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Decorating Your Christmas in July Party Table

Big Candle Placed in the Table with Wreath and Garland

Living in Australia, our Christmas’ are very warm and I do love that about our Christmas’. I love the fact that we are outdoors, it’s a very casual atmosphere, we get to hang out together on the deck, go to the beach and soak up the gorgeous summer sun and atmosphere.

Consequently, coastal inspired Christmas décor, as well as bright fun beachy decorations, are quite popular choices for a Christmas Down Under.

For most of us, it’s not the time of the year where we feel like eating heavy baked meats and rich plum puddings. BBQs, salads and of course the famous Aussie Pavlova are much more popular.

And so, one of the things that I love most about Christmas in July is that it gives all of us in the southern hemisphere a chance to really enjoy all the aspects that we associate with a traditional wintery European, or northern hemisphere, Christmas.

Celebrating Christmas in July is a fun time to create a cosy Christmas feeling in your home and a great excuse to have friends over and catch up at a time when perhaps we’re more prone to staying at home and hibernating.

Another thing I love about Christmas in July is that I am drawn to decorating in a more wintery Christmas style. I love glittery snowflakes and glistening icicles, but when I decorate our home in the heat of summer, somehow that just doesn’t feel right.

For the past couple of years my hubby and I have thrown a Christmas in July party and we prepare a yummy feast of all that lovely Christmas food that is more traditional in the cooler climates.

To really get into the spirit of the night, and the festive season in general of course, I like to set a long banquet table so our guests can settle in and enjoy the food and conversations. I do add a few other decorations around the house, but I really focus most of my decorating time on the table.

I’d love to share with you how I put together one of my favourite Christmas in July decorating themes. I hope it inspires your Christmas in July party table decorating and maybe you’ll discover some handy tips and tricks too.

Get centred

For the centrepieces I created 3 huge arrangements that were very easy and affordable.

I started by filling 3 hurricane vases with artificial snow and nestled a large pillar candle in each vase, in the middle of the snow, by pushing it down so it was secure and steady.

Next I made a garland to sit flat on the table. Using natural foliage as the base, I added clusters of baubles in 3 different finishes and a combination of beautiful poinsettias. There are so many colours and textures to choose from in our range. This time, I chose a silver flower with velvet petals and a red flower with burlap petals for a good mix of texture and to compliment my theme. To finish off the table garland and give it a little more detail, I also added some glitter twigs, a white sparkly pick and a piece of red wired ribbon.

I am not a florist, I don’t claim to be, but I definitely do like playing around with flowers. I particularly love that these florals are all wired so I can shape them just where I want them when it’s on the table.

High Impact Ceiling Scape

To make sure the conversation flows freely, l like keeping the table centrepieces low and then look at how I can extend the decorating in other ways around the table.

One way I love do that, is by creating a ceiling scape. A ceiling scape is basically hanging a decorations from your ceiling to carry your decorating upwards.

To help make this ceiling scape I used some removable hooks and fishing line. I put the larger of the hooks which are very flat and have a small v shaped hook on them, at each end, and then put the smaller hooks about 1 metre apart in between , but I’ve alternated the way they face with one facing left and the next one right etc.

Loop the fishing line and tie it off at one end, keeping it tight. I’ve slipped the fishing line in between the hooks in the middle which helps to keep it taught and stops it from slipping.

I suggest you keep the total length to no more than 3 metres. If you want a ceiling scape longer than 3 metres, like I did, just make another one starting from where your first one finished. Then I simply tied fishing line to each decoration and hung them in the pattern I wanted at various heights.

For this ceiling scape, I chose a combination of two sizes of foam snowflakes as well as stunning twenty point stars and glittery baubles. I have purposely used all very light weight items so I don’t have to worry about them pulling too much on the fishing line and hook structure that I’ve created to hold them all.

I absolutely love the way it turned out. Ceiling scapes are a great way to bring plenty of festive spirit to the entire room without taking up the all-important table space.


Setting the Table

When it came to the place settings for the table, I found that I didn’t have enough of one dinner plate to set the whole table. It turns out that is not such as bad thing after all. Instead I alternated the settings with two different sets of plates, chargers and placemats which I think “accidentally-on-purpose” made for an added level of detail and interest on the table.

Each setting is finished off with a little tree decoration and a personalised gift tag. These extra little touches really elevated the whole table and made everyone who sat down feel extra special!


Let the party begin!

Well, suffice to say we had a brilliant night. We really enjoyed spending the evening with friends and neighbours, who all dressed as requested in Ugly Jumpers and Tacky Christmas Dress Ups, and brought a gift for the Salvation Army Christmas appeal later in the year. We thought this was a lovely way to maintain the spirit of giving that Christmas is so beautifully connected to.

I hope you found some ideas and inspiration for how you can decorate a long Christmas table, whether it’s your Christmas in July party table or maybe for the real deal in December.

We loved this decorating project so much that we put together a video of it too. You can Watch How Deb Decorated Her Christmas in July Table for more inspiration.

It’s no secret that we just love Christmas decorating, Christmas Crafts and all sorts of holiday DIY’s and we love sharing it all with you too. Be sure to check out our blog, Inspiration Gallery and socials for plenty more Christmas inspired craft and decorating. And of course, our online store has everything you need to make it happen!