Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I have to admit that I haven’t thought about the dining table centerpiece. What can I say; I’ve been focused on the food. If you are like me, here are some last minute centerpiece ideas that won’t take you too long. And of course, it wouldn’t be from Outdoor Lighting Perspectives if there weren’t lights involved!
Add something to the vase. One of the simplest things to do to dress up your holiday table is to place some column candles in a vase. To dress it up a little bit, place something in the base of the vase. Some ideas that go with the season include dry corn kernels, mixed nuts and acorns.
Leaves. Fall leaves have all the colors of the season and will instantly bring some color to your table. There are a few ways to do it. The easiest is to go outside and find some leaves in your yard that are bright and beautiful. We do suggest rinsing the leaves in the sink so no dirt ends up in the food. Fake leaves can be purchased at craft stores if you want to go that route, or make it a kids’ craft. Ask your sons or daughters to cut out some leaves from construction paper! You can take it one step further and write your guests’ names on the leaves and use them as place cards too! Place some votive candles (in mini vases) throughout the table to add the light!
Flowers in a pumpkin. Pumpkins, like leaves, are synonymous with the falls season. That’s why we are big fans of including them into your holiday décor. Take a large pumpkin and clean it out as if you were going to carve it for Halloween. Instead, place a large vase in it and stick in a bouquet of flowers. To make it shine, pick up some LED branches from the craft store. They are battery operated and will make the arrangement pop. If you have a large table, do this with two pumpkins and scatter smaller pumpkins and gourds throughout the rest of the space.
Place the focus elsewhere. Growing up we hosted all of our family for Thanksgiving, between 20-35 people depending on the year. With that many people, we needed all the space on the table for the enormous amounts of food that had to be served. Instead of having large centerpieces, we focused on the place settings. In the middle of the table, we placed simple candles to add light and ambiance, and then did something special on the plate. Some ideas for you to consider include, small pumpkins or gourds with ribbon with a name written on it and pine cones with name cards placed in their branches.
We hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!