In early December, we found ourselves in a quandary ~ we love Christmas, we love decorating for the holidays, we love things that sparkle, and we love sleep. In a house with young children, it's hard to have all of those things, but we were on a mission to create a pretty dining room for the holidays without busting the budget or sacrificing the little sleep that we are getting.

So, this week we are featuring a Christmas tablescape that is both easy to assemble and adaptable to suit an intimate dinner or a large gathering. Whether you are hosting your immediate family or the extended relations, this centerpiece will be sure to set the stage for a festive meal without overpowering conversation. And honestly, taking back the dining room from the Clutter Monster fueled by projects, mail, and pieces of Thomas the Tank Engine made us feel like it really was Christmas ~ for the grown-ups as well as for the kids.

One of the blessings and curses of our dining room is that it is splashed by strong sunlight in the morning, yet it is relatively dark by afternoon. So, we wanted a design that would look great in varying levels of natural light and when lit only by candles. Glitter Pine Sprays and gold diamond wrap added the sparkle that we were after, and they worked equally well in daylight and in candlelight.

We started with a basic table runner (2nd photo) ~ made by stacking two Red Chair Bows and a layer of gold diamond wrap. We added glitter pine sprays and re acrylic garlands coming from both ends of the table to complete the basic runner.

In the middle (3rd photo), we placed three hurricane globes (that we already had!) filled with pine cones and Red Tulle. We cut up another glitter pine spray and added a large piece to each hurricane globe, too. The center hurricane globe also has a twist of red acrylic beads, and the outer globes' bases are encircled by strips of diamond wrap. Tealights in Hanging Glass Candle Holders are suspended from two ornament stands between the hurricane globes.

In the 4th photo, a closeup of the table runner shows the sparkle of the glitter pine sprays and the bling wrap with the red beads as an accent. As a side note, all of these pieces stand up to repeated use, so if you're like us and love to cross things off the to do list, you can easily label a box with the contents and put this centerpiece out every year. If you like to change things up each year, these elements can be reused in new designs, too.

In the last photo, for each place setting, we used a piece of diamond wrap and a hanging glass globe with a tealight. The glass globes would easily accommodate sprigs of pine (or mistletoe for the mischievous), pine cones or place cards in lieu of Tea Lights. Given our toddler's fascination with lit candles, these options seem like good ones for the future, but you can't beat the candles for scent and, when mixed liberally with three-year-old, for excitement.

We've gotten lots of compliments on our dining room this year ~ more than enough to justify Operation Take Back The Table ~ and we can occasionally be found gazing into the dining room, which is (by far) the most festive room in the house, feeling pretty happy about how it turned out. We wish you a merry Christmas with your loved ones, and may all of your tables be bedazzled. We would love to see how you decorate for the holidays.