Christmas coffee table decor ideas and DIY tips

If you're looking for quick and easy Christmas decorating ideas, you've come to the right place. This week, I'm sharing Christmas coffee table decor ideas and my best DIY décor tips for creating gorgeous holiday vignettes in five minutes or less!

The holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year but if we're not careful, it can also be the most stressful time of the year! There's all that Christmas cooking and baking, gift buying and wrapping, homes to be cleaned and decorated, and endless lists of things to do! With all that going on, it's no wonder we often end up too frazzled to enjoy the festivities at all.

That's why I'm all for decorating the easy way. My Christmas decorations usually consist of simple vignettes that are quick and easy to put together and even easier to deconstruct at the end of the holidays.

★Tip★  All of the Christmas coffee table décor ideas I'm sharing today can also be used to create beautiful centerpieces for your dining room table too.

Table of contents

• Choose a Christmas color pallet
• Containers for Christmas coffee table décor
• Advent candles in a glass vase
• Dough bowl decorations
• Coffee table books
• Christmas table runner
• Conclusion
• Popular Christmas Posts

For your convenience, this website contains affiliate links. If you purchase through one of these links, I'll receive a small commission. You pay the same price whether you use my link or not. Thanks so much for your support of Chalking Up Success! Please read my full disclosure here.

Choose a Christmas color pallet

A great way to simplify your holiday décor is by choosing a Christmas color pallet. Whether you go with traditional red and green, frosty blues, or simple whites, using the same color pallet will create consistency throughout all the areas of your home.

I'm a fan of decorating with natural elements, so things like pine cones, cinnamon sticks, rustic wood decorations, and greenery are my go-to decorative items.

Containers for Christmas coffee table décor

A quick search for 'Christmas coffee table decor ideas' on 'Pinterest' will bring up a similar theme. You'll find most of the Christmas coffee table centerpieces in a container of some sort. Even interior designers use this simple trick to create gorgeous coffee table décor in a jiffy.

One of the best ways to decorate your coffee table at Christmas is by using a container of some sort. Use wooden boxes, a large tray, a glass bowl, or a vase to contain your Christmas vignettes. Not only will your coffee table look styled for the Christmas season but the container can easily be removed if needed.

Christmas coffees table decor in a box

Here I've used an antique wooden brick mold as a container for my coffee table vignette. If you'd like to re-create something like this, here's what you'll need:

Materials needed

• A wooden box or brick mold
• Baking/parchment paper
• Something to elevate the display (I used offcuts of wood)
• A rustic flower pot*
• Medium-sized pillar candle
• Moss
• Mini Christmas tree
• Stag ornament
• Holly
• Wooden stars
• Pine cones
• String lights

★Tip★ I gave my flower pot an aged look using this paint and baking soda tutorial.

Here's how to make a Christmas stag vignette:

1. Line the box with baking/parchment paper
2. Place the filler items at the bottom of the box.
3. Place the pillar candle into the flower pot. Tuck some moss into the spaces between the candle and the flowerpot to stop the candle from slipping.
4. Arrange the flower pot candle, stag, and mini tree on top of the wooden fillers in the box.
5. Fill the gaps between the decorations with moss and sprigs of holly.
6. Add some stars and pine cones or other decorative objects for decoration.
7. Drape fairy lights over your festive display. (Hide the battery box underneath the moss).

A wooden box like this antique brick mold is the perfect way to style a small table for the holidays.

Here is how I styled this wooden box last Christmas. You could also create a Christmas crate like this one and use it as a table centerpiece.

Here are some of my favorite things to use for styling tables at Christmastime:

• Pine cones
• Stack of books
• large tray
• pillar candle
• mason jars
• Fairy lights
• Glass bowls
• Glass vases
• White candles
• Coffee table books

Advent candles in a glass vase

This next DIY is one of my favorite ways to decorate throughout the seasons. If you've visited any of my home tours, you will have seen this large glass vase decorated in many ways before. For Christmas this year, I've made an Advent calendar inside the glass. The display only took a few minutes to put together but we'll be enjoying it for the whole of the Christmas season.

If you want to let this Advent display take center stage on your coffee table, here's what you'll need to make it:

Materials

• A large glass bowl or glass vase
• Four long taper candles
• Moss
• Paper (to use as a filler)
• Dried orange slices
• Candle wax buttons
• Red ribbon
• Advent numbers (Download them from my free library)
• Pine cones and walnuts
• A selection of natural decor
• Small branches

1. Cut out the numbers and punch a hole at the top of each one.
2. Thread each number onto a piece of red ribbon. Secure one number to each of the four candles.
3. Press a wax button on the bottom of each of the candles. Tip: If the candles are not straight on the bottom, use a knife to slice a piece off.
4. Arrange the candles inside the glass vase and press them down until they stand straight and secure.
5. Fill around the candles with paper.
6. Cover the paper with moss
7. Add some pine cones, orange slices, and walnuts
8. Place some branches over the top of the vase. Please ensure that the branches do not come into contact with the candles once they are lit.

★Tip★  Create a similar effect using a glass cloche and battery-operated candles or create mini Christmas scenes inside Mason jars.

Dough bowl decorations

Dough bowl decorations have to be some of the easiest Christmas coffee table decor ideas out there. Any container would work for this, it doesn't have to be a dough bowl. I've used a long wooden bowl with a handle to make my coffee table décor this Christmas.

Here's what you'll need for this super simple Christmas coffee table décor.

Materials

• Dough bowl or long wooden bowl
• Large round Christmas baubles
• Small round Christmas baubles
• Pine cones
• Orange slices
• Walnuts
• Cinnamon sticks
• Natural (or faux) sprigs of greenery
• Fairy lights

1. First, spread the large glass baubles along the length of the bowl
2. Add the battery pack of some battery-operated fairy lights to the bowl. Make sure that you can easily get to it to turn it on and off. (unless on a timer).
3. Fill in the gaps with pine cones and other natural décor materials
4. Add some small glass baubles and orange slices
5. Tuck some sprigs of greenery into the display
6. Finally, drape the fairy lights over the top

See, I told you it was simple but look how great it looks! This is also the easiest way to decorate coffee tables in small apartments or for creating easy Christmas table decorations in general.

★Tip★ Use surplus Christmas baubles to create festive vignettes in a few easy steps.

Coffee table books

Beautiful coffee table books don't just look great, they also provide entertainment for your guests! Place a stack of interesting books next to your coffee table décor for your guests to find and thumb through at their leisure. Let's face it, the sofa is the perfect place to snuggle up with a good book at Christmastime!

If you're looking for ideas, I'm listing some of my favorite books (and some I'd love to have) below.

Christmas table runner

Table runners with a festive theme can make a big impact underneath your coffee table décor, helping to 'ground' your coffee table décor and make it more visually appealing. Textured placemats will have the same effect. If you are using old boxes for your centerpiece, it's a good idea to use a table runner or placemat underneath to protect your coffee table from scratches.

You can find lots of pretty table runners at this time of year, I've listed a few of my favorites below.

Conclusion

However much we love to decorate our homes at Christmastime, there's no denying that it can come at a cost to our sanity!

The good news is that you don't need much to create a big impact as far as Christmas coffee table décor goes.

Whether you're a fan of neutral décor or prefer a bit of bling, a simple Christmas centerpiece on your coffee table acts as the focal point of your living room. It's a place to rest the eye and can help make your living room look more 'put together'.

By gathering items of various heights and different textures, you can create stunning Christmas vignettes that will make even Santa want to take a closer look!

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas coffee table décor ideas. Next week, together with some of my blogging friends, I'll be sharing another Christmas home tour. I'm going to be sharing my Christmas living room and dining room so don't forget to come back for that if you're interested.

Happy Christmas decorating!

Popular Christmas Posts

Don't forget to subscribe to my weekly newsletter through the form at the end of this post. You'll receive more creative ideas and DIY projects directly into your inbox by signing up. Additionally, you will gain access to our free e-books and printables library.

Join my Facebook group here: Organize, Decorate, Create. I'd love for you to join our community!

Connect with me on Instagram here.

Enjoyed this post? Show your support!

Please consider leaving a comment if you enjoyed this post. I also very much appreciate shares to Pinterest or social media - it helps me a lot and only costs you a minute of your time!