Victorian Christmas Place Setting

Hello, friends!

Just ten days until Christmas! I’m done shopping, decorating, and baking. But I’m not ready for Christmas to end, so I am savoring these last few weeks of lights, ribbon and bows, evergreen branches, and Christmas music.

Today is Tabletop Tuesday, and I am sharing a place setting we used this past weekend while hosting some guests for brunch. If these plates look familiar to you, that’s because I recently found them on Thrifty Thursday. Thrifty Thursday is something fun I do over on Instagram. Usually I show things I find while thrift shopping, and my followers let me know if they’d purchase it or not, or sometimes they guess the price. (Join us, HERE!)

I picked these plates up at a local thrift store for $1.21 a piece. They are made in England by Johnson Brothers, and the pattern is called “Victorian Christmas.” This pattern was produced in the 1990s, and I used them with a 90s style Christmas tablecloth that I picked up years ago from an estate sale. If you haven’t noticed from the fashion trends, many 90s style decor and clothing items are making a comeback.

This set is circa early 1990s, and it was made in England. This pattern is still produced, however currently in China.

Keeping with the thrifted theme, these crystal Longchamp D’Arques glasses were second hand as well. Even my gold colored flatware set was an estate sale find.

Sometimes people ask me if we really eat off the pretty plates or use the crystal glasses. The cloth napkins surprise some people, too. We really do use them. I’m sure you’ve probably seen this quote by William Morris, “Do not have anything in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” I want to have things in our home that are both beautiful and useful. We don’t have a museum. I would love to pass things on to my kids and grandkids, but I also believe that we should enjoy things and feel special when we use them.

I guess the moral of the story is that you don’t have to pay a lot for nice things, and when you have them – use them. 🙂

I’ve taken all of the hard work out of trying to recreate this look! I’ve link everything you need, including some vintage Victorian Christmas plates (made in England). To find everything you need, head on over to my LIKEtoKNOW.it page HERE, or screenshot the image below and use it in the LIKEtoKNOW.it app.

Merry Christmas!

Abby

Abby SmolarskyLeave a comment

Thrifty Thursday Christmas

It’s Thrifty Thursday! Ken and I went thrift shopping earlier this week. On one hand, I was thrilled to be thrift shopping with my OG picking partner. But on the other hand, we found absolutely nothing good to show you. So today, instead of showing you what I found this week, I am showing how I used something I found last week. The reality of thrift shopping is that you can’t always find good, quality junk. Haha! I do want to say that we dropped off a load to be donated. I always purge items from our house whenever I bring stuff in.

So are you ready to see how I am using something from a previous thrifting adventure? Remember these vintage Holly ornaments that I found for $2.02? I also showed you on my Instagram stories how they currently go for $30-$40 on Etsy.

Well, they are the perfect addition to our bedroom Christmas tree! I posted about our bedroom decorated for a Christmas just a few days ago HERE. This tree is super affordable, like less than $80. Ken even says that he likes it better than our “big” tree downstairs that cost several hundred dollars. I decorated it with some Martha Stewart premade ribbons for a tree topper and some snippets of other types of plaid ribbon. The other ornaments are new, including the Shiny Brites. They are reproduction ornaments. You can find the ornaments and tree on my LIKEtoKNOW.it.

This is the first time we’ve had a tree in our master bedroom, and I am LOVING it. We have a 16′ x 23′ room, and the tree makes it just feel so cozy. I wish I had put one in there sooner.

Don’t you love the little Santa face? He is one of my Shiny Brite reproduction ornaments.

When Ken and I went thrifting we also went on a little “day date” to our favorite locally owned cafe. It was so cold and windy that day, but the Christmas decorations around town were beautiful!

Screenshot this picture and shop my outfit using the LIKEtoKNOW.it app. Or you can follow this link.

I think this just goes to show that you can create a beautiful tree using thrift stores ornaments and a very inexpensive artificial tree. Don’t feel like you have to spend a lot in order for your decor to be beautiful!

You can shop our bedding and Christmas decor HERE.

Abby SmolarskyLeave a comment