tara’s christmas table

The key to creating a beach inspired table is to keep things fresh and simple with a scattering of shells. Work with a few basics and supplement with what you already have.

I used:

White table cloth
Coral (real or ceramic )
Glass fish bowl
Assorted shells and starfish
Pearl White and silver bauble ornaments
Candles
Napkins
Chargers or placemats

 

 

 
Napkins

I made ours this year by cutting squares of natural linen and then frayed them around the edges.  I used my sewing machine to prevent further fraying but a hand stitch would work too.  For a decorative touch I drew scallop shells on each then hand stitched with white tapestry thread.  I love the look and much prefer to use cloth napkins over paper.

Bauble bowl

If you hunt around your local discount shops you can easily find glass fish bowls like this one and fairly inexpensively too.  These are one of my favourite styles of vases  for flowers and all sorts of displays. I filled the base of mine with white shells.  You can buy these from those beachy shops, otherwise use dry sand or small pebbles which you can buy in bags from hardware stores.  I added some large pearly white and silver baubles as well as shells and starfish.  A liitle tip about scallop shells – save and clean those from the scallops you buy at the fish shops.  The scallops are delicious and the shells are lovely too

Starfish

I simply brushed mine with a little PVA glue then sprinkled over some white glitter for a festive touch

Glass tags

Help your guests know which glass is theirs by threading some beds on to wire.  Create a different look for each glass then loop over to secure