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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

French Inspired Christmas Eve

Wednesday, December 24, 2014



As Christmas Eve approaches, 
children of all ages look forward with 
breathless excitement to a visit from 
Saint Nicholas 


An old world Saint Nicholas 
looking very French and 

~f~l~y~i~n~g~ 

through snow covered countryside 
in a sleigh pulled by a pair of reindeer dressed in bell harnesses 
inspired a 
French Christmas Eve 
table setting at my house. 



A fresh tree decorated with only fairy lights 
and a trio of angels at the top sits in the corner of the breakfast sunspace 
and can be seen by passersby at night. 



More fresh greenery... 
The ivy wreath sits on the top shelf of the garden shelves 
and paperwhite narcissi are part of the table's centerpiece. 



The breakfast area table is ready for Christmas Eve. 


A white beribboned swag adds more French to the setting. 
Made last year, I plan to use it for several years. 



Rolled pages from a French alphabet children's book 
are small gifts for diners. 



The alphabet book came from a Paris bookseller whose 
shop is in the Passage des Panoramas. 



Each place has a different alphabet page decorated with drawings 
to illustrate a story about the letter of the alphabet. 
V for Violettes 



Green script stars, a zinc seed pot with candles, and a Sarlat, France 
green stoppered bottle all add French touches to the narrow centerpiece. 



The French zinc seed pot is one of the pots I found at the 
Fall Round Top Antique Fair. 
It was easy to make the candle holder by 
covering florist foam with moss. 



The vintage Sarlat, France stopper bottle came from a 
French village brocante the last time I was in France. 



The green script stars were found at a small local boutique 
while Christmas shopping. 



A sprig of fresh evergreen from the Christmas tree 
adds a holiday touch to the black Eiffel Tower ornament on each napkin. 



The music decorated Eiffel Towers came from an Etsy shop last year. 



L'heure bleu (the blue hour) descends as twilight falls on Christmas Eve. 





Children all over the world are so excited they cannot sleep. 



Soon Saint Nicholas will be here on this 
French Inspired Christmas Eve 

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Thank you for reading botanic bleu.

May your Christmas be 
filled with the pure joy of a child. 

Joyeux Noël 
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