15 Terrific Tablescapes for the Ultimate Thanksgiving

[Image via Refinery 29]

One of the best things about decorating for Thanksgiving is that your materials are free. Yes, you heard right…FREE! What? Why? Where? How…you ask? Here’s how: just open your back door or walk to your local park and look around. Sticks, pinecones, vibrant fallen leaves, acorns—these craft supplies, courtesy of Mother Nature, are plentiful this time of year.

So grab a duffel, head outside, and gather your loot. It’s time to decorate for Thanksgiving!

DECORATE WITH STICKS

1. Running with Sticks

Trim sticks to the same length and glue each end to a neutral-colored ribbon. This stick table runner will add the perfect rustic tone to your Thanksgiving centerpiece. And after all that work, you can store it in the basement and use it next year.

Photo via Decorating Your Small Space.

2. Standing Sticks

It’s impossible to deny…sticks are beautiful things. Bundle different types together and stand them up in glass vases and jars. For a little extra color, try knotting a bright ribbon around the glass. Line these stick arrangements up down the center of your Thanksgiving table for a modern, yet rustic tablescape.

Photo via Apartment Therapy.

3. Lovely Logs

For those comfortable with a saw, this Thanksgiving centerpiece is a real showstopper. Cut logs and branches to different lengths, making sure that your cuts are even and perpendicular, and arrangement them down the center of your Thanksgiving table. (Or, skip the DIY part and buy your wood slices on Etsy.) Tuck moss and pinecones around the wooden stair step arrangement and top with votives in glass holders.

Photo via Colin Cowie Weddings.

DECORATE WITH PINECONES

4. Paint and Pinecones

Your backyard is not the only place to rummage for DIY Thanksgiving centerpiece materials. Try your garage or recycling bin. Stripe paint or food cans with painter’s tape, then paint the colors of your liking. Arrange pinecones in and around the cans down the center of your table. This one is a winner because they are low enough that you can have a conversation with your friend across the table.

Photo via Lowes.

5. Towering Topiaries

Hot glue pinecones to a Styrofoam ball to make these stately pinecone topiaries for your Thanksgiving table or buffet. Use different length sticks to create a dynamic grouping of three and pot them in nature-inspired pots. (Bonus tip: add a red bow and jingle bells and style them on your mantle a month later for Christmas!)

Photo via Neiman Marcus.

6. Pinecone Vases

Yes, this looks like a painstaking project to undertake, but these guys will make it to your table every Thanksgiving for sure! Snip off the pinecone scales and starting at the bottom of a fishbowl vase, hot glue them in rows until you reach the top. A brightly colored floral or leaf arrangement would look gorgeous in the center of your Thanksgiving table.

Photo via Flor Art Silva on Etsy.

DECORATE WITH LEAVES

7. Love Those Leaves!

It’s so easy to preserve the beautiful colors of autumn leaves to use in your Thanksgiving centerpiece. Just load them up in mason jars to add a vibrant pop to your fall tablescape.

Photo via Happy Wedd.

8. Steal Magnolias

If you are lucky enough to live where magnolia trees grow, this elegant magnolia runner would be a lovely (and simple) DIY Thanksgiving centerpiece. Just wire bundles of leaves to a rope and lay down the center of your table. Magnolia leaves are hearty enough to last for days before (and after) Thanksgiving.

Photo via Style Me Pretty.

9. Gold Leaf

Drill tiny holes down the center of a long piece of narrow wood and place in the center of your table. Insert the stems of spray-painted leaves. Make sure your leaves are hearty enough to remain upright for the whole Thanksgiving meal. (Hack idea: use fake leaves to be sure they’ll survive!)

Photo via Simple Wedding Stuff.

DECORATE WITH ACORNS

10. Felt Acorns

Replace the bottom of the acorn with felt beads from Tadaa Studio to make this lovely bowl to top your Thanksgiving table. Mix up the colors up or create an ombre effect with varying shades of the same hue. To tie them into your table decor, glue one to the ends of string and tie around each guest’s napkin.

Photo via Free People Blog.

11. Painted Acorns

Sit the kids down with a bowl of acorns and a few colors of paint while you are cooking the Thanksgiving feast. Fill tall cylindrical vases with the acorns for a rustic, yet colorful DiY Thanksgiving table topper.

Photo via Home Stories A to Z.

12. Acorn Candle Wreath

Glue whole and partial acorns to an 8-inch Styrofoam wreath and place a few down the center of your Thanksgiving table. Stand a pillar candle in the center of each one.

Photo via Moja Przystan.

DECORATE WITH PLANTS AND FLOWERS

13. Floral Flair

No one said that you have to decorate your Thanksgiving table with only fallen brown, red, and yellow bits of nature. Deep purples and turquoise are an unexpected combo for this autumn holiday.

Photo via Project Wedding.

14. Wild Abandon

What would happen if you snipped tall wildflowers and greenery from your garden and just laid it down the center of your table? For a more casual Thanksgiving with friends, this effortless look appears effortful.

Photo via 100 Layer Cake.

15. Plentiful Planter

Cabbages, pumpkins and other leafy greens combine in this elegant natural Thanksgiving arrangement.  Green is gorgeous, even in the fall.

Photo via The Daily Basics.