Do you have special Holiday linens, dishes, etc?

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

And also what do you use as placemats/ tablecloth for everyday. I have had the same dark quilted placemats for a long time and they are so NOT festive that I am thinking of ordering red quilted ones for Christmas ( great ebay vendor who supposedly also supplies WS $3 per v $12 in store so not so much expense).

[MamaMolly]

Dishes? No. We don't have the room for something big like that we only use once a year. I just use my 'good' dishes. But do have a Lenox Christmas cake plate and server only because I had a holiday themed bridal shower. I also have a lovely, lovely deep wine red embroidered table cloth and napkins that I use just at Christmas. And a pretty bright red and green silky/satiny table runner for decorating the table during non-meal times.

I tried to use holiday placemats but they got so horribly crumpled in storage it wasn't worth it. FWIW we didn't use placemats when I grew up but DH did. So when anyone comes to visit I use placemats, but for just us I don't. Weird, I know ;).

If you are used to using them and have a place to store them I think holiday placemats are a great idea.

[hillview]

I don't but my mom does and I like them (and use them).
/hillary

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

We have 12 Christmas dinner plates that I got from Pfaltzgraff a few years back for $1 each. They go nicely with the rest of our white dinnerware and adds a nice festive touch. :)

I'm glad we just have the plates because storage is less of an issue that way. We just have the stacked on the top shelf in our pantry, pushed to the back.

[alexsmommy]

I change out our regular cloth champagne colored placemats with red ones. Also have napkin rings that are tiny jingle bells. That's about it. No dishes.
The kids do have snowman plates and cups that I pull out for about three months of winter.

[gobadgers]

I have holiday dish towels, and just use red tablecloth. I think I have a couple serving dishes too, but I haven't pulled them out in a few years.

DD LOVES her santa straw cup from last year. I will probably end up getting more holiday dishes, cups, etc... and tell myself they're for the kids :)

[lilycat88]

Yes. I've got a 12 piece place setting of the Lenox Holiday pattern. I also have a ton of extra smaller plates in Holiday or Holiday Noveau that we use for our Christmas party and beverage and wine glasses we use for the party as well. We also sometimes use them for THanksgiving dinner. I've got a lot of the matching napkins, tablecloths, hand towels, etc.

Jamelin

[kransden]

I used to be a fiesta fanatic, so yes. I have the actual holiday pattern, and I supplement with red and green plates. I also use the red (scarlet or cinnabarr) for Valentine's Day and 4th of July. To me it is fun and I enjoy it. I also change my plates seasonally, but that is me, and it is one of my little excesses.

[jayali]

I have holiday dishes and glasses. They come out of the attic at Thanksgiving and I use them through January.

I have runners and linens that are also only used at the holidays as well. We don't traditionally use placemats, but I do have placemats with holly on them that we use occassionally throughout the holidays.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Hmmm....MIL has insisted that each family have a certain set of Christmas dishes, and DH has always said, "NO. We have no room for them." But, reading here makes me think we could use them for 6 weeks/year then store them. Hmm.. maybe I'll look into them. Some have already given the names of the ones you have, so thanks. I'll go look them up!

[Melaine]

I have a red kitchen so lots of red accessories that look Christmas-ish. I also have the 12 days of Christmas glasses and a few random platters picked up here and there. That's the kind of thing I like finding at thrift stores and yard sales.

[MaiseyDog]

I have Gail Pittman Hollylujah plates that we use from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

[AngelaS]

I have snowflake dishes I picked up on clearance at Target years ago (they're a Debbie Mumm design) and I break them out the first day it snows. We use them daily until the first day of spring. :)

[Fairy]

I have about half of the Reindeer line from Pottery Barn. I get a few more things each year. This year it's a toss up between add'l appetizer plates, glass coffee mugs, the appetizer tray, or the big round platter. I wanted to get the sugar & creamer set, but they don't seem to offer it this year. I will probably stick with our nice white everyday plates that are beautiful from Crate & Barrel and not get the Reindeer plates cuz otherwise that's alot of Reindeer.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I have dishes (Pfaltzgraph Nordic Christmas) but it's been many years since I bothered to swap them out and use them during the holidays. I have a lot of the the serving things for that set too and we just don't use them. They have fallen down the list of chores and decorating I want to take on!

We have 2 other holiday plate sets and they both go on the plate rail that goes around the dining room.

I have winter themed placemats and they go on the center of the table. I only put out the tablecloth when hosting a dinner and for day to day use I just use regular placemats. I should ask for some wintery day to day ones. I like that idea. :)

BEth

[lizzywednesday]

We don't have holiday dishes, but we do have a couple of holiday serving pieces - platters & bowls, etc. - from various places.

In addition to those, I have two "fancy" tablecloths I bought from Target and one linen hemstitch one I bought at the Crate & Barrel Outlet.

If I entertain during the holidays, I serve my guests on paper plates with paper napkins and plastic utensils because I just can't face doing a lot of dishes. Maybe when I grow up, I will use dishes...

Since I live near both a Lenox outlet and a Crate & Barrel outlet, I can go and get things for reduced prices. Right now, my Lenox outlet is running a Warehouse Sale, so I can go check it out as supplemental for Christmas presents.

[bnme]

I don't because I usually have 14 or more people and do a buffet. I'd like to in the future but right now I don't even love my everday dishes so I'd have to upgrade that first.

My mom slowly collected the Lenox Holiday china when we were growing up and now has a full service for 16 plus many serving pieces. She uses it from Thanksgiving through New Years. It is more formal than my taste but I love it and she plans to split it between me and my sister some day.

[czekit7]

Hate to say it, but have always loved the holidays, so my EVERYDAY plateware is Pfaltgraft Winterberry. Luckily, my husband knew of my "issues" and STILL married me. We have around a serving for 12, plus serving trays, deviled egg trays, bowls, crocks, linen...pretty much all cooking AND serving-ware, except for drinking glasses and silverware...can't justify those, plus don't really like the quality of drinking glasses. :)Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

[carolinamama]

No actual dishes that we use other than Christmas mugs and platters. We have plastic kid-friendly Santa placemats and red cloth ones for dinners that are a bit more special. I also have a tablecloth that I only use if I am hosting a nice Christmas meal. I can see Christmas dishes being fun but I don't know that I want that chore at this stage of my life.

[kijip]

No.

We have regular white dishes for everyday and we have a full set of fine china which we use for holidays and big Sunday dinners.

Oh wait, we do have snow man mugs with lids for hot chocolate. The snowman hats are Santa hats. They came from Starbucks a few years ago on after holiday sale.

[Jo..]

I have the nice bone china, crystal, and platimum rim dishes and the fine silver in our china cabinet. They get used 2-3 times yearly. For daily use, we go to our Fiesta Ware.

We have a custom table pad on our really nice solid wood table. I top that with a tablecloth which needs to be washed daily...I need to buy 1-2 more to add to the rotation so I can skip a day here and there.

The one I have now is a really colorful cheery stripe. I had an off-white tablecloth with embroidered edging to match our cloth napkins that I loved, but the kids crapped that up super fast.

I just bought some rainbow striped cloth napkins and am praying they match the tablecloth, or at least don't clash badly.

[MontrealMum]

I have holiday linens - tablecloths and fingertip towels. In storage I have santa mugs and a pitcher, and a set of Royal Doulton holiday dishes. We just don't have the room in our tiny house to use all this stuff right now. But hopefully when DS is older - and better equipped to be around fancy stuff - we'll have a bigger place.

[Thatchermom]

Admittedly I'm a little crazy for Christmas, but yes, we switch most things out for the holiday season. Dishes, serving items, butter dishes, salt shakers, table linens, pot holders, aprons, couch pillows and throws, bathroom towels, the works. I don't have Christmas bed linens, but I wouldn't be opposed. That all comes out on Thanksgiving and stays until after all family visits are over, sometime just after New Years.

Christmas music, however, is Labor Day to Valentine's Day. I'd do it all year, but this is our carefully negotiated contract for sanity, according to DH. :)

[Seitvonzu]

hi, my name is mary and i'm a dish-a-holic. seriously. it's an illness.

i had resisted christmas dishes pretty well, and then one year when i was newly married, we went up 95 to CT three times in ONE november. some was planned, some was not (funeral). i needed a reward. i bought 4 place settings of mikasa's "christmas eve" pattern. i saw it at an outlet and thought it was different and dramatic. it's VERY different from my fine china which is floral, but bridal. i just checked mikasa.com and it doesn't appear to be a current pattern--it's black banded with poinsettias. it sounds strange, but it's really very graphic and pretty.

before i could buy 4 more settings i fell in love with this pattern too:

http://www.mikasa.com/40-Piece-Set/L3471-040,default,pd.html?cgid=parchment-red

so i bought the 40 piece set. :) i LOVE it. but i didn't need 4 more settings of the other once i had this set. the funniest thing about this set is how MEN love it. i've had more men comment on these dishes than i thought was possible :) it's very "regal" and "rich" looking. it also works through valentines day which makes it reasonable to change out my china hutch and put these out after thanksgiving (through valentine's, though after new year i do take down the christmas eve dishes) my kitchen has some red accents already, so these blend well with our kitchen and mainlevel decor in general. its a strong but reasonable "look" for our house.

after christmas one year i picked up some target dishes that i loved during the season but could justify (75% off was the clencher)-- this was maybe three years ago? the year they had the european "paper cut-out" (don't know how else to describe it) designed dishes as their seasonal collecdtion. i bought 8 dinner plates and 8 salad plates (half the red pattern, half the white pattern) and a couple bowls because i couldn't resist. we use them as our everyday during winter time (they have reindeer and stars and birds and such in the design). i also have 8 spode santa claus mugs that i picked up at william sonoma that i use for coffee through the season . just last year my mother was out shopping with me before christmas and we saw the WS gnome building a snowman stuff on megasale prechristmas (75% again)-- really rustic and cute-- 4 BIG mugs, 4 dessert plates and 4 ceramic spoons (completely unneccesary but they were like 5 dollars so , why not?).

i probably also have some random christmas dishes i'm not remembering :) i have linens too. i have an offwhite holly leaf table cloth that i got 90% off at a kitchen store in town and 8 matching napkins. i have some special tea towels and coasters and such that my mother's given me. tableware and table decor was sorta my thing pre-kid. even in graduate school i had TONS of dishes.

just today we had friends for a holiday brunch and we used the everyday stuff w/ the gnome stuff and the "good" holiday linens. it was a cute mix of stuff and looked really nice actually with a crystal bowl of clementines as the centerpiece! when i came down to the basement and read this thread i said to my husband "oh man, we could have used the jingle bell napkin rings!" darn it !!!

i used to change my hutch/china cabinet 4 times a year (seasonally) but this year it was only a spring and winter change. it was a HUGE effort to move around the nice dishes and everyday dishes and find everything. i declared "i might just have TOO many dishes." but really we do use them and i love them. at least i don't have "turkey" dishes, right?

[MoJo]

I have Christmas dishes. They are just the cheap ones from Kmart, but I like the pattern (I think it's called Poinsettia and Ribbons), and I got them for 50 or 75% off, so it's almost no investment. I also have spring/summer dishes (my favorites) and fall dishes (DH's favorites).

The Christmas dishes are stored in the basement.

With an 18-month old, we don't have a tablecloth (I was advised early on that it would make it too easy for her to pull things down). We've never really used placemats either.

My mom has a beautiful tablecloth, blue with white lace with Christmas scenes in the lace. But she doesn't have Christmas dishes, and mine don't go with her blue and white.

[Fairy]

I have the nice bone china, crystal, and platimum rim dishes and the fine silver in our china cabinet. They get used 2-3 times yearly. For daily use, we go to our Fiesta Ware.

We have a custom table pad on our really nice solid wood table. I top that with a tablecloth which needs to be washed daily...I need to buy 1-2 more to add to the rotation so I can skip a day here and there.

The one I have now is a really colorful cheery stripe. I had an off-white tablecloth with embroidered edging to match our cloth napkins that I loved, but the kids crapped that up super fast.

I just bought some rainbow striped cloth napkins and am praying they match the tablecloth, or at least don't clash badly.


This sounds really gorgeous. I'm just salivating over here. We don't have a formal Dining Room table, we have a glass topped black metal laquer dealie with matching black fabric high-back charis that scream 1992 that pre-dates my relationship with my husband (yeah), so I married it, and I would really like to be rid of it. But the thing is ... it works. It's hard for us to justify replacing it with a beautiful wood table taht we both want when it works just fine and we really truly need other things like a new hardwood floor and a driveway to replace things that don't work just fine. So ... I long for the days when I'll have a dining room like this. Mmmmm . . .

[lizzywednesday]

I have holiday linens - tablecloths and fingertip towels. In storage I have santa mugs and a pitcher, and a set of Royal Doulton holiday dishes. We just don't have the room in our tiny house to use all this stuff right now. But hopefully when DS is older - and better equipped to be around fancy stuff - we'll have a bigger place.

I <3 Royal Doulton dishes ... my high school choirs did a performance tour to England and one of our day-trips was a tour of one of their potteries out in Derbyshire; it was positively fascinating, even to a homesick 16-year-old. I have coveted those dishes ever since.

[DebbieJ]

I have 12 place settings of my fine china, but I hate doing dishes with a passion, so I rarely take it out. If we host a holiday gathering, it's usually more than 12 anyway, so I do paper plates!

[elephantmeg]

our wedding china is phaltzgraff winterberry! I love it. ANd I love the idea of using it from t-giving to NY. I'll have to get it out and swap the stuff tomorrow.

[Twoboos]

I have Villeroy & Bosch "Naif Christmas." I LOOOOOOVE it - and found it all at TJMaxx/Marshall's/Home Goods! I was on a mission a few years back. I think I have 10 settings. It's so cute. They are on display in our dining room hutch year-round. I will have to use them a few more times this season!