Throw a Winter Wonderland Party

Entertaining

This warm family home becomes the stage for a winter wonderland party inspired by a vintage finds, creative ideas and welcoming spirit.

Written and Styled by Michelle E Black

Photography by Bret Gum

If where we live is a reflection of ourselves, then Jon and Scottie Ingersoll’s happy holiday home is the perfect reflection of their warm and inviting family. For Scottie, a preschool teacher, and Jon, a firefighter and little league coach, it’s important that their Christmas home be a cozy sanctuary full of positive inspiration. So, when we set out to create a holiday party setting, we needed only their warm and cheerful spirit to inspire our décor. What came to be was a winter wonderland party full of inspired by a vintage finds, creative ideas and meaningful elements.

Dining room table setting created using bright colors and traditional motifs to give the space a classic and nostalgic, yet fresh and vibrant look. — **TRULY COZY.** The Ingersoll home reflects their happy optimism and comfortable approach to decorating. Inspired by that, we created a setting that is classic and nostalgic yet fresh and vibrant, using bright colors and traditional motifs.

My starting point was the idea of hosting for the holidays. When it comes to our home, how we decorate it, who we allow in it is connected to how we want to inspire those we love to experience all the best that life should offer them. Using Scottie’s classic cottage décor as the jumping-off point, we selected a few accents designed to add sparkle and an extra festive vibe, setting the stage for a classic winter wonderland party.

**ICY BLUE.** Vibrant aqua and pops of Rudolph-red give the table setting a merry and bright feel.

I chose a vibrant color palette of light icy blue, snow white and cheerful pops of red. We decorated the table with classic wintry outdoor scenes and got creative with repurposed items. Using cake plates as a stage, I combined fake snow and some smaller pieces of a Christmas village and made a winter wonderland forest vignette.

**PAPER PRETTIES.** Snowflakes cut from old sheet music add a delightful layer of texture to the table.

The centerpiece of the dining room table is layered with different colors and textures, including a blue table running, a rustic door-turned makeshift tray and repurposed bottles to serve as candle holders. — **CENTER STAGE.** The center of the table was layered with various textures like World Market’s blue table runner. A slender, rustic cupboard door was repurposed as a makeshift tray and served as the foundation from which Moonshine Lamp Company’s repurposed bottle sconces added just enough glitz.

**NOT JUST FOR CAKES.** Pedestal plates stacked atop each other create a striking decorative focal point when transformed into a miniature wintry village.

**MAKE IT FUN.** Vintage squirrel salt and pepper shakers seem right at home nestled into a snack bowl full of nuts.

**WINTER SCENE.** A cake plate becomes the display space for a tiny snowy setting. A mirror at the base makes it feel like an icy lake.

Elsewhere the focus was on using family mementos and personal treasures to create a meaningful décor scheme: think Christmas cards turned into garlands and old family photos turned into holiday wall art. With these combined with vintage heirlooms used in surprising ways, the Ingersoll house truly sings for the holidays.