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Maybe Aunt Ethel and Uncle Fred will be admiring your golden brown, fresh-roasted turkey via Zoom.
				Maybe your kids will be munching on cut-out cookies Grandmom sent through Priority Mail.
				Maybe there will only be four people at your holiday table this year &#8230; or three &#8230; or two &#8230; or &#8230; one.
				But no matter how small your gathering might be, no matter if the food is home cooked or take out, you can still set a festive table.
				&ldquo;Pull out the best stuff, the family heirlooms,&rdquo; advises Brian Daubert, director of design at MCR Design Group in Forty Fort. &ldquo;The more elegant, the better.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Absolutely, light candles,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You want to make it special, make it memorable, remind yourself of all the fun you&rsquo;ve had in the past.&rdquo;
				MCR&rsquo;s event-planning services are all booked for Christmas, but earlier this week Daubert said there may still be availability for them to cater a New Year&rsquo;s event, for up to eight people.
				They would bring the food, from appetizers to dessert, as well as linens, a centerpiece of fresh-cut flowers and seasonal greenery, and perhaps gold flatwear set on the table alongside the family&rsquo;s own dishes for a personal touch.
				&ldquo;You want to make it unique,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You want to make it special, so being at home will be more cheerful.&rdquo;
				While the kind of table settings Daubert described sounded ideal for adults, we turned to designer Jackie Ruane of The Creative Touch, a business she runs from her Jenkins Township home, to ask about less formal table settings for families with younger members.
				Her first idea? Get the children involved in making the table setting memorable.
				&ldquo;Children are always looking for ways to be creative now that they aren&rsquo;t physically in art class,&rdquo; she said.
				Reminiscing about the years when her own daughter and son, Jordan and Patrick &ldquo;Patch,&rdquo; were younger, she said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d have the kids make place settings, little cards they&rsquo;d fold in half and put a little turkey there (for Thanksgiving) or a little Christmas tree.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;You can get a tray and put all fresh greens on it; you could put some branches there; you could send the kids out to gather pine cones and add them,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;The sky is the limit when it comes to decorating your tablescape.&rdquo;
				And, speaking of the sky, look up. Depending the kind of light fixture on your ceiling, you might be able to hang colorful glass ornaments or plastic snowflakes from it or even drape evergreen boughs from it.
				As long as the children are old enough to be careful, she said it makes the occasion memorable to bring out the heirloom dishes. Her own traditions include bringing out Grandma Margaret&rsquo;s tiered plates, which are ideal for arranging candy and cookies, as well as Grandma Jean&rsquo;s china dish with the floral design, which usually proves to be a most gracious vessel for holding the mashed potatoes or another side dish.

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‘Pull out the best stuff, the family heirlooms’