25 Beautiful Ways to Decorate & Dine for Christmas + An Insanely Awesome Christmas Punch

Welcome to the 618th Metamorphosis Monday, a blog party sharing fabulous Before and Afters!

How was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was awesome! My son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons were here so that made it extra special. I need to do a post sharing some of the things I did differently this year, especially regarding the turkey. Both my son and dil commented that this year the food was the best ever and I felt the same way! I’ll share more about that in another post very soon in case you find it helpful.

It’s been a few years since I made this Cranberry Trifle below and I had forgotten how truly delicious it is! It was definitely a hit this year! I very much recommend it for your Christmas feast!

In today’s post, I’ve gathered together all my favorite ways to celebrate the holidays from decorating to crafting to feasting to sharing. Feel free to bookmark any of the linked posts below or pin them if you find that helpful for future reference. I hope you find this post helpful as you celebrate the holidays this year! ♥♥♥

NOTE: Click any title below to access that recipe or post for more details.

Cranberry Trifle for Christmas Dessert

This trifle is really good and so easy to make. Your guests will never guess how easy this impressive-looking dessert was to make!

 

How to Repair Those Dead Christmas Tree Lights

Sometimes the fix is an easy one, but you just have to know where to look! 🙂

 

Pottery Barn Inspired Garland Tutorial

I was obsessed with this picture when I first saw it in a Pottery Barn catalog. Since the cost of the garland was outside my holiday decorating budget, I found an easy, inexpensive way to make it for my own front porch.

 

Here’s how the garland looked on my front porch.

 

NOTE: Click any title below to access that recipe or post for more details.

Make a Beautiful Colonial Williamsburg Centerpiece for Christmas

These elaborate apple or lemon tree centerpieces are not near as difficult to make as they appear. They are actually quite easy and make such a beautiful eye-catching centerpiece for a table or buffet.

 

Hang Wreaths on Your Exterior Windows

Ever thought of hanging wreaths on your windows at Christmastime? It’s really quite easy and makes a big impact on your outdoor holiday decor.

 

The wreaths look especially magical if you live someplace where it snows during the holiday season.

 

Colonial Williamsburg Fruit Fan

Make a Colonial Williamsburg inspired Fruit Fan to go above your front door.

 

Easy Holiday Centerpiece that takes 15-Minutes to Make (if that long)

Such a fast and easy way to dress an entry table. Works great as a table centerpiece, too!

 

NOTE: Click any title below to access that recipe or post for more details.

An Insanely Awesome Champagne Punch: Great for Parties or a Christmas or New Years Brunch

Makes several batches because this punch is a big hit and always goes really fast!

 

Set Up A Hot Cocoa Bar To Enjoy All Winter Long

I had so much fun putting his Hot Cocoa Bar together! It would be great to create for your holiday guests or a holiday party!

You’ll find a tutorial for making the sign below.

 

Make This DIY Sign for Your Hot Cocoa Bar

This is a detailed tutorial sharing exactly how I made the sign to go above my Hot Cocoa Bar.

 

Christmas Tree Napkin Fold

This is such a fun napkin fold to make and your guests will find it delightful!

 

10 Beautiful Mantels All Decorated for Christmas

If you’re looking for a bit of inspiration as you decorate your mantel this year, you’ll find it in this post!

Emergency Substitutions for Common Ingredients

Ever find you’re missing an ingredient you need when preparing your Christmas dinner? Here’s a list of common substitutions you can make if you’re out of an important ingredient.

 

Decorate Your Door With Triple Wreaths: Grandinroad Knockoff

It took me a while to figure how to make this “triple wreath” thing work for my front door. It’s an over-the-top look that’s a lot of fun to create!

 

NOTE: Click any title below to access that recipe or post for more details.

Make a Winter Snow Globe, Easy DIY Project

This would be a great project to do with the kiddos. Also, I think these would be wonderful to make as place cards for a Christmas dinner party, writing each guest’s name with a sharpie on the little ornament inside. Then the guests could take them home to enjoy after the dinner.

 

Create a Little Snack Center as a Thank-you for Our Delivery Men and Women

 

21 Drinks Great for Holiday Parties

I would love to make every one of these recipes! So many good ones in this post!

 

Decorate a Lantern, Mailbox or Pergola for Christmas

This is seriously the easiest arrangement you could ever make for a gate, post, lantern, pergola or mailbox. If you don’t have a magnolia tree in your yard, use holly or another long-lasting evergreen. There’s a lot of faux greenery available out there that would work well for this, too.

 

Create a Table Centerpiece With Dept. 56 Lit Houses

If you collect Dept. 56 houses, consider using them down the center of your Christmas dinner table this year. This works great on most tables. My table is a bit more narrow than I would like and I was still able to do this. If you table is a bit wider, it will work even better!

 

Christmas Vacation Movie-themed Table Setting

Are you a Christmas Vacation movie fan? Check out this fun table for a bit of inspiration if you collect the Dept. 56 Christmas Vacation lit houses.

 

Here’s the previous version of the table above before I added two more houses to this setting.

Christmas Vacation Movie-Themed Table Setting–the 1st year I set this table

 

Christmas Vacation Movie Themed Gift Wrapping Idea

If you’re looking for a unique way to wrap your gifts this year, check out this post where I share a DIY idea inspired by Clark’s Christmas tree escapades in the movie, Christmas Vacation.

 

Decorate a Porch for Christmas

Decorate your porch and enjoy it all through the holiday season! Even if it’s too cold to be outside, you’ll enjoy seeing it from inside throughout the holiday season.

 

Snowman Spice Cake Dessert and Centerpiece

Bake this adorable Snowman Spice Cake for a festive holiday dessert! He’ll make a great centerpiece for your holiday table, as well!

 

12 Beautiful Christmas Banisters

Looking for a bit of inspiration for decorating your staircase banister? Check out all these gorgeous banisters ranging from simple but beautiful to over-the-top gorgeous!

 

23 Themed Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas

So much inspiration in this post if you’re looking for some new ways to decorate your Christmas tree this year.

 

These make the cutest Christmas present topper or use them as ornaments on your Christmas tree.

Dress Up Your Presents With This Easy DIY Christmas Mouse Or Hang It On Your Christmas Tree

 

Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday!

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Metamorphosis Monday

Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. Please link up your Before and After projects like DIY projects, room makeovers, craft projects even recipes. Any Before and After is great! Please do not link up Table Settings, save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursday.

If you are participating in Met Monday, please link up using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top of your blog, into the “url” box for InLinkz when prompted.

In order to link up, you’ll need to include a link in your MM post back to the party so the other participants will have an opportunity to receive visits from your wonderful blog readers.

Update: Please do not link up table settings/tablescapes for Metamorphosis Monday. Please save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursdays. Recipes are fine because that’s definitely a “Before and After” but please save your beautiful table settings for Tablescape Thursday. Pretty vignettes (transformations) you’ve created on atop a chest or somewhere in your home are great for our Before and After party, but let’s save the actual table settings for Tablescape Thursday.