Simple Centerpiece

My coffee table needed a little dressing up for the Christmas season so dress it up I did. It started off with what should have been a quick runner. How hard is it to cut a giant, skinny rectangle and sew some seams? Well, that day it was hard. For whatever reason I had decided to buy yards and yards of a cranberry colored faux velvet at Joann's several Christmases ago during a 75% off blitz. (Oh, wait...75% off...there's the reason.) I started by hacking off a section long enough for my coffee table. From there I just had to move on to more precise cutting. Folding multiple layers of a long piece of fabric to fit my cutting mat never works. It ended up being more narrow at places in the middle even though I'd very carefully lined everything up. It really looked as if I'd had too much Christmas cheer prior to attempting the cutting. On this rare occasion I tossed perfection aside. I trimmed a bit and hemmed a lot and threw it on the coffee table. It worked. Step one down.

Now for the centerpiece, a very simple layering of items from around the house. I started with a silver tray. Since it's the holidays I decided to dust and polish mine but that step is really optional. I then added a trifle bowl lined with left over pieces from cedar boughs and dropped in a potted poinsettia. To top it all off I added ornaments that were leftover from the tree decorating. Easy and elegant!