I can’t believe that Halloween has past and we are on the down hill slide to Thanksgiving!  I spent my weekend putting away Halloween decor and bringing out the Fall decor – again! Oh, OKAY!  I watched a lot little football in there too!  I don’t do a lot of decorating for Thanksgiving because we usually always go to my Dad’s house for the holiday.  I usually have my tree up before we leave for Dad’s house so that I can do last minute shopping the weekend after AND focus on the rest of the indoor decor while the Hubs does the outdoor lighting.  It can take days. One thing I did get done was my Thanksgiving Table.  And I am going to show you how to do it without buying anything new~

We will start with the dining room tablescape. I decided to do something a little different this year instead of the same old thing.  I started with an off white runner.  I’ve had this one for awhile now.

And these fall placemats. I have used these ones for a long time now.

I put my pumpkin candle centerpiece in the center of the table and added fall leaves, pinecones acrylic jewels and acorns…

All of these I have had for awhile and are in my fall “fluff” or small extra “stuff” box.

Here’s the other end of the table.  I am not a “match-matchy” person, so I don’t always do the same thing at both ends of the table.  It’s OK to do this as long as the scale is the same.

Then it was on to the place setting. I started with a gold charger that I always use, but quickly decided it was too much gold and went with the orange ones that I used for Halloween.  I love to use my Granny’s china. I have to admit that when I was younger I didn’t like this pattern at all!  Over time I have come to love the brown against the white in this Noritake pattern.  Also the mum’s are perfect for fall! I normally would have just used white dishes.

I then added green salad plates.  I love layering.  It makes the table look more interesting and colorful.

This year I skipped my jeweled napkin rings and went for something a little more simple that had some glam.  Ribbon, feathers and glitter!  I used two different type of napkins for interest.  This one with a leaf embroidery pattern, tied with a faux leather brown ribbon into a simple bow.  I used the faux fall leaves – let’s face it, here in Texas it just got cooler. There are NO leaves that have fallen or changed colors as of yet. So while I would much rather have real leaves, faux it is!  I used that leaf as decoration AND as a place card by adding a gold glitter initial to the leaf and placing it on the napkin.  I added some cerise feathers for a little glam.

On this place setting I used an orangish-red napkin with stamped leaves.  My bow is a cheetah print.  Again I added the fall leaf with the gold glitter initial and the cerise feathers.

I added brown water glasses that and silverware. My Thanksgiving table is complete and I didn’t spend a dime! Woo Hoo!

What I like best about this table?  I used everything that I had here at the house. So this table cost me nothing!  I will admit that I think that I will be hitting the Thanksgiving days sales this year in hopes of finding a different placemat. I have had these for awhile and will admit to getting a little tired of them.

Best tip?  IRON EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU START.  I cannot stress this enough.  The napkin above looks a little wrinkly and I ironed it thoroughly. Imagine what it would look like had I not.  A few extra minutes of ironing can make your linens look like new, no matter how old they are, therefore make your table look fantastic.

Tip two:   Your holiday decor doesn’t have to be new every year. Shop you own house. Mix it up!  A lot of times we have stuff we have never used or an abundance of stuff that we have had forever, that can be used to make a great tablescape or vignette.  So get creative, you can use the money you saved for something you really love!  Like a manicure, or chocolate, or wine or a massage….

Here are a few more fall vignettes that are placed around the house.  This is in my kitchen eating area.  We have had these little pilgrims since our boys were really small! I usually put these on the mantel.

I have never used this soup tureen that I won at Pokeeno before, so I thought I would dust it off and use it on the sideboard.  I love the faux wooden tray too.  Just added a bit of “fluff” – pinecones, leaves, and  berries for a five minute vignette!  Again, I had all of this here at the house.

Moral of this story?  Unless you have had a natural disaster of mass destruction totally level your house, I think that you can dig in cupboards and use grandma’s china, mom’s tablecloth, your old dishes and little imagination to create holiday decor that you love!

Until next time…..

              Tammy