In the Philippines, we have sari-sari stores — small shops usually attached to a person’s home, selling different sorts of goods. As a child, I dreamt of having my own, but I guess this is the closest I’m ever going to come to it. Sharing different stories — sari-sari stories — most especially from my experiences and learnings as a daughter of the King of Kings, as wife of my husband King, and as mom to our three princesses. 😊
We hosted a few dinner parties this Christmas and I just wanted to share my very simple, very minimal and very inexpensive table settings. I don’t like to waste and I don’t like to spend much, so I usually work with what I have to limit my purchases. Some people notice and appreciate what I do, while others don’t really care or acknowledge. Either way, I just want to make the table look decent for any get-together. 🙂
This was for our couples’ group Christmas party. I did not buy anything new to set it up. Our plates are 8 years old — wedding gifts. 🙂I wanted to personalize it, so I made letters out of green pipe cleaners (fuzzy wires). I only have 4 red table napkins, so I worked with them. The ribbon-wrapped votives are from last year’s (2011) “design.” 🙂The adults’ table. Again, nothing new here, except the red table napkins which I bought a month before. I recycled the Christmas balls (which have been with me for at least 4 years) and the votives. 🙂The kids’ table. I bought the Chinese gift boxes a week before our annual Happy Birthday Jesus party, not knowing what I was going to use it for. I was happy with how nice it turned out as a candle holder. I like the effect very much. I used my reindeer plates again, which have been with me for four years, and it’s great that the local supermarket has many choices now on plastic spoons and forks. I had the table cloth made 3 or 4 years ago. 🙂This was for my youth/singles group’s annual Christmas tradition, second year. I brought my table runner from home and reused the Chinese gift boxes, filled them with balls and other old, broken Christmas elements. 🙂The plates and chopsticks are new, but very affordable. 🙂This whole concept began with chopsticks, which I bought on the first half of 2012, also not knowing what I was going to do with them exactly. I bought the plates to give as gifts (yes, they washed them after eating noodles and dumplings, so they could bring them home). I also made the Christmas cards attached to the chopsticks. 🙂This was for our victory groups Christmas party. Thankful for colored paper plates, which I opted for as I anticipated more guests than usual, and colored spoons and forks, available at the local supermarket.I recycled the Chinese gift boxes and votives again. 🙂This was a last-minute prep for dinner with relatives from the U.S. I didn’t cook, so the least I could do was to make the table look half-decent haha. 🙂I used old ribbon and old Christmas balls to make decorative napkin holders. 🙂Christmas eve! Only the place mats and flowers are new. Even the candles are old, handed down to me 3 years ago. Still good and still unlit to this day haha. 🙂New Year’s Eve! Our motif for the Luceros’ annual New Year’s eve get-together was red and white, so I thought I’d do a red and white table as well. 🙂Only thing new are the red floating candles. Even the flowers are from Christmas eve haha. 🙂I forgot to light up the floating candles in all the excitement, so I can still use them in the future, yay! 🙂
I am Phoebe Torres-Lucero, wife of a loving husband & my best friend, King, and mother to three wonderful, smart, active princesses who keep me on my toes.
Phoebe means bright and radiant. Torres means towers. Lucero means light. Put together, my name speaks of a tower of bright, radiant light. And that is what I hope to be as I write and share my sari-sari stories with you. 😊
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Phoebe's Sari-Sari Stories 
Beautiful as always, dapat i share sa pinterest!
red christmas balls is one of my favorite Christmas ornaments. love how you use them on your table settings.
thanks peer 🙂
I love them all!!! 🙂 Very creative and ingenious! Can’t wait for next Christmas! Haha.