DIY Thanksgiving Table Decor

It's now the night before Thanksgiving! There has been much pre-holiday busy-ness going on around here today... cooking up some dishes ahead of time, baking cookies and pie, and one of my favorite things... putting together the Thanksgiving Centerpiece!

I have to admit, I get far more excited than I probably should about the centerpiece, and quite honestly, my family would probably be just as happy if I just threw a plastic tablecloth on the table with one of those tissue-paper and cardboard turkeys. But I LOVE getting out the fancy linens and making the table look truly festive. I try to do something a little different each year, but there are a few things that I do go back to again and again: I like to have flowers, I like to incorporate fall-ish things like gourds, acorns and leaves, and I love to stick to the glorious color palate of the season... golds, deep reds, oranges, and browns.

This year, I found some gorgeous fall flowers at Trader Joe's (which were also really cheap!) I added in a few dried hydrangeas from my own garden, too. I arranged them all in a simple glass vase, but decided to make it look more "rustic" by covering the vase with twigs tied together with some hemp string. I also decided to make use of the plate of gourds and mini-pumpkins I have had on my table all season (we got most of them from our Farm Share back in October) The gourds will just be arranged around the flowers on the table, but I decided to do something extra-special with the mini pumpkins... I turned them into little tealight holders!

To make these, just just out the top of the pumpkin just as you would for a jack-o-lantern, then scoop out the seeds and strings. Then just place a little tealight inside. If you want to get extra-fancy, you can try cutting little holes or slits in the sides of the pumpkins, but I decided to just keep mine simple.

In addition to the centerpiece, I also worked on a few other things for the table... like these napkins! I just tied each one with a little piece of brown raffia, and tucked in a pretty sprig from an azalea bush in our yard.

I am very excited to see how it all looks together when I set the table tomorrow morning! I am also very much looking forward to spending this special day with my family, giving Thanks and enjoying the day together.