Welcome to our home. I invite you in to
share our Christmas Eve celebration.
For those who have been following
Purple Chocolat Home
for a while, you know that our family
is growing and that I love to have them
all together in the living room for big
meals. We lovingly call it the Great Hall.
We move the furniture out and set up our
big parties here.
Christmas Eve is a formal event, and so the tables
are formal. Tonight we used one eight foot table
for the adults,
and one six foot with multiple heights,
for the children. The first time we used the
short table with child sized Chiavari chairs,
the kids were so excited. They love their own
table.
The white Chiavari chairs are great because
they stack so neatly in the basement.
The inspiration for our table this year comes
from my new salad/dessert plates by Noritake.
As soon as I saw them I was smitten. They have a
raised effect on the ornaments. They come with a silver
or gold rim. I chose the silver.
I didn't realize until I received them, that they
also had pale aqua on them, notice the bow at
the bottom of the tree, so I decided to create
a stack with a sparkling gold charger and pale
aqua plates that I already had.
Gold flatware and aqua stemware were added to
complete the placesetting.
I created floral centerpieces for both tables.
I love the use of fresh flowers on the tables.
It makes the tables extra special.
My flowers were all purchased from Costco.
The tables had white tablecloths with fur runners
going down the center.
You can see the Christmas tree tucked into
the corner of the living room.
I just love how the table turned out this year.'
I used these Willow Chair covers that I
already had. They really add to the table to
make it special.
My aqua goblets with the twisted clear stems
were purchased in Cabo.
My favorite part of decorating for Christmas Eve
is creating a surprise and hearing everyone's
comments, so their wrapped pajamas
decorated the staircase.
There were lots of oohs and aahs for the staircase
and the tables. Even my sons commented on
how beautiful the plates were - now that is something!
Before we begin, we always take everyone's picture.
With 23 of us, it is always a big undertaking, but
this year I heard more compliments than I usually do,
and that makes it worth it.
The menu has been the same for years,
King Crab, tenderloin, arugula salad,
and sourdough bread, along with
artichokes for appetizers and
sparkling cider.
Then comes the fun of pajamas!
Grandma requires photos before we
open a few gifts. Most gifts are Christmas
morning, but we have some exciting gifts
Christmas Eve so they don't get lost in the gifts
of the morning.
And this year, we had a new special angel, only
ten days old. That was the best gift of all!
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
Thanks for taking time to visit our family here.
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