Battery operated LED lights can add such interest and flair to your holiday table and throughout your home.
While searching for some fresh ideas for my Thanksgiving table this year, I came upon some interesting and easy to do holiday table decorations that will easily accommodate a splash of colour with 12V LED lights. I also learned some things from the food experts such as Ina Garten and Bobby Flay of the Food Network Channel about setting a holiday table and serving guests. Most of the experts agree that it’s passed to place all of the food on the dining table. Dishes are often hot and spills come easily. With today’s modern open concept living, it’s easier than ever to find space to place your serving dishes on a counter, or even on a separate table. Let your guests serve themselves buffet style and carry their plate to the table. That leaves plenty of room for your table decorations and stemware and makes for a very comfortable dining experience. Next, keep your table decorations low so that guests can easily converse with other guests sitting across from them without peeking through a tall vase and candles. The trend in table decorations today is very natural, and often include edible fruits and vegetables. As you can see in the images above, this is a tasteful and colourful approach. All of these ideas can be enhanced by the addition of a battery pack and a few LED MicroStars available in amber, red, green, blue and white. MicroStars are a simple, two-wire, tiny LED light. They aren’t overly bright and add more of a twinkle than a piercing light. The first image on the left is a cornucopia made from a high-grade wrapping paper. This idea can easily be taken into the Christmas season as there is always a good reason to be thankful, especially when you are surrounded by good friends and family. Replace the apples and corn with mini wrapped presents, candy canes, and some small gold, red, silver and green tree ornaments. Poke in a few LED MicroStars of your choice and enjoy! The second image shows a flower arrangement set into a hat box. Hat boxes are available at most craft stores. This one was hand painted. You can use buttons or upholstery tacks in any colour and texture. Once again, the flowers are kept very low. For Christmas, think perhaps of red and white carnations, evergreen sprigs and colourful bows. The third is a serving dish filled with seasonal fruit and nuts. This is the idea I picked up on for my Thanksgiving table. Don’t we all have a pretty silver dish we rarely use? I sure do. It also appealed to me that the dish was plenty deep enough to accommodate a rechargeable battery pack and was completely dry. The LED MicroStars looked just awesome peeking out from between the fruit and the nuts anchored everything in quite nicely. And the last is a more traditional cornucopia arranged so that the seasonal fruits and vegetables spilled out onto a platter. Your imagination is your only limitation here for the upcoming winter holidays. Think outside the box when planning your next dinner party. Colourful leaves, evergreen branches, and goodies from your holiday decoration storage can turn your holiday table from boring to beautiful.
By: Mary Wecker
