Creating beautiful and unique tablescapes is one of my favorite things to do. I love everything about them - fine china, flowers, glassware, candles, linens...I could seriously go on forever...........
When brainstorming a tablescape, I typically look to one of two places for inspiration - my china cabinet or the floral department at the grocery store. This one that I'm designing for an upcoming dinner party took shape at the grocery store, when I spotted the bunches of eucalyptus and realized they would make the most stunning table runner! The rest of the concept came naturally - whites and greens for a wintery-feeling without being aggressively CHRISTMAS-y. And obviously candles. ALL the candles.
For the eucalyptus runner, I grabbed three sleeves of greenery (they were 3/$10 if that's any indication of the size of each bunch - not huge by any means!); this made a roughly 4 foot long runner. My eucalyptus bunches were mixed between silver dollar, seeded, and baby blue eucalyptus. I think silver dollar is the best choice if you're going for elegance; the other two are great for a more organic or natural look. I used all three because Publix only had mixed bunches the day I bought mine!
To make the runner:
1) I started by separating my eucalyptus haul into four piles. Because I'm outrageously neurotic, I counted out each different type of stem and evenly distributed them throughout the piles. If you're...like...not insane, you can prolly just eyeball it.
2) Gather the stems of each pile and wind floral wire around them. I didn't have floral wire on hand, so I used black wire from the Dollar Tree. (I legit use that stuff for EVERYTHING)
3) Optional: Set out a traditional table runner. I used a white and gold polka dot table runner under my greenery to add some contrast and winter whimsy.
4) Lie the eucalyptus piles across your table, as you would a typical table runner. You'll want all of the stems to face the center of the table; I knew I was going to add some cone trees as my centerpiece, so I left some space for those between my middle two bunches.
5) Tuck each set of stems under the leaves of the adjacent bunch of eucalyptus.
6) To wrangle in any rogue pieces of greenery or trim down areas that are too wide, just use pieces of wire to position them to your liking!
From here on, the world is your oyster. The garland is a stunner on its own, but you could totally mix in some florals or pillar candles or even fairy lights. You could also make the runner long enough to drape it over the ends of the table, which would be absolutely beautiful!
For my table, I used three white cone trees of varying heights as a centerpiece and then four silver candlesticks. I played around with the garland such that it kind of snaked its way around each candlestick. Once I had everything set, I scattered votives all over for a truly magical feeling!
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