"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name." ~ Psalm 100:4. 

A verse so appropriate for this Thanksgiving! After a rough 2020 - 2021 came and blessed us! Although there were some "downs," there were many more "ups," and we have so many things to be thankful for! 

My family and I love to celebrate Thanksgiving and take a step back to acknowledge all we are thankful for the past year. It forces us to pause for a moment, reflect, and appreciate everything we often take for granted. 

EASY THANKSGIVING TABLE DECOR

As much as Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks and the sentimental values behind it, I do like to make things pretty! Making your surroundings beautiful and memorable adds so much to the ambiance, warmth, and joy!

A little decor and effort never go unnoticed. 

I'm always trying to create something beautiful out of the simplest of things. Elements from nature, items I already have in my home, vintage finds, or clever DIY alternatives are my go-to for decor.

These Thanksgiving table decor ideas are easy, budget-friendly, and can be repurposed.

DIY Place cards / cutlery holders

Every year before Thanksgiving, I like to make cute little place cards from salt dough. They also serve as perfect gifts for your guests to hang on their Christmas trees!

This year I chose fun leaf and name tag shapes which you can cut using cookie cutters. You can then stamp them with the person's name and place them on each place setting. Feel free to paint or bedazzle them with gold glitter for extra glam!

I use THIS recipe for making the salt dough place cards! ( the only other thing I added was a Tbs of turmeric to make them a slight more yellow fall tone than just white.

Budget-friendly placemats

If I had to buy new placemats for every occasion, I'd have a stack to the roof, an unhappy bank account, and a husband shaking his head! Well, that he does anyway, lol! No, he actually approves of all I do.

A clever way to avoid spending tons of money on placemats that need to match your theme and decor is to buy fabric and make ones yourself!

I'll go to the fabric store or see what I have at home and choose something that will compliment my theme and colors.

Use a big enough round object to trace the circle on the fabric, cut them, and voila, you've got yourself a DIY placemat! You can also do this in a rectangle shape. For this year I picked a beautiful plaid pattern in neutral fall tones.

One thing I also always use is linen napkins. I’ve had them a long time and they go with everything!

Flowers and leaves

I'm always turning to nature for decor inspiration. There are so many beautiful things outside that can create something magical. And flowers and leaves never disappoint.

These leave branches with their beautiful autumn colors were perfect for my theme. It created a fairytale-like canopy over the table, adding a touch of romance! I also framed the big mirror with leaves, tying it all together. 

Our garden is still giving us beautiful dahlias so those went on the table as well in fall inspired tones.

The pop of color found in these dahlias brings the whole table to life! It complements the green, yellow, and earth tones so well!

Earthy tones and candlelight

Keeping it simple and sticking to the natural theme, I used neutral, earthy tones to create a sense of calmness and allow the autumn colors to be the star of the show.

Using my antique silverware, candlesticks, and amber glass bottles adds a touch of old-world charm and warmth. Tealight candles make it all cozy and glistening! I even added mercury glass holiday ornaments.

Traditions

Not only do I like to decorate, but I also love traditions!

Every year on Thanksgiving, I like to include some traditional family activities to bring us closer together and share some quality, meaningful time together.  

Some of these traditions include:

• Exchanging and reading our "Leaves of Thanks." This is a great activity to involve the kids. In short, before Thanksgiving, we would write down thank notes on leaves and hang them up. Then on Thanksgiving, we read them out loud to the family. HERE is an entire blog on how to make them.

• Cooking together as a family. THIS Thanksgiving stuffing recipe is amazing!

• We like to sing a special song together. See last years tablescape, along with the song HERE

• Looking at old photos.

• Take a walk in the park or on our farm grounds and explore mother nature!

• Give thanks by helping out at our local food pantry or donating food to them.

• Bake a pumpkin pie for someone.

• Play board games or a round of charades. We LOVE to do this!

• Rest, and sleep off the tons of food!

I hope I inspired you with these easy Thanksgiving decor and activity ideas! Don’t let it overwhelm you, just enjoy and embrace! May your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season!

Love, Annette xx

All Images Kristin Faye Photography

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