Set the Scene: If we were hosting Thanksgiving

This year we will be spending Thanksgiving at my sister & brother-in-laws place. And the menu is sounding a little relaxed and fun. Turkey pot pies, roasted veggies and salads. But I was getting a view of what our table would look like if we were hosting. And frankly it's been too long since I pulled the "good stuff" out of cupboards! 

So I went ahead and set a table. I like a mix of natural and sparkle, just like the mantle and went from there. The "placemats" are actually fun papers from my favorite paper place Spruce. I have tablecloths but they really aren't my thing. The place settings are just some paper tags, gold twine and rosemary. I did the initial by placing a letter sticker on the tag, painting lightly over it, then peeled the sticker off! 

Then I just scattered some filler paper that I will show soon how to make (I use it all the time!), pumpkins, the pinecones from the pinecone garden (yes, I took it apart), white pumpkins, and some rosemary that grows like crazy in the yard. 

It made me realize that we need to host a dinner soon to get all this fun stuff out and use it. The only reason to have it is to use it. The girls may find themselves eating takeout pizza on it and drinking root beer out of crystal! But it will be worth it! Are you hosting this year? 

Make it: Pinecone Garland

My daughter Samantha and I are what you would call impatient crafters. We are the type that are a bit down and dirty. If we can't have quick results, as in pretty right away we aren't really interested. So, this craft was for us.

 A group of pinecones, some gold & silver paint for some gilding, some twine, a bit of hardware in the way of little o-ring thingies, and we were in business. I like the combination of earthy and gilded. They easily compliment the pumpkins and the rest of the mantle. And I think they will be re-imagined as gift toppers at Christmas! Bonus! 

Set the Scene: Thanksgiving Mantle

I realized I had yet to share our Thanksgiving mantle. It's a bit quiet, but I have to say it's the calm before the storm of Christmas and all that decorating. I like a mix of the found and what I have around the house to make things easy. So I dragged out a bunch of our pumpkins, books, random glass pieces and voila! 

And working at a vinyl company made it easy to make a centerpiece. The "gather" is something that we have been shipping out to the companies that we supply with vinyl and I knew that it would look lovely on a platter. As it's vinyl it's not permanent as I will need that platter in the future! You can find our products at the suppliers listed on our website, Decorating Your Life. I honestly made things as easy as possible since things are about to get busy and fun with Christmas coming!