Dining Room Centerpieces - Do you set the table?

I always struggle with my dining room table centerpiece.  Not sure what happens here, but it never turns out the way I want it to look.  Maybe its because the ones I see in magazines have fully set tables which makes everything look better.  I am not setting my table for a meal that is not happening.  My kids will have that silverware all over the house, the napkins on their heads, and the plates outside.  I don't even want to think about what would happen to my Waterford wine glasses! AH!!!  This means, I need to dress up a table without the full dressings and just be happy with it.



Last year in my 7 or 8 week post baby bliss, I made a centerpiece using a large round silver tray, a cake plate, tiny poinsettias, candles and a few Christmas balls.  It worked for last year, everything that got decorated last year worked just because I had a 2 year old and a newborn.  I tried the same arrangement this year and it just didn't work at all.  It was down right blah.  Case in point below: 

Its okay but not the idea of holiday wonderment that I really would love to evoke.  I started looking for fresh ideas and found beautiful inspiration everywhere, but again these tables were all set, making everything come together so much better --- do people really do this in real homes???

I think my favorite idea (read into it: somewhat doable idea), came from Sweet Something Designs.  I love the use of the lantern and the greens. Its simple and elegant and also warms the space up.  It totally destroys my poor excuse for a centerpiece.  

I set out shopping yesterday hoping to find a great lantern and greens to create my own similar look.  I found a lantern at Pier 1 for only $15 which seemed like a deal since I saw others for lots more.  And then I headed to Michael's for the greens.  You would think that people were giving crafty stuff away to every kid in the world this Christmas.  That place was a mad house.  Shelves were empty, wreath embellishment were thrown on the ground, and there was even a baby crying at the cash register --- it was basically Armageddon.  Wives were even there with their husbands - I could not pay my husband to go into that store, let alone to venture in when madness is happening.   

I didn't find exactly what I wanted but I figured that I just need to shop earlier next year to really get what I want and this year would just have to be a practice year on the centerpiece.  Here is how it turned out:

I still had the tiny poinsettias and didn't want to waste them so I threw them in and I had Christmas balls there from the previous centerpiece so they got added too.  I don't think this is my best work by a long shot, but at least it beats what was happening there.  I'll keep tweaking it for the next week or so before I decide if I like it or not, but so far its okay.