How to Decorate Your Thanksgiving Table on a Budget

It takes surprisingly little effort and expense to create beautiful table decorations for Thanksgiving. Here are a few tips.

If you already own a cream colored tablecloth, this is the perfect color to set off Thanksgiving table decorations, which are generally red or orange/ brown. If you must purchase one, consider your purchase an investment, as the neutral color will work well for other occasions, too.

The centerpiece is the star attraction for the Thanksgiving table. Try this: choose a vase that will fit inside a large pumpkin. Take a marker pen and draw around the bottom of the vase on the top of the pumpkin. Gut the pumpkin, insert the vase and fill with seasonal or artificial flowers in autumn colors. Or fill vase with colorful smooth stones and add a candle.

You can create candle holders to use as Thanksgiving table decorations out of mini-pumpkins or gourds to compliment your centerpiece, or use fruit such as pears or apples. Trace the bottom of a votive candle on the top of the fruit, then cut out an inch or so of the core to support the candle. Trim the bottom of the fruit so it sits flat on a small plate. Then add votive candles or candlesticks that match the colors in your centerpiece to complete the piece.

Head out into the yard to gather autumn leaves you can use as Thanksgiving table decorations. Gently wash and dry the leaves, then write each guest’s name on a leaf in black marker and use these as place setting tags.  You can spruce up these table decorations by cutting rectangles with decorative edges out of cream colored construction paper to attach to the leaves. Then write guests’ names with an autumn colored marker. Guests can bring these personalized decorations home as keepsakes.