Friday is our playgroup’s annual Christmas/Holiday potluck luncheon. Being that I am not the world’s greatest cook I volunteered to help decorate the kids table. Well, one of them. We have 12 kids under the age of four dining on two tables. I’ve teamed up with another playgroup mom to make simple, inexpensive decorations and place settings that can easily be adapted to your own holiday kids’ table.
Here’s what we are planning:
Baking Sheet Placemats. I’m not talking Emeril quality cookware–I got a dozen standard baking sheets at the dollar store for less than $15. I then picked up a bag of magnetic letters ($1) and will be spelling out each child’s name at the top of the sheet—viola—instant personalized placemat–and great crumb catcher. I will also be putting the extra letters, numbers, and other animal shape magnets in a plastic snowman bowl in the middle of the table so the kids can embellish their own placemats while they wait to be served.
Hair Band Napkin Holders (for girls)/Snake Napkin Holders for Boys—In lieu of paper napkins our party’s hostess wants the kids to use her candy cane covered linen napkins (brave woman). The party’s theme is “A Trip Down Candy Cane Lane.” (Have I mentioned how creative this mom is?) The napkins match the plates and bowls… so we’re going with it. Anyway, I am planning to secure the napkins with festive hair accessories for the girls. I picked up a package each of angel and candy cane ponytail holders and snowmen clips (less than $5) that will add a cute touch to the red-and-white colored napkins. For the boys I couldn’t find anything festive so I bought a bunch of rubber toy snakes and plan to tie them around their napkins.
Candy Cane Seat Hooks. Since we are going with a candy cane theme we also picked up a dozen plastic candy canes (They’re 99 cents each at Wal-Mart). Each candy cane measures about 2.5-feet and will be attached to the childrens’ chairs. The intent is that each child will now have a festive place to hang his or her coat instead of throwing it on the back of the chair. Besides, the candy canes fit the party’s theme perfectly, they are cute and were very inexpensive. Hopefully, they won’t turn into weapons by the end of the party.
Edible Centerpieces. My decorating partner (and much better baker) is planning to create two Gingerbread Houses as centerpieces for each kids’ table. To accentuate each house we are planning to place (wrapped) candy canes in mini vases and place them down the center of the table.
We’ll go over the night before to decorate the tables… and take pictures PRIOR to the arrival of the “Dirty Dozen.”
Related Articles:
Decorating Tips For Your Holiday Table
Decorating Tips For The Children’s Thanksgiving Table
A Thanksgiving Surprise… And A Chocolaty Product Review All In One