RS Christmas Party and Simple Holiday Centerpieces

The very first thing I did this month was help prepare our annual Relief Society Christmas gathering.
We do it every year at SL Clubhouse.
It is a quaint, cozy atmosphere.  Add dinner, a program and dessert... it's always a great night!

This year we did 'Our Christmas Stories' theme.  Bekah has this book of Christmas stories from prophets of old.  We incorporated some of those with our own stories.  
As we share pieces of our hearts with each other our devotion to each other grows, as does our understanding and friendship. 
We finished our program with the story of our Savior, who's story is for each of us, individually.  His story gives my own story meaning, hope and joy.

I shared my sister's video and musical arrangement.  It seriously came at the perfect time!  It saved me so much work!  I wanted to tell the story of our Savior with scriptures and photos.  She did all the work, with photos and music... and it was beautiful and amazing... and saved me tons of time!  She is so very talented.  Love her.  This arrangement of music tells the story of our Savior's mission.  If you haven't seen it, go ahead, watch it!  It's on my sidebar.

We went to decorate early and I wanted to share what I did for the decor.  The clubhouse is rustic and we wanted it simple and rustic.  Here is what each table looked like...

What is on there?
- gold dot burlap squares (Bekah made these)
- old books
- white poinsetta
- ball sprigs
- large mason jar wrapped in lace and jute, with a candle
- small mason jar tied with jute and a candle
- ball ornaments

I adhered the lace with just a thin bead of hot glue.  Bonus: it comes off super easy after and you can re-use your jars!

Over the mantle I used paper mache letters with a wreath from home.

We put candles, poinsettia's and gold garland in the windows.

We gave each sister a story from our Prophet Thomas S. Monson

We tied each with string and a tag that Amy made.

Here we are in our 'decorate-in-your-sweats' glory!  I'm sure these guys will appreciate me posting this photo! :)

 Here is how it looks lit up.  So pretty and warm.

This is the club house, as people started to arrive.

Burlap runners down our dessert tables.

For the last few years we have done soups with salad and rolls.  So yum!  My favorite this year was the bisque that Kalle brought.  It was delish... must get that recipe!

I filled the bay window with the white sheet to project the video on to.

I love the women in my ward.  I loved hearing stories and memories of these women, along with stories from the prophets.  I so enjoy time to sit down and visit, there just isn't enough of it at church.  I am so blessed and inspired to know these women.