Who’s ready for some Thanksgiving tablescape inspiration?! My local friends will be slightly confused as to why I am posting about Thanksgiving when our Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone. No, I did not forget to flip the page on the calendar! I was recently invited by Kristi from French Creek Farmhouse to join herself and a group of other bloggers to showcase our Thanksgiving Tablescapes. Kristi will be sharing 4 talented bloggers on her blog and Instagram each day this week. I am so excited for this Thanksgiving Tablescape Tour, and I can’t wait to see everyone’s amazing tablescapes! Today is my day in the tour, so I’ve decided to walk you through the steps for how I went about creating a simple Thanksgiving tablescape.
This is my first blog hop so to speak, so I thought it would be a fun opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and share my ideas with the world. I pulled out my candles, napkins and pretty plates all over again, while my baby was napping and my 3 year old was (somewhat) occupied. I even went as far as washing the sticky fingerprints off my windows too (which, to be completely honest, pretty much never happens around here!) You’re welcome.
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This October, we hosted my side of the family for our Thanksgiving dinner. I went a lot more fancy than I normally do for family dinners (see this post to read about my original Thanksgiving tablescape). Here’a picture of my tablescape from our Canadian Thanksgiving, from just a few weeks ago:
I loved how it looked last time, but who decorates the exact same way twice? Not me! I thought about how I could change things this time, but still use some of the same elements that I did last time. For starters, I decided not to use my new tablecloth. Funny story—my dad spilled juice all over it at our Thanksgiving dinner, so I had just washed it and put it away and REALLY didn’t feel like ironing it again!
My Guide to Creating a SIMPLE Thanksgiving Tablescape:
1.) Choose a backdrop. Decide if you want an exposed table, tablecloth or table runner.
I decided to scrap the tablecloth (and forgo the ironing!), and go with an exposed table. I love the distressed, farmhouse look of it anyway! The first thing I did was lay out my table runner on the table. My burlap table runner has a charcoal stripe down the middle. I love the rustic, farmhouse backdrop it gives. I think the fringe is cute too!
2.) Choose a base for your centerpiece. It could be a galvanized tray, wooden box, or a cutting board.
On our Thanksgiving, I used a wooden box as my centerpiece, but to switch things up this time I grabbed my acacia cutting board and laid it in the center of the table. I love the rich warm-brown tone of this cutting board. Acacia wood has such beautiful color variation to it. My plan was to use the cutting board as a tray for some candlesticks.
3.) Use candles to create atmosphere. Mix and match wood and metal candle holders of different sizes that you have on hand!
I snagged my distressed-white wooden candle sticks at HomeSense. I have also been eyeing these chunky wood candlesticks for a while now! I had some more traditional metal candlesticks (from Partylite years ago) and placed them on the table also. I tried to space them out so that I didn’t have two tall things side by side, so the heights looked varied. I think a mixture of candlesticks at varying heights and sizes looks so beautiful. I found these fun metal candlesticks and thought they would add sparkle and a modern touch to a table setting!
At each end of the table, I placed these glass lantern candle holders that I picked up at Michael’s recently. They were on clearance—under $5 each! I love the beautiful texture of the jars. The handle and top is a coppery-brown color, which I love.
4.) Add some greenery, a garland, some pumpkins, or leaves (real or faux) for a pop of color.
Eucalyptus is one of my favorite choices for greenery. My eucalyptus stems were from Ikea; I found these silver dollar eucalyptus stems that look very similar. I laid them amongst the candleholders. To add some fall color, I snuck in a few sprigs of faux fall leaves that I found at Dollarama.
5.) Layer your dishes. If you only want dinner plates on the table, consider using chargers or placemats underneath.
My son thought for sure we were having company over, because not only was I cleaning, but I set the table with my fancy dishes again! I used my ivory scalloped edge plates (which I bought from Princess House years ago) and layered them with these transparent brown salad plates (also from Princess House). I also found these similar (and maybe even more beautiful!) scalloped dinner plates and scalloped salad plates that have a rustic, vintage look to them.
7.) Dress up your napkins a little.
On top of the plates, I rolled up my flax-cotton hemstitched napkins and tied them with a piece of jute rope (which I bought at the dollar store). I tucked in a leaf or two which were also simply dollar store florals that I had on hand. (If you wanted to do a similar look for Christmas, you could just tuck in a sprig of holly, an evergreen branch, or pinecones.)
8.) Add your glasses and cutlery.
I almost forgot I even had these goblets that were from Pier 1 years ago. I thought they were the perfect addition to my table setting. If you are looking for stemware, this set of wine goblets has a similar look and great reviews!
All I had left to do was add cutlery, light the candles, and voila, my Thanksgiving Tablescape was ready! This time, thankfully, I wasn’t in a rush to cook a turkey since we weren’t actually having company! I was even able to snap some photos before my son messed up the table and blew out all the candles!
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Don’t forget to check out the other blogger’s posts from the Thanksgiving Table Tour—there’s so much inspiration! I feel so honoured to be a part of this group of talented people! I’d love to hear your impressions and feedback in the comments below! Hearing from my readers is my favorite part of blogging! Thank you all so much for reading, and may you leave here with some fresh ideas today!
More of my own fall-related posts you might enjoy:
A Simple Fall Sign to Decorate a Mantel For Fall
Very beautiful tablescape! Love the neutral colors.
Hi Tammie! I’m glad you like it! I’m loving neutral colors these days! Thanks for stopping by the blog today!
This is so gorgeous! I love the eucalyptus and that way you did the napkins with the leaves!
Thanks so much for your lovely comment, Jessica! I tried to keep it easy and simple!
Gosh, Kyla, you have gone above and beyond with this gorgeous table! First, your entire home is just stunning. We have such a similar color palette, so I get loads of inspiration from you! But I also love the story you told because you really made your design come to life. Hearing about the spills on the table cloth and the fingerprints from your littles made me feel like I was chatting with you over a cup of spiced chai. What a talent you are! We are all so lucky to have you on this tour, and I’ll be reading your blog for life! xo
Kristi, you are sooo sweet! I am so new at this but you are such an encouragement! Thanks for inviting me on the tour!
Lovely tablescape. The simplicity is so pretty. Funny story about your dad spilling juice on the tablecloth. The napkins look wonderful dressed with leaves. A pleasure to join you on this blog hop.
Thank you so much, Linda! My dad had no idea either that he had just spilled juice all over. It’s so exciting to be a part of this table tour!
I love your tablescape! The faux fall leaves you used in the center of the table look totally real. I would have guessed you cut them from your yard. And all of the candles make such a festive fall table.
Hi Nicki! Thanks for your sweet comment! I may have actually cute leaves from my yard, except the leaves around here had long since fallen. We had snow early in September this year!
Hi Kyla! Your table is so beautiful! It’s simple and a little rustic and I love the greenery and candle holders. You did a great job!
Thank you, Kay! Simple and a little rustic is exactly the look I was going for! Glad you liked it! Thanks for stopping by and reading today! 🙂
Thanks for helping out a fellow country with some inspiration even after your Canadian Thanksgiving!! It’s simply gorgeous in every way. Hope you get the stain out of your tablecloth lol!
Hi Traci! I am so glad you liked my tablescape, and you were able to get some inspiration from it! The juice did come out of the tablecloth, luckily, I just wasn’t up for ironing it again so soon! 😉
Everything is gorgeous.
My favorites are your chairs, the variety of candlesticks and those glasses.
Thank you, Carol! I’m starting to acquire quite the candlestick collection, so I figured I should put them to use! Can’t wait to see your creations this blog tour!
I love the simplicity of this beautiful table! I love the burlap runner with the eucalyptus set on top. Your table is stunning!
Sherry, thank you so much! We love our farmhouse table. It was our big furniture purchase when we moved into our house. Thanks for reading today!
Kyla, I’m so glad to be visiting your pretty blog! I loved hearing about your Thanksgiving celebration (totally understand about not wanting to iron again, ug!), and how you switched things up this time. Your design is so welcoming and cozy. I especially love the candlesticks and your runner! Thank you for the inspiration! 🙂
Thank you for the compliment on my blog, Caitlin! That means a lot from someone with such a lovely one herself! I’m glad I just used the runner and left the rest of the table exposed—I didn’t even miss the tablecloth! Looking forward to reading your post tomorrow!
I love your simple steps! They are the perfect formula for a beautiful table like yours! I can’t wait to use leaves on my napkins like you did! Fun to tour with you! Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks, Kristin! Glad you were able to get some ideas from my tablescape! I wanted to use real leaves but our leaves have long since fallen and we now have snow. 🙂