Outdoor Winter Party
Post in collaboration with Sainsbury’s Home
It’s that time of year again, the days are getting super short and Christmas is just around the corner. Time to get party planning for all your December get togethers! I love hosting and besides having your friends and family over, the other best bit of the party is setting the table. It might just be a little cover up technique as who cares about the food when the table looks pretty, right? :-)
For me December is all about coziness, we Dutch called it gezellig, layering up with jumpers and scarves and embracing the chill in the air. When Sainsbury’s Home asked me to come up with a fun way to style their Christmas decorations I immediately thought, outdoor Nordic Winter party! Gathering your guest in the garden, serving warm drinks like mulled wine and steaming hot chocolate. Fairy lights draped in every tree, baskets full of blankets, and hats, and your table being decorated with my easy to make DIY ornament holder.
With ornaments moving in the winter breeze you immediately set the scene for your winter get together. If you are not as outdoorsy as me and can’t stand the thought of leaving your house to party in your garden this make can of course be used indoors too. Your dining table will look stunning with ornaments floating above them.
To make the ornament holder you will need:
3 pieces of round wood (mine is pine 21 mm x 2400 mm) it has to be long enough to cover the length of your table
saw
drill
2 screws
sandpaper
2 pieces of scrap wood, roughly around 8 cm long and 5 cm wide
2 baskets mine are from Sainsbury’s Home
2 bin bags
something heavy to fill the basket like stones, sand, flint
grey thread
scissors
1.Cut your wooden poles to size, one piece the length of your table plus 10 cm (for me that was 122+10) and two pieces of 170 cm, these will be the vertical stands. Sand the cut edges smooth.
2.On the longer horizontal piece drill two holes 4 cm from both ends.
3.Screw the horizontal piece into the two vertical stands, using your predrilled holes. If you don’t have a drill you can tie the horizontal piece to the stands with rope and a few strong knots.
4. Screw two pieces of scrap wood to the feet of the stands, this doesn’t need to look pretty as you won’t see them, it’s just to increase stability.
5. Line your baskets with a bin bag and place your stands in the middle
6. Fill your bags with a heavy material, I used sand from the sandpit and flint from my garden borders. Anything heavy will do to keep the poles upright.
7. With the stand ready it’s time to decorate, cut the string off your ornaments and replace with long pieces of grey thread. Tie the thread to the horizontal dowel making sure the baubles all sit on a different height from the table top. Don’t go to low you don’t want to hinder peoples eye line too much.
They fit in perfectly with my Nordic Winter look, I don’t think you will ever find me doing Christmas with gold and red decorations I just love these cooler tones.
I cut a few spring of eucalyptus from the garden to serve as a runner down the middle and scattered some wooden stars from Sainsbury’s Home on the table cloth. A few tea lights and white candles finish my outdoor table setting, I put them in clear vessels to not take any shine off the hanging ornaments.
Make sure your chairs are covered in blankets and (faux) sheep skin rugs to keep your guest cozy. I also like to have a stash at the ready and filled this basket with wooly hats and gloves.
Of course I didn’t forget about Kermit the Dog, he is keeping all snug too :-)
I made these chocolate stirrers by melting two bars of chocolate au bain marie, pouring the molten chocolate in an ice cube tray and sticking a tea spoon in the middle of each cube. Keep the spoons upright by leaning them against a knife while the chocolate sets. The Chemex coffee pot will keep the milk warm for a little while, I do have a flask handy though to fill the glass pot up with steaming hot milk when necessary.
To make a hot chocolate simply stir the choco spoon in hot milk until completely melted. Top with whipped cream, marshmallow, sprinkles or what ever else you fancy. Maybe a candy cane or a sneaky bit of rum!
How cute are these stacking cups from the Sainsbury’s Home Nordic Christmas range? I love their pattern and will be using these long after Christmas has finished.
Sainsbury's Home AW19 and Christmas ranges are available now in larger Sainsbury's stores, a selection on items are also available online.
