How to Decorate Your Home for Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season in many people’s mind. A holiday that was created to celebrate our blessings, with a focus on food and family this holiday involves much preparation that often includes decorating. Deck out your home in a festive way that will please even the pickiest of guests.

 Use Autumn Elements

Celebrated in the last week of November, Thanksgiving marks the close of Autumn as well. You can use the bright, beautiful colors of autumn to liven up your Thanksgiving dinner. You can create your own decorations using red, orange, and yellow tissue paper to create leaves. Use red linen napkins and yellow plates for a beautiful table.

Pumpkins and gourds would be a great table accent whether you are eating your meal family style or buffet style. Make wreaths out of flexible twigs or the vines available at most craft stores and add artificial leaves, flowers, or fruit in fall colors so that you can use it year after year.  You can also use wire formed into a circle with dried Indian corn to create a colorful Thanksgiving and  fall themed wreath. Give a real fall feel to your table with brightly colored artificial or authentic pressed leaves strewn between your centerpieces and tableware or between the different delicious dishes that you have prepared on your buffet table.

Incorporate The Aspect of the Harvest

The first Thanksgiving celebrated the bountiful harvest after the hard first winter that the colonists in Massachusetts had suffered in the New World. You can incorporate the harvest in your own celebration by creating a centerpiece of apples, pumpkins, cranberries, and nuts with red candles in silver or cast iron candlesticks. Put long colorful grasses or long stemmed flower in a tall glass container with bright or neutral colored feathers to create a unique and festive centerpiece for your tables.  A popular centerpiece at Thanksgiving family celebrations also includes a cornucopia over flowing with fruits and vegetables of several different varieties that can serve the double function of an appealing way to serve food to your guests.

Create Family Oriented Decorations

Hand and pine cone turkeys are staple Thanksgiving decorations for families with children. If you would like to add a very personal touch to your Thanksgiving celebration, use family photos in frames that are decorated with feathers, leaves, acorn tops, or Indian corn which can be placed in different areas of your home such as a table or mantle. You can also make fall themed chair covers or table cloths in a quilt pattern decorated with your child’s crayon or finger paint artwork. This will make your kids happy and give them a creative role in your Thanksgiving preparations.

Thanksgiving is a time for being thankful and spending with your family members. Whether you decide to go upscale and elegant in your Thanksgiving decorations or for a fun and easy going theme, you will impress your relatives with your decorating skills and creative streak. In all of the preparation involved in this major holiday remember not to stress and focus on family and friends.