Christmas Color History of Red & Green with a Transferware Tablescape

This is a very traditionally colored Christmas tablescape inspired by reading up on the two colors we correlate with the season. 

It is just inside the front door at the shop.

It's all decked out in layers of red and green transferware. 

 I used several different patterns alternating between red and green plates.

This green dinner plate by Spode is the bottom layer.

Next comes Johnson Brothers Chippendale in a square shaped plate.

Teacup saucers in green by Wood and Sons in a fruit & flower motif' were added

 and then topped with red teacups.

 These cute bubble glasses are from Walmart.  They're quite heavy and very inexpensive...about $10 for a set of 16 if I remember correctly.  I think they still sell them.   I think they're charming and have an old fashioned look.

 I get more compliments on this flatware.  Every time someone is in the shop they usually pick it up and admire it.

 Do you like my napkin rings?  These are actually little gift boxes that did  hold two chocolates in each one.  These had been placed on a table at my nephews wedding.  Trevor obviously got more than their fair share of chocolate, along with his cousin Garrett.   I wondered why the party planners kept restocking that table!   The green bows were already tied on the boxes so I simply slipped my napkins through the ribbon on the back of each box.

Yes, this little tree is decorated with transferware demitasse cups.    In yesterdays post I showed the larger, red teacup tree at my house.

These smaller cups better fit the proportion of the table top tree.  Each cup holds a either a green or red candy cane floating candle.

Inexpensive glittery green Poinsettia and red ball ornaments were also hung on the tree along with green ribbon and silver beaded garland.  Last, a few generous helpings of faux snow were sprinkled all over the tree and table.

Next to each place setting a green candy cane candle rests on a red transferware butter pat.  I couldn't find the lighter to light them...shucks!

 I really like the feel of this table...festive and fun with a little whimsy.  Shawn wants to have our Christmas table in these colors. 

Green and Red

The Colors of Christmas

  We are all so seasoned (no pun intended) to think automatically of Christmas when we see a red and green color combination. 

The red and green colors we see at Christmas time are so deeply woven into our society that the majority of us don't ever wonder about its origin.

The color green is a natural representation of eternal life, specifically the evergreen tree which survives through the winter season. For Christians, green represents the eternal life of Jesus Christ. The color red symbolizes Christ’s blood which was shed during his crucifixion.

Back in the 14th Century, churches presented Miracle Plays which were religious plays used to educate the illiterate public. Each December 24, the church presented The Paradise Play, the story of Adam and Eve and of the Garden of Eden.  Since apple trees were not available in winter, apples were fastened to the branches of a pine tree. Using a pine to represent the Tree of Good and Evil became a common practice among churches and they began incorporating the tree into their Christmas displays each year. Following the church’s example, people began assembling pine trees in their homes and decorating them with red apples. This act introduced two modern traditions: the Christmas tree and our seasonal colors, green for the pine tree and red for the apples.

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Publish Post

My Red Transferware Teacup Christmas Tree

Last year, for the first time ever I set up the largest Christmas tree in our dining room.  I did so again this year but used a white flocked tree.  I decorated it with about 40 vintage red transferware teacups and a few creamers (I needed to fill a few more spots in!).  In addition to the teacups I used a variety of collected red ornaments, garlands and ribbons. 

I have a recurring theme of birds throughout my house and they've made it to my Christmas decor too.  Some birds are tucked inside the transferware cups.

Some birds are clipped onto the tree branches.

 This year, Grandma Judy sent Ashton home with a collection of bird ornaments she's saved for her, so we added them to the tree as well. 

As you may also know, I love the color amber.  I have several strings of amber colored lights.  My favorites are glass bulbs in a pine cone shape. 

Just like when I was a child, I still like laying on the floor and looking up at the Christmas tree. 

“Somehow not only for Christmas but all the long year through, 
The joy that you give to others Is the joy that comes back to you. 
And the more you spend in blessing 
The poor and lonely and sad, The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to you glad.”

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