My Simple Tips for Putting Together a Table Centerpiece
I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year and have been thinking about my tablescape. I need to beautiful yet basic and quick. My husband's family always runs a Turkey Trot 5k in the morning and does brunch afterwards, but then my family is coming over for football and Thanksgiving dinner. It'll be a busy day, and I've got food to make after the 5K! What's more, my 10 month old is fully in the "I don't care about my toys, I only care to explore literally everything else that isn't mine" stage, so I'll be making sure she isn't climbing on the dishwasher or eating a chunk off the paper towel roll from the recycling in the kitchen all day, too. And, after all, my M.O. is to keep things easy and simple. So, I got to thinking about how I could accomplish a festive yet simple centerpiece relatively quickly, with relatively little stress, for relatively cheap. Check out my final product below, and in the meantime, here are a few of my simple tips on how to assemble a centerpiece fit for any time of the year!
5 Simple Tips for Assembling a Centerpiece:
1. Ask yourself a few simple questions to start -- What's the occasion? What do I want my theme to be? What do I already have around my home to fit the occasion and theme? What is my vision?
2. Pick a base. Whether this is a wooden cutting board, a simple white serving platter, a gold metal tray, or another beautiful (relatively flat) item you've got around your house, try starting with your base. This way, you can pick something large or small enough for your table size. Then, depending on the size of your base, you can get an idea of what other items you will need to fill the space out.
3. Think about a fresh element that you want to incorporate. A summer event may call for a fresh, colorful bouquet of flowers. A fall event may call for a variety of gourds in all shapes, sizes, and colors. A winter event may call for a few boughs of evergreen and some pinecones. Determine your fresh element and think about variety here, as well. Colors, shapes, and sizes of your fresh element will help to create a visually appealing centerpiece. Take your cues from nature, too! If you've got peonies growing in your yard in the spring/summer, cut some off and bring them to use instead of purchasing flowers from the store. Take a walk past a huge evergreen tree that you know will shed tons of pinecones? Pick a few of those up. See the gourds out in the store as soon as fall begins? Grab some of those; they will last forever!
4. What extras do you have around to fill in the gaps? Do you have candles or fun, festive home decor you can use? Do you have cute mason jars to use to hold your flowers instead of a standard vase? Do you have remnants of previous craft projects you can use to add more color, texture, and variety to your centerpiece? How about a table runner or cloth that would fit in with your theme? Scrounge around the house! Candles, different glassware, and table runners/cloths add a finished and polished look while allowing you to incorporate variety into your centerpiece. You don't have to spend a ton of money to make something look beautiful, so assess your inventory at home.
5. Google ideas and shop thrifty! If you're thinking, ok -- I don't have a creative bone in my body, I can't do this, think again! You can! Google some ideas or look at blogs. There are usually ways you can take the fancy stuff that magazines and other bloggers post and make it simple. Again, that's where you can start thinking about what you may have in your home already or what can be literally taken from nature to curate this centerpiece. Then, for the things you don't have, be a smart shopper! Head to Hobby Lobby as the seasonal decor is changing and snag stuff for up to 50% off. Peruse Amazon for that perfect table runner for under $20. Trust me, it can be done!
----
Ok, so here's how I took my 5 simple tips and put them into practice to create my Thanksgiving centerpiece.
1. Vision/Theme/Occassion - It's Thanksgiving, so I immediately thought of rustic, fall decor and that was my theme. Plus, I had already created table top fall decor for my buffet as soon as the gourds were put out at Trader Joe's. I knew I could take the gourds and repurpose them for my Thanksgiving centerpiece. My plates and serving ware are cream and tan/taupe so I knew I wanted to incorporate all of the beautiful, rich colors that fall has to offer to coordinate with my simple, neutral serving items.
2. Pick a base -- I had already used a smaller wooden cutting board for my fall decor on the buffet (see above), but knew I needed something bigger for my Thanksgiving centerpiece, so I pulled out another flat wooden cutting board I have that I typically use for my charcuterie boards. Perfect!
3. Fresh elements - I already had the gourds, so that was my major fresh element here. But, if I didn't, I probably would have picked up a fall bouquet from the grocery store sometime this week and put them in a small, low lying vase so that they could remain in the center of the table without blocking peoples' views of one another.
4. Extras to fill in the gaps -- I knew I had some items that would help me to fill out the centerpiece around the house that also fit in with my rustic look. I chose two wooden candle holders and a pumpkin shaped, gold candle that I bought weeks ago at Aldi for the middle. I also had some random fake fall leaves and wheatgrass from a previous craft project that I done. The leaves and grasses I used on my buffet decor (see above) and knew I could reincorporate into my Thanksgiving centerpiece.
5. Google Ideas/Shop Smart! -- I didn't Google ideas for this, I can't lie. It kind of all just came together. But, I did shop smart!! I did not have any candle sticks in those rich fall colors I was going nor did I have a fall colored table runner. I got 6 candles in all different colors (because, really, I am terrible at choosing what I want on the spot!) for $4.50 at Hobby Lobby (yay for 50% off!) and a brown and cream table runner for less than $20 on Amazon. My gourds cost me $0.79 each (total of 9 gourds, so $7.11) at Trader Joe's and I know I got my large wooden cutting board on sale at Pier 1 a few years ago for less than $30. The candle at Aldi was $4.99. And I'd say that the leftover leaves and grasses from Hobby Lobby were probably $5 to start, and I've already used those to make a wreath, so I'd say I got my money's worth. Really, not bad at all considering the large majority of these items can and will be used again, with the exception of the gourds. But the candles, candle holders, cutting boards, and leaves/grasses will all be stored for later use, that's for sure.
Don't feel like you can do this due to lack of creativity or time or money? Don't stress! Think of my 5 tips and see if you can make them work for you. They can definitely help you to put something together quickly and affordably. And trust me, I'm not a super creative person, but I do like to put together small projects like this. It's not perfect; it definitely wouldn't make the cover of any home/style magazine but does it suite what I need? Yes. Does it look presentable and festive? Yes. Did it cost me an arm and a leg? Nope. Can you do it, too? 100%.
For now, this centerpiece has made its way back to the top of buffet for the next week or so before Thanksgiving. But, come Thanksgiving eve, I know I can simply carry it back to the table, set it atop the table runner, set the table, and call it a night.
Keep it simple, my friends! I hope you and your family have a wonderful day celebrating all the blessings you have in your life. Happy Thanksgiving!
5 Simple Tips for Assembling a Centerpiece:
1. Ask yourself a few simple questions to start -- What's the occasion? What do I want my theme to be? What do I already have around my home to fit the occasion and theme? What is my vision?
2. Pick a base. Whether this is a wooden cutting board, a simple white serving platter, a gold metal tray, or another beautiful (relatively flat) item you've got around your house, try starting with your base. This way, you can pick something large or small enough for your table size. Then, depending on the size of your base, you can get an idea of what other items you will need to fill the space out.
3. Think about a fresh element that you want to incorporate. A summer event may call for a fresh, colorful bouquet of flowers. A fall event may call for a variety of gourds in all shapes, sizes, and colors. A winter event may call for a few boughs of evergreen and some pinecones. Determine your fresh element and think about variety here, as well. Colors, shapes, and sizes of your fresh element will help to create a visually appealing centerpiece. Take your cues from nature, too! If you've got peonies growing in your yard in the spring/summer, cut some off and bring them to use instead of purchasing flowers from the store. Take a walk past a huge evergreen tree that you know will shed tons of pinecones? Pick a few of those up. See the gourds out in the store as soon as fall begins? Grab some of those; they will last forever!
4. What extras do you have around to fill in the gaps? Do you have candles or fun, festive home decor you can use? Do you have cute mason jars to use to hold your flowers instead of a standard vase? Do you have remnants of previous craft projects you can use to add more color, texture, and variety to your centerpiece? How about a table runner or cloth that would fit in with your theme? Scrounge around the house! Candles, different glassware, and table runners/cloths add a finished and polished look while allowing you to incorporate variety into your centerpiece. You don't have to spend a ton of money to make something look beautiful, so assess your inventory at home.
5. Google ideas and shop thrifty! If you're thinking, ok -- I don't have a creative bone in my body, I can't do this, think again! You can! Google some ideas or look at blogs. There are usually ways you can take the fancy stuff that magazines and other bloggers post and make it simple. Again, that's where you can start thinking about what you may have in your home already or what can be literally taken from nature to curate this centerpiece. Then, for the things you don't have, be a smart shopper! Head to Hobby Lobby as the seasonal decor is changing and snag stuff for up to 50% off. Peruse Amazon for that perfect table runner for under $20. Trust me, it can be done!
----
Ok, so here's how I took my 5 simple tips and put them into practice to create my Thanksgiving centerpiece.
1. Vision/Theme/Occassion - It's Thanksgiving, so I immediately thought of rustic, fall decor and that was my theme. Plus, I had already created table top fall decor for my buffet as soon as the gourds were put out at Trader Joe's. I knew I could take the gourds and repurpose them for my Thanksgiving centerpiece. My plates and serving ware are cream and tan/taupe so I knew I wanted to incorporate all of the beautiful, rich colors that fall has to offer to coordinate with my simple, neutral serving items.
2. Pick a base -- I had already used a smaller wooden cutting board for my fall decor on the buffet (see above), but knew I needed something bigger for my Thanksgiving centerpiece, so I pulled out another flat wooden cutting board I have that I typically use for my charcuterie boards. Perfect!
3. Fresh elements - I already had the gourds, so that was my major fresh element here. But, if I didn't, I probably would have picked up a fall bouquet from the grocery store sometime this week and put them in a small, low lying vase so that they could remain in the center of the table without blocking peoples' views of one another.
4. Extras to fill in the gaps -- I knew I had some items that would help me to fill out the centerpiece around the house that also fit in with my rustic look. I chose two wooden candle holders and a pumpkin shaped, gold candle that I bought weeks ago at Aldi for the middle. I also had some random fake fall leaves and wheatgrass from a previous craft project that I done. The leaves and grasses I used on my buffet decor (see above) and knew I could reincorporate into my Thanksgiving centerpiece.
5. Google Ideas/Shop Smart! -- I didn't Google ideas for this, I can't lie. It kind of all just came together. But, I did shop smart!! I did not have any candle sticks in those rich fall colors I was going nor did I have a fall colored table runner. I got 6 candles in all different colors (because, really, I am terrible at choosing what I want on the spot!) for $4.50 at Hobby Lobby (yay for 50% off!) and a brown and cream table runner for less than $20 on Amazon. My gourds cost me $0.79 each (total of 9 gourds, so $7.11) at Trader Joe's and I know I got my large wooden cutting board on sale at Pier 1 a few years ago for less than $30. The candle at Aldi was $4.99. And I'd say that the leftover leaves and grasses from Hobby Lobby were probably $5 to start, and I've already used those to make a wreath, so I'd say I got my money's worth. Really, not bad at all considering the large majority of these items can and will be used again, with the exception of the gourds. But the candles, candle holders, cutting boards, and leaves/grasses will all be stored for later use, that's for sure.
Don't feel like you can do this due to lack of creativity or time or money? Don't stress! Think of my 5 tips and see if you can make them work for you. They can definitely help you to put something together quickly and affordably. And trust me, I'm not a super creative person, but I do like to put together small projects like this. It's not perfect; it definitely wouldn't make the cover of any home/style magazine but does it suite what I need? Yes. Does it look presentable and festive? Yes. Did it cost me an arm and a leg? Nope. Can you do it, too? 100%.
Keep it simple, my friends! I hope you and your family have a wonderful day celebrating all the blessings you have in your life. Happy Thanksgiving!
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