they are not red and green, they are not Christmas-y. ;o)

Anyway, I had already decided that in order to keep our living space in our apartment from looking totally tacky, it was going to have to have a consistent color scheme. I decided to keep the traditional colors red and green (keeps the husband happy), add silver, and use those elements all throughout our living room/dining room area.

If you haven't read or heard much about us lately, you might not know, but we are on a tight budget (which sounds awful, but we love it). This means I don't have much extra to just go out and
buy decorations for Christmas. The only thing I had to buy for this centerpiece was the vase, the silver ribbon, and the green ornaments. Not too shabby! Without further ado, our centerpiece.

My pictures aren't as awesome as the original, probably because I took it right before the sun went down this evening and not earlier in the day, like I should have. Oh well. Hopefully you get the idea.

Elements of the centerpiece:
Green Table Runner - Dollar Tree - $1 (I need to iron it still, obviously. Pretend it's not wrinkled. ;o) )
Silver Platter - already had - I think this is a "Mom Find"
White Pillar Candle - already had - Mom Find (I used homemade mod podge, salt, and fake snow to make it sparkly. It turned out awesomely!)
Square (actually rectangular) Vase - Target - ~$10
Red & Green Ornaments - Dollar Tree - a tube of 12 for $1
Silver Ornaments - IKEA - Mom found them at Goodwill, I think for really cheap. I have two small boxes of them and there are enough to cover our whole tree and then some. I love them, and so does Nate.
Salt & Pepper shakers are just a part of my Pfaltzgraff dishes set
Fake snow (the kind you sprinkle) - Meijer last Christmas - IDK how much it cost
Silver Ribbon - Hobby Lobby - $2.50 (It was half price in the floral section and not in with the Christmas decorations. I have used it A TON. I was going to get more yesterday since I almost ran out; but, the sale had ended, and it was back to full price. Yuck.)

A few extra notes:
• I like that in the original picture, it looks like they used ribbon for the table runner. It looks nice but is so not practical for all month in my house. Plus, you can't really beat a table runner for $1.
• I also found a how-to on making the bow since I've never attempted something like that before. My grandmother is good at things like that, though, and she would be so proud!

My very favorite thing about this centerpiece is that it is pretty to look at but also very low profile, meaning you can actually see the people across the table from you, which is a rare quality in a centerpiece for those of us who are short! Also, Nate loves how it turned out, too. Hope y'all enjoy seeing it!