I love the Christmas Vacation movie – it is the best Christmas movie ever. It is festive, funny, traditional and the characters act great together. Two of them alyways remind me of family members. I can laugh so much over and over.
Clark Griswold wants to have the perfect Christmas festivity but however you will call it life comes in his way. This many people in one house during the holidays and chaos is going to happen.
Nevertheless I think the decor trends have all come back the last two years under the nostalgia theme.
How to decorate your home like the Griswolds did for Family Christmas…
– lots of lights outside plus the Santa and Reindeer figurines on the lawn
– a nostalgic advent calendar filled with pictures
– wodden pyramid
– authentic elk eggnog mugs
– Christmas tree decor – Popcorn garlands and muliticolor stringlights and lots of tinsel, few nonmatching ornaments like gingerbread men and snowflakes and DIY ornaments
– lots of real poinsettias throughout the whole home (be cautious cause they are poisonous for children and pets)
– needlepoint stockings and a garland above the fire place
I just love a charcuterie board. It is like a huge board full of girl dinner options and who wouldn´t want that. Lots of different foods to try and then move on straight to the next. The size of the board I made here served 4 adults and 2 toddler easily. We also had leftovers for the next day. It would also make a great board as a starter if you are serving a big group or even a main course for like a girl´s night in.
How to make a Charcuterie Board
A good charcuterie board is like a great layered outfit. It is perfect when every component fits together nicely. I always start with a centerpiece like the camembert here and work my way around. Big and heavy things like the wine leaves filled with rice go on the edge cause they won´t slip from your board as well as any kind of cheese / rolls and bread or sausage like the peperoni flowers (super easy to make with a champagne glass) I made. Little bowls for super round or tiny ingredients as well as dips are also always welcome. Place them on the edges and if you are unsure use a power strip (my solution for almost anything that should not move).
Foods to add to your Charcuterie Board
Meats and Sausages
Anything smoked works great like peperoni or parma ham. You can put up some roast beef if you like or some pulled meat. I have found those cute heart shaped (also available in pretzel shape) peperoni which were a total hit. As for sausage I´d say maybe some little party sausages, nothing to big.
Cheese
Cheese in my opinion is definitely mandatory but you can choose whatever you like. Sliced cheese may not be your best option here cause you can´t position it nicely but anything else will work just fine. A big piece of camembert as center piece and I have also found these flower like shape tete-des-moins pieces at our local supermarket.
Dips
Dips are really optional, I did a tomato-mozzarella dip here but I´d always go with some mustard that fits very well with the cheese and sausage and also a small jam. Cherry works great with cheese and meat/sausage. The mustard I have here is paired with fig and radish. A little sweet and a little hot.
Vegetables
When I am talking about vegetables for a charcuterie board I am not talking about cucumbers or brokkoli. I am talking about cream cheese filled peppers or dried tomatoes or some little cherry tomatoes. You also can´t go wrong with filled mushrooms. One vegetable I will always rely on filled or not are olives. Olives are the MVP in my kitchen. Fit in salads, fit in pasta sauces and are also delicious with only a slice of bread. Go for the Italian antipasti vegetable kind here. But check that there are not to oily or the other foods around your vegetable will get soggy too.
Fruit
Not every fruit works great here. It should be something with a citurs flavor or a zesty taste to balance out the sausage and the cheese. Also don´t use fruit that´s super moist like watermelon or pears. Eventually your whole board gets soggy.
Raspberry, blackberry, currant or blueberry is a great filler cause it fits flawlessly in any kind of gap you have left on your board and they are complementing the other foods very well plus they are dry fruits.
Any kind of dried fruits work great as well and I also often use Physalis or pommegranate seeds.
Misc
Something crunchy of course like crackers. Nuts also always work as a filler. I added pistachios but you could also use a trail mix or a different kind of nut. Bread or little rolls are also great to put onto the edges of your board or you serve them seperately in a basket or on a cake stand like I did.
We are in the final week of rounding-up all of my Fall posts so here we go with one last autumnal table scape for our Friendsgiving dinner next week. It is very pumpkin inspired. I just love a pumpkin. I don´t know if it is the vibrant color, the shape or the season they are in cause Fall is the best of all.
Pumpkin inspired Table Scape
I love to layer different plates and colors cause it creates interest. I started with the tablecloth. I just love orange for Fall. It is such a happy and vibrant color. To break the huge gingham pattern I topped it of with a green tablecloth in the middle. I didn´t have a centerpiece so I added some candles and little pumpkins and the most gorgeous flowers.
As far as place settings go I started with a burnt orange place mat and then the big plate followed, then the napkin with the pretty embroidered pumpkin and the pumpkin shaped small plate.
I like to offer two plates cause guests can have some bread and butter on the small plate and enjoy the main course on the big one. A little silverware (although it was golden) and a two glasses, for water and champagne and we are good to go.
Oh how I love to create seasonal table settings.
pumpkin napkins are from H&M / you can shop the exact plate here
Nostalgic or Vintage Christmas decor is going to be one of the hottest decor trends of the upcoming season. I have seen it pop up everywhere and everyone raves about it, but what is it and how to decorate?!
Well if we think about nostalgia it is always something from the past and it is the same here. So if you have a grandma who still has her Christmas decor from 30 or 40 years ago down in her basement or in the attic you are heading into the right direction. Everyone else like me has to browse the internet to find some treasures on etsy or hope to make a gorgeous find at a fleamarket or an estate sale. The third option would be to go online and buy some new but old looking pieces. This will most likely be all of us.
There are millions of pieces to choose from so I am going to break down what´s really counting as nostalgic and what not. There haven´t been nude or beige or brown or minimalistic tree decor. A tree has to be so full with ornaments, tinsel and colorful lights that no branch is free. The more the merrier!!!
A great example for some nostalgic Christmas decor is the movie Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. My number one Christmas movie and the perfect source to gather some inspiration. The Christmas tree is full of different and colorful ornaments and popcorn garlands. They have a wooden pyramid in the living room and the reindeer mugs for the eggnog. You can also find needlepoint stockings and Santa mugs.
Decor Items I have found to be fitting for the theme
Letter Boxes
Santa figurines
Colorful bright ornaments (especially turquoise and pink)
Bottle brush trees
Tinsel trees
Christmas themed ceramic jars
Nutcracker
Christmas village set-ups
Vintage Christmas trees
Multicolored lights or bulbs
Santa mugs
Christmas train
Colorful beaded garlands (I remember my grandma had tons of these hanging on her tree) or popcorn garlands
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