AN EASY THANKSGIVING TABLESCAPE TO IMPRESS

Greetings! Today I’m going to share with you an easy Thanksgiving tablescape to impress your guests.

Hosting Thanksgiving is a difficult endeavor, involving a whole lot of effort. So I thought one way to simplify the effort would be to find a way to create an impressive table-setting without a lot of work or expense. In my case I decided to repurpose some of the items I had used for my son’s wedding, which we hosted here at home.

For his wedding I had purchased what seemed like a truckload of white linen tablecloths from a favorite vendor, H & M Home. H & M has quality, stylish items for the home at very affordable prices.

Getting Tablecloths Ready For The Wedding Reception

We had used natural burlap table runners on the wedding reception tables, running them length-wise down the middle of the long tables that sat 20 people each. The burlap table runners were 14″ wide by 30′ long.

I had saved these long runners so for my Thanksgiving table, I decided to cut them down and run them width-wise over the table instead of lengthwise. This way the runners became placemats for 2 settings. Since the burlap comes in 30 foot lengths, it’s easy to cut them to whatever size would fit your particular table.

I also used over 100 Mason Jars of various sizes as candle holders on each wedding table. We filled each jar with Epson Salts which held the unscented, 10 hour burning, votive candles in place, looked pretty, and collected wax drips. I saved the over 500 Mason Jars used at the wedding reception and repurposed some of them for my Thanksgiving Tablescape.

For greenery amongst the Mason Jars I headed to my wonderful local flower shop, Wildflowers at the Lake, where I purchased some long stalks of greenery.

I arranged the greenery amongst the Mason Jar Votives and added some stalks of orange berries, cut from my yard. This created a low, unconstructed centerpiece that wouldn’t obstruct conversation across the table.

On top of each table-runner I added a fluted Melamine Charger (no longer available), topped them with a dinner plate, and added a tied napkin with a sprig of fresh rosemary from my garden tucked inside.

The napkins matched the white tablecloths, and were also leftover from my son’s wedding. In an effort to save on the wedding budget I actually sewed the white linen napkins, all 100 of them, by cutting up additional tablecloths from H & M Home. While they were time consuming to sew, they ended up being much cheaper to make then to rent or buy! Plus I got to keep them, giving a set to my son and his new bride as well. If you don’t feel like sewing your napkins from tablecloths H & M Home sells affordable linen napkins here to match their tablecloths.

Party Favors

I love to make individual party favors when I entertain, and especially like a favor that can add to my place-setting. For this tablescape I had just the thing, inspired by a post on my friend Mary Ann’s Blog, Classic Casual Home. Mary Ann had shared a recipe for Sicilian Herb Salt and I thought it would be the perfect favor for my guests too. The herbed salt, which I renamed Herbs de Provence Salt, was inexpensive and super easy to make. Plus each of my guests would have something to add to their kitchens as a reminder of our Thanksgiving together.

I filled small, wide-mouth Mason Jars with my Herbs de Provence Salt, tied them up in gray and white Baker’s Twine and added a cute little metal rimmed tag. Find similar tags here.

To complete my table setting I used my Napoleon Flatware Service from Neiman Marcus.

I own this flatware in a color similar to the one currently called Pearl Champagne.

But this flatware also comes in an array of other lovely colors to match any place-setting. The flatware is so popular Neman Marcus has offered it for sale for many years, probably because it’s attractive and affordable at $150.00 for a 20 piece setting.

I love my Michael Aram Fig Leaf Salt and Pepper Shakers, no longer available. The silver wine trivet was purchased on a trip to Chile. By the way, I always place wine trivits for red wine on my tables to keep drips and rings off my tablecloth. You may have also noticed my rattan-wrapped water glasses. I love these glasses, purchased sometime ago at World Market. I think the rattan compliments the natural theme often used for Thanksgiving, but they are also great on a casual Summertime tablescape.

World Market no longer has my exact glasses but they now offer similar, Rattan Wrapped Glasses, on sale now for $12.52 for a set of 4. If you are a member of Rakuten you can also receive a 4% rebate when you purchase them. Not a Rakuten member? Sign up by clicking here. I fill water glasses before my guests are seated, and then leave carafes of ice water on each end of the table for guests to refill their glasses during the meal.

Cocktails In The Bar

I start all my dinner parties in our bar where guests could pour themselves a glass of wine from my beautiful silver wine chiller. Find a similar wine chiller here. Because so much food is served for Thanksgiving Dinner I keep appetizers to a minimum. In this case we enjoyed mini quiches prepared by a friend. By the way, I decided not to place wine glasses on the dining table because I knew guests would be bringing their wine glasses from the bar to the table.

I had also purchased the cutest Goose Head Cocktail Napkins here for the occasion.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Because my tablescape occupied the center of my table there wasn’t room to place food on the dining table. So, rather than plating the dinner, or passing dishes family style, I opted for a help-yourself-buffet on my kitchen table. The centerpiece of any Thanksgiving meal is of course the turkey. Every year my guests rave over my recipe for Brine Cured Roast Turkey. Get my delicious recipe here and wow your guests with a super moist and flavorful turkey.

Thanksgiving in our home simply would not be Thanksgiving without my yummy recipe for Sweet Cornbread and Simply Irresistible Creamed Biscuits.

And for dessert I always serve my throw-down-winning Pumpkin Pie. A friend also added her wonderful homemade Coconut Cream Pie.

Thanksgiving will be here before you know it so now’s the time to shop for your tablescape, plan your menu, and make your grocery list. For all my favorite Thanksgiving recipes click here.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of gratitude and the love of friends and family.

For More Thanksgiving Inspiration See These Posts:

• A Thanksgiving To Remember
• A Capital Thanksgiving
• A Simple Yet Lovely Thanksgiving Table
• How To Set A Lovely Thanksgiving Table
• How To Set A Magnificent Thanksgiving Table
• My Thanksgiving Survival Guide
• My Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

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So there you have it: AN EASY THANKSGIVING TABLESCAPE TO IMPRESS

Thanks so much for dropping in!

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All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission. This blog post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.  It’s what helps to make this blog possible. Thanks very much for your support.