Would you like to make Christmas stand out from every other year? Table settings are one of the easiest places to add some festive character, and it is far less difficult than it looks.
There are plenty of good ideas for candy centrepieces, and even without much craft skill you can manage something that looks deliberate.
The basic idea
A candy centrepiece uses sweets as the material – candy canes, wrapped sweets, peppermints – built into an arrangement for the middle of the table.
It has two advantages over a bought decoration. It costs very little, and it gets eaten at the end rather than going into a box for another year.
Candy cane constructions
The classic. Candy canes glued or tied side by side around a plain glass or tin make a container that reads as a proper decoration. Tie a ribbon around the middle to hide the joins.
Filled with more sweets, or with a candle, or with holly, it becomes a centrepiece. Made in miniature, several down the length of a table.
Use a low-temperature glue gun, or tie rather than glue if children are helping.
Height and shape
The usual failing of a homemade centrepiece is that it is too tall. A centrepiece that people have to look around ruins the conversation it was meant to decorate.
Keep it below eye level when seated, or make it narrow enough to see past. A row of small arrangements often works better on a long table than one large one.
Colour
Red, white and green will always read as Christmas. Restricting yourself to two colours plus a metallic usually looks more considered than using everything available.
Practical points
Assemble it the day before at the earliest. Sweets attract moisture and soften, and a centrepiece built a week ahead will not look the way it did when you made it.
Keep it away from the candles. Wrapped sweets and heat are a poor combination.
Have something underneath. A tray or a mat means the whole thing can be lifted off in one movement when the table is needed.
Getting children involved
This is a good project for it. There is nothing sharp, mistakes cost a few sweets, and the result goes on the table where everyone sees it.
Give them their own small container to fill rather than a share of the main one – a row of individually made pieces down the table looks charming and avoids the negotiation.
