Decorate for Thanksgiving with the harvest of the season.
During the Thanksgiving season, the smell of fall is in the air and the weather has turned crisp and cool. There is no better time to decorate with the tools of nature. Rustic things from the garden and produce from the farmer's market can accent your table and your rooms and give the feeling of warm, homey surroundings. Does this Spark an idea?
Centerpieces
Fall fruit adds color to a lovely centerpiece.
Take a wrought iron or straw basket and line it with burlap or a similar heavy cloth. Lay floral foam in the middle. Wrap floral wire around the stems of gerbera daisies or sunflowers to stand them up in the foam. Cover the foam and the bottom of the basket with moss. Line the inside with gourds, apples or any combination of hearty fruits that will last. Tuck candles around the fruit and light them for a lovely centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table.
Fireplace Mantel
Decorate the mantel with pumpkins.
Let your mantel be the stage for a rustic display of the season. Fill ceramic jars with flowers in fall colors. Good choices are deep, red sunflowers and golden tiger lilies. Add dried flowers like chrysanthemums to the jars for a longer lasting display. Anchor the mantel on either side with the floral arrangements. Line the mantel with leafy branches from your garden and hang them over the edge for a wilder look. Add pillar candles in fall colors and lay fall fruits such as pomegranates randomly on the branches. Bring plants in rustic pots in from the yard and place them underneath the mantel in a random display. Add pumpkins in all sizes and fall leaves to your mantel for a different look.
Candles
Surround candles with autumn leaves and branches.
Let fall-colored candles take over the home. Rusts, deep greens and burgandies will add a touch of the rustic to your decorating. Encircle your candle holders with branches and leaves from outdoors. If you are using a candelabra, attach them to the bottom of the candles with hidden wire. If the candles lay closer to the table, add nuts, faux berries or small oranges alongside the candles. Put a selection of different-size candles surrounded by leaves on a tray for an instant visual treat
Accessories
Line old bottles on the table with a bare branch in each.
Gather a collection of old vintage-looking bottles in different sizes. Line them up on a table. Lay a russet-toned runner underneath. In each bottle, place one long stem, twig or bare branch. Surround the bottles with small votive holders in golden colors. The glow from the candles will light the glass in a lovely way. Take a collection of twigs and sticks and lay them together on a table with a runner underneath. Tie the sticks together with plaid ribbon in fall colors, or some rust or green raffia.
Rustic Accents
Stalks of wheat add a rustic flair to your decorating.
Make a quick wreath by wrapping burlap around a store-bought wreath form. Tie with twine. Add dried flowers randomly around the edges. At parties, let guests drink out of mason jars wrapped in cardboard and tied with raffia. Never forget the power of scent. Boil some mulling spices and light scented, soy candles to add a wonderful fragrance to the air when guests arrive. Pile pumpkins and gourds of all sizes on the porch to announce the arrival of fall. Add stalks of wheat tied in festive, fall-colored ribbon.
Tags: fall colors, bare branch, candles with, dried flowers, lovely centerpiece, mantel with, runner underneath
