This year, I'm hosting my first Thanksgiving in the new house! I've been thinking about this awhile (I'm sure I haven't made mention of it to my family and friends lest they think I'm crazy to be thinking about it for so long). When I finally got down to the details, I realized there's so much to do! My mother has been great with all of it - she's bringing most of the food (minus the appetizers, a few of the dishes and the cake).
I had on my to do list only a few things. To come up with some before dinner snacks. To host it at my house (meaning the place had to be relatively clean and this is a task which I have trouble undertaking as I can be the most disorganized person on the planet) to bake my father a birthday cake (more on that another time) and to set the Thanksgiving table.
This blog is about the last item on that list (and surprisingly the most challenging!) I had no clue how to go about making a centerpiece and providing visually pleasing table settings for all my guests. I knew I couldn't go too expensive, and I also knew I didn't want something plain.
So for those who are trying to save some money and still come up with something pretty, keep on reading. I'm proud of myself! I think (and perhaps I'm biased) I came up with a few good ideas. Let's start with the place settings.
This was probably where I spent most of my money, but only because I didn't own linens and a tablecloth. If you already do, then this is really super cheap to make. Here's a list of things you'll need, most can be found at an arts and crafts store. I went to Michael's.
linen napkins
ribbon
fabric leaves
fabric pen or marker
fake fruit
candles
candleholders
I buffed my silverware and then folded each linen napkin in half, and rolled the silverware in it. I cut the ribbon long enough for two wrap arounds and a bow. What I mean is this:
So you cross over once on the front, once on the back, and tie the bow on the front, creating two "ballet slipper" folds. :) Since my dining room is a deep maroon color, I have a gold tablecloth and gold napkins so I bought maroon ribbon. Of course, you may use any color you wish.
Once the sliverware was wrapped and ribboned, I chose several nice fabric fall leaves (one for each guest) and wrote a Thanksgiving quote on each of them (well, I wrote "Give Thanks" but I think it would be neater if you had the time and the patience to write out longer quotes..) Then I let the leaves dry, and tucked one into each set of silverware, at the bottom fold.
For my centerpiece, I used the rest of the leaves, and then I bought a bunch of red grapes (also at Michael's). If you have a small serving dish, you can use that as your base for the centerpiece, but you could probably do this right on the tabletop too. Using whatever candleholder you have sitting around (mine was a three votive holder, but a one or two would work too, though I think the more candles the prettier this is).
I covered the serving plate with a few of the fabric leaves, and then set the candleholder on top. Then I added the grapes, and I surrounded the whole thing with the remainder of the leaves. And that's it!
Cute, huh? And very cheap. Plus, it looks nice. Happy table setting!
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