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Thanksgiving Tabletop Tips

by 232 Comments

Every year I swoon at the Pottery Barn catalogue and their many varied and luscious Thanksgiving tabletops. Have you ever calculated how much money it would cost to do a table exactly like theirs? A lot of money. An obscene amount of money. So, every year I set out to make my tables comfortable, fresh, and inviting. I took Darby’s tutorial on making Christmas stickers and made Thanksgiving ‘cards’ that I tied to pumpkins.

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Then, I printed out the names of my guests {in elephant font at 36pt}, taped them to these cute Martha Stewart tags—that I found in the scrapbook section of Walmart—and tied them with twine to the pumpkins stalks.

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Then, I took all my mismatched gold goblets and white dishes and set my table.

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I lined the center of the table with 10 votive candles {I bought the votive holders on clearance at Pier One for $1 and then put ’ember’ votive candles in the holders–also from Pier One. ‘Ember’ is a most wonderful combination of orange, cinnamon, and cloves.

I used different colors and words at everyones’ place setting and you can download the words in sets of two in the form of pdf files. For the words joyful and thankful, click here. For the words lovely and wishful click here. For the words merry and cheer, click here. For the words grateful and cherish, click here.
Voila! A fresh Thanksgiving table for under $30 (unless you count the printer ink)!
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And because I don’t know when to stop with a good thing, I printed my Thanksgiving menu and my current ‘to-do’ in the same way. I’m pretty certain that I’m more motivated to finish my ‘to-do’ list when it looks like this.

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Then, I officially declared this ‘Home-Economics’ week at Logos School and rallied the troops to help me

1)Bake the sweet potatoes {I’ll add the brown sugar, cream, and butter and then bake them again before Thursday}

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2) Peel the russet potatoes—all ten pounds of them—-for the chive mashed potatoes. We’ll doctor these up later too but at least the peeling and cooking are done!

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3) Bake faux-made bread. I use this Rhodes brand all the time when I need homeade bread in a pinch. You just spray a muffin tin with Pam and put two of these frozen dough balls in each tin. Let them rise for 5-6 hours and then bake them. I’ll be making my standard Parker House Rolls for Thursday too but this way, we’ll have plenty for my family to take home with their leftovers.

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And then we sat down and spent a couple hours reading about the Pilgrims and their amazing journey across the Atlantic—and how they landed in a foreign country—tired, sick, hungry with no ready available food or shelter.

We are so blessed. With so many brave people for whom to be thankful.
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Check over at Kimba’s DIY day for more creative solutions that are easy to do yourself.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Donna says

    Beautiful table…love the name tags! I might need to enlist my kiddos is a "home ecomomic" week πŸ™‚ By the way, I linked you over on my blog…I purchased the "Jesse Tree" book and loved it!!! Thanks so much for all your wonderful ideas!

    Reply

  3. Mrs. Dunbar says

    The table is already set?? I wish I was that far ahead of the game. Hoping your bronchitis is under control.

    I've just read your Blog Friendship post and my dear, I feel like we are old friends. Perhaps one day you'll make it out to California, or I'll make it out to your neck of the woods.

    Happy Thanksgiving Edie.

    Reply

  6. Molly says

    How beautiful!! Love your table!! I like the way you used your mismatched glasses, you've got me doing it now πŸ™‚ I hope you family has a blessed Thanksgiving Edie!!
    ~Molly P

    Reply

  7. Darby says

    Edie, I think you've put that tutorial to better use than I have! πŸ™‚ The table looks fabulous. I love the soft glow of the candles, the pumpkins, the tags, the menu… can I please come? And, those rolls, so glad to know about them! I'll have to keep my eyes peeled!

    Reply

  10. Karin Katherine says

    Gorgeous! I'm pretty sure I'm more motivated to finish my to do list when its color coded and fabulous looking too. Hmmm, maybe I should spend my evening creating a gorgeous list to jump start my holiday attitude?

    Reply

  12. Michelle F says

    What a beautiful tablescape. What an inspiration that it could be done on a budget too. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

    Reply

  13. Julie Harward says

    Hi there…just found your blog and I love it. We too have a blended family (8..3 his, 3 mine and 2 between us) of 27 years now..they are all married now and we have 19 grand children at this time. They are all coming for Thanksgiving, I'm so excited that I put my Christmas tree up 1 1/2 weeks ago and all the gifts are wrapped and under the tree!(that will save having to mail them)
    I really love your style-flair and your love for family and faith..we are alike in many ways. Come say hi πŸ˜€

    Reply

  14. Ami says

    A few things…
    1- I have a Pottery barn outlet less than 15 min from my house (yes, I have timed it). I can easily spend hours of time there looking for treasures at crazy discount prices. And yes, you are all invited to come visit and shop.
    2- That photo of the baked sweet potatoes made my mouth water- and that's before the cream and brown sugar!
    3- I covet your decorated table. We go to the boyfriend's family's house for Thanksgiving, so I will have to live vicariously through others fabulous table decor.

    Reply

  15. Jennifer says

    What a beautiful, beautiful Thanksgiving table! So many great ideas… I love your variety of goblets! You are so organized… I'm sure that makes for a relaxed day! πŸ™‚

    Reply

  17. Robin's Nesting Place says

    Your table is beautiful! I love all of the personal touches!

    I noticed your daughter's shirt too, so cute!

    Reply

  21. Jessica says

    Love all your mismatched glasses. I'm doing the votiv candles this year too. Walmart has some super cute one's right now for 50-70 cents each verses the typical 5-9$. Here's a tip I got from the Rhodes roll's people at a (dough class they put on for my church)…when you double up the rolls like that, line the center where the 2 touch w/ that squeezable butter. They are delish! Beautiful table. That's my favorite part of the day. πŸ™‚

    Reply

  25. Jae says

    I love that you put the emphasis on enjoying the day… I am determined that is what I am going to do this year – Thanks for a beautfiul blog!

    Reply

  26. Hoosier Homemade says

    What a beautiful table! I should my to-do list like that, maybe some things will get done! πŸ™‚
    Thanks for sharing!
    ~Liz

    Reply

  28. carissa... brown eyed fox says

    edie…
    swinging by to send my love…
    hAppY Thanksgiving to YOU and your family!
    β™₯

    beAuTifuL table!

    Reply

  30. Sandy says

    Lovely and yes, I do the same. Check out what to do for far less … we're over at a cabin and no name tags or anything. Feels free and fun to just be simple.

    Happy TG to you and your precious family, Edie!

    Love, Sandy

    Reply

  31. Anne Thompson says

    I've never celebrated Thanksgiving, as I'm Danish. But my does your table look lovely! Happy Thanksgiving to you too πŸ™‚

    Reply

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