Let’s Create a Simple Winter Table for a Casual Dinner Party

Let’s create a simple winter table for a casual dinner party post-Christmas and New Year’s. I’m thinking of a cozy night with minimal decorations after all the Christmas decor and holiday season. 

Back with Sunday favorites, along with Cindy and Mary Ann. We also posted about design trends this week. You can find that post here.

But first, let me show you how I decorated the table for a small gathering

I want to use what I have mixed with something foraged or maybe a trip to Trader Joe’s, but nothing too fancy. The vibe is cozy and lots of hygge. Remember when that word was so popular? I don’t hear a lot of people talking about it anymore, but it’s really more of a feeling, and hygge is definitely what we are going for with these winter centerpieces. 

I’m using old bottles and these wine bottle toppers from Amazon. They work with any taper candle and fit inside every bottle I tried. They hold a candle just as a regular candle holder with no chance of tipping over. You could put the candles directly into the bottle, but there is a chance they wouldn’t fit properly, and there is the concern of wax dripping.

In each bottle, I dropped in a few foraged winter beach finds. I also added them to small vintage pitchers and a vase from France. I used the vintage cheese molds with votives for even more candlelight. I arranged it on this farmtable wood serving plank down the center of the table.

Repurposed Bottles & Foraged Flowers

I love to use garden flowers whenever I can, but living in Connecticut makes it a little hard to use garden flowers in January unless you use foraged dried flowers. 

Over the holidays, we went on a family beach walk, and I came home with a small bundle of dried flowers and put them in a vase. Over the next few days, I kept thinking how pretty they were in their current state. 

Gather your flowers, grasses, and seed pods.

The variety I found on a short walk in winter is amazing. I love the dried flowers’ earthy brown and black colors mixed in with the vintage pottery.

You could buy eucalyptus or tiny roses if you didn’t want to use foraged flowers and seed pods. But since this was for a small get-together just before we left for Portugal, using dried flowers and seed pods worked out beautifully.

Other Sunday Favorite Finds

Have you had a Pastel de Nada, the Portuguese custard treat?

We are traveling in Lisbon and enjoying our fair share of the pastel de nada pastry. I found this recipe from All Recipes and can’t wait to try it next week. Have you tried this delicious treat? Don’t tell anyone, but I may even love it more than a pain au chocolate.

A Black Jumpsuit from Garnet Hill

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen the black Prato jumpsuit from Garnet Hill. It’s the perfect piece for travel. It’s very soft, with a hint of stretch, doesn’t wrinkle, and folds small.

The perfect T-shirt does exist, and it’s from a brand you know well!

Madeline was telling me that Hanes has undergone a rebrand. I have always loved the Hanes Beefy-T Adult Pocket T-Shirt. It has the perfect neck to show when wearing a crew neck sweater. And they are only $14!

Cozy Grip Compression Socks

I am a huge fan of always wearing compression socks—even the no-show compression socks with Sambas. I have been loving wearing compression knee socks all day when I am home, and this pair is perfect if you have wood stairs without runners!

Have you made the switch to compression socks? Comrad is my favorite brand of socks! Use my link to get 25% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER!

Let’s check in with Mary Ann and Cindy to see what they found this week.

Classic Casual Home

Cindy Hattersley Design