Plaid Tidings

We are going to my home state of Florida this year  for Christmas and  I really wanted to get a jump on  Christmas decorations so we could enjoy them before we leave.    

Saturday I went into the attic (recently organized with the help of my son) to get  the dining room tree and managed to get it up and decorated.    I think this is the earliest I've had a tree up.  What a joy it was to go into the attic and find the exact things I was looking for!  My resolution now that I'm retired is to be way more organized!   

I removed my Thanksgiving tablecloth and decided rather than coming up with a completely new  tablescape I would use some of the same basic elements from that table for a Christmas table.

Collecting has been fun over the years and now that I have many seasonal dishes and tablecloths it is easy to just change a few things for a whole new look.

I started with a red tablecloth and 

 used the same lantern, candlesticks,

greenery, topiaries and brass chargers that were on my Thanksgiving table. 

I removed the turkey and replaced him with a sweet little bird to go along with my cardinal dishes.

I switched out the candles for Santas that I found at a thrift store for 50 cents!  I just added a Christmas candle ring where the amber ones had been.

I needed something to replace the oranges and I found a pine cone garland in my stash.

I added a few plaid ribbons to the topiaries for extra color.

The dishes were found at an antique store and were less than $10 for all four.  They are from Cracker Barrel and I love red cardinals and holly.

The brass chargers were from an estate sale and the twig chargers from one of my favorite stores..Pier One.  

The plaid placemats were on sale as well for 50% off and the tablecloth came from a thrift store.  I really didn't spend  a lot on this table since almost everything was on sale or second hand!

I'm linking with 

Metamorphosis Monday

Marty's Tabletop Tuesdays

Kathleen's Let Dish

Tablescape Thursdays