Simple Thanksgiving Tablescape

We have a pretty big-deal holiday coming up.  Thanksgiving.

Ok ok, sure, no biggie.  It’s a day to hang out with family, watch football, and eat a ridiculous amount of food.  That’s not a big deal.  BUT — THIS YEAR WE’RE HOSTING.  Yes, that’s right, we are cooking the bird and the pies and all the other fixings.  And we’re making that allllll happen in our little apartment and our ‘0ne-butt’ kitchen.  And it will be AWESOME.

But in order to help keep things sane, we’re going to have to simplify things.  One of those things is the table itself.   But that doesn’t mean it has to be boring!

Here’s the key word – SIMPLE.  We have a small table that seats 4 people.  There’s elbow room, but when you add in your mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and of course the bird, it’s gonna be realllly cramped.  So a big centerpiece and lots of romantic candles and place cards — all of those things are great.  But for this year, in this apartment, just not practical.  And to be honest, there’s 4 of us.  If people can’t figure out their seats, then we have bigger things to worry about than how to cook a turkey.

Here’s what we have to work with.  All of these bad boys were found at Target.  (I know, big surprise, right?!!)  The tablecloth was on clearance in the linen department, while the rest of the details are all from the Dollar spot.

  The tablecloth is my proudest deal – though it’s marked down to about $9, when it rang up it was actually a little over $3 making it basically the same cost as a paper tablecloth, but classy as it’s a nice linen blend.  AND at $3, if we spill cranberry sauce all over it and ruin it, it doesn’t matter.  All in all, the fixings came in at about $16.  Can’t beat that!

We used some bamboo place-mats we’ve had for a while…. pathetically also from the dollar spot a few years ago.  They add a nice natural color to balance the somewhat mustard/orangy hue of the tablecloth. (Though I was drawn to the tablecloth in part because my Mom used to use a similarly colored one for thanksgiving when we were kids…)

The big felt leaves serve as a nice decorative element on the plates before we serve…. and THEN when we do serve, they double as handy hot-pads for under the dishes too!

Of course you can’t forget the towels that we’re using as fabric napkins.  I thought about making some cute little napkin rings, but again wanted it simple so I left them as is.  Their cute leaf pattern adds some color to the table and the fabric makes it a little fancier than every-day paper ones.  These tumbler glasses.  THESE GLASSES.  I’m pretty sure we’ve highlighted them on the blog before, but I’m a huge fan.  They were my first purchase from One Kings Lane or one of the other similar decor flash sale sites.  I love the seeded texture and how each is unique.  Plus they make the blue-and-white of the china we’re using really pop out from all the leafy colors.

And of course, no tablescape would be complete without a centerpiece.  Here I just used an old hurricane glass and tossed in the shiny mini-pumkins.  To visually anchor it, I added a few faux leaves beneath it.  Simple, and easily moved out of the way for turkey.

So there ya have it, our Thanksgiving Table.  What are you planning for thanksgiving?  Any tips or hints on how to prioritize your stove/oven to get everything made?

~ Beth