Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas

Next week is Thanksgiving already (where has this year gone?) -  the time when we gather with friends and family and give thanks for all the bounty and blessings in our lives.  Even if it's been a "hard" year, there is much to be thankful for.  When we eat ourselves into a food coma, maybe watch some football or our favorite movies, nap, enjoy time with those we love and enjoy at least one day off.  (At least I hope you get a day off)  Because Thanksgiving is celebrated in the fall, we use fall colors of oranges, golds, scarlets, dark greens and browns for decorations.  This is a beautiful time of year with a myriad of colors to use.  We all know the iconic symbols of Thanksgiving - turkeys, pilgrims, native people, pumpkins, gourds and fall leaves.  The choices are endless.

After Halloween, I changed a lot of my home accents from bright oranges to more fall-like colors of golds, bronzes, lattes, and browns.  How did I achieve this?  I spray painted all my gourds and pumpkins that I used at Halloween so that I didn't have to go buy new or throw out all the perfectly good ones I already had.  It is a very simple process.  I used Krylon spray paint in metallic gold, sparkly bronze and metallic latte.  I purchased my paint at Wal-Mart, but it is also available at Lowes and Home Depot.   All you have to do is spray whatever you want and let it dry.  Simple!

I took everything out in the yard to spray it.  It looked so pretty sitting in the dried grass and leaves that I snapped this picture.

Some of these gourds and pumpkins are real and some are artificial.  When they are sprayed, you cannot tell the difference and they are so lovely.  It just gives a new vibe to all of them and makes things look different without expending a lot of effort or money.

After Halloween, I added some artificial glittered "trees" to the mantel, removed some of the more Halloween type decorations, did some rearranging and added some of the spray painted pumpkins, gourds, pinecones and artificial acorns.  The more muted colors will carry us through Thanksgiving when it will then be time to start decorating for Christmas.  Whew.  It's never ending.  This is how our mantel looks now.

I also sprayed the big pumpkins on the front porch and added some lovely fall mums and a fall welcome flag.  Yes, I decorate inside and out - I  have just always done that.   Here is how the porch looks.

I also put my painted candy corn candle holders away until next year and made a new centerpiece for the dining table.  It is really easy to do and it looks like this.

All I did, was take a wide cylinder vase that I already had and placed in on a small serving plate.  I placed a candle in the middle of the vase and filled around the candle with small pinecones and acorns.  (Place the candle in the vase before you fill with anything to keep the candle in the middle and so that it will sit flat in the vase.)  Next, I added some artificial fall leaves that I had.  I laid more leaves on the plate around the vase and then placed small pinecones over the leaves.  I had some big artificial fall leaves that I placed on the table and then sat the plate with the candle holder on them.  ( Dollar Tree still has artificial leaves for sale and a whole package is only a dollar.)

If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner next week, you can use some of these easy ideas to decorate your home.  Look around outside for branches, pinecones, acorns and leaves that you can use - even gum balls.  All it takes are a few candles,  some vases, a little imagination, and a few minutes to create a lovely table scape and decorations to welcome your guests.  If you are going to be dining at someone else's home, make a simple centerpiece to give to your host or hostess.  They will be so appreciative that you thought of them!  

We have family coming from out of town next week and I am busy making new pillow covers for all our toss pillows.  I will share some ideas for new pillow covers with you soon because next, it's the BIG holiday season when I want everything to look really spiffy.  I am also going to make "gratitude flags" by cutting triangles of paper in fall colors,  I will ask everyone to write something they are grateful for on a flag.  I will have a strand of sisal rope tied where we will hang these flags with mini clip clothes pins so that we can all read our "gratitudes".  Then, we will be reminded of more reasons why we celebrate this special day of Thanksgiving!  So many projects, so little time!  Time to get busy.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.  ~Meister Eckhart
 

Make A Beautiful Fall Arrangement

Is there anything more representative of fall than pumpkins?  Pumpkins = jack o lanterns in our minds.    Pumpkin carving has become an amazing seasonal art form.  But - pumpkins don't last very long.   They get smelly and shriveled and yucky.  Now, they are making these very realistic artificial pumpkins that can be used throughout the autumn season.  You may not know this, but they are hollow just like a real pumpkins and can be carved or used to make autumn arrangements in!  Or, you can set them in groupings  on your mantle or tables and they won't get all yucky and you can use them year after year.

Fresh flower arrangements in pumpkins are so lovely and will last as long as an average fresh flower arrangement - up to 7 days if properly taken care of and watered.  You know my love for fresh flowers, but I wanted something to sit on the table by the fireplace that would last through the Thanksgiving season.  Hence, the arrangement in the picture above.  Michael's has their artificial pumpkins on sale for 1/2 price so I splurged and bought one.  I had some artificial fall leaves, cattails, flowers and wheat that I planned to use in it.  This is a tutorial to show you how you can make a professional looking arrangement for your home.  It can be done on any scale to suit your need.  I wanted one that was fairly tall to fill up the corner in the living room.

There is a method used in floral arranging to get  proper scale and professional results.  For this arrangement, I wanted a round design.  In the shop, we called these "roundy moundies" and were the most common arrangement for centerpieces for tables.  They are not hard to do once you understand the process used.  For this arrangement I used one stem of japanese lantern, two cattail bushes, two fall leaf bushes, two mum bushes, and one package of wheat.

First, I placed the block of dry foam that I was going to use on the top of the pumpkin to get a measurement for the hole I was going to cut.  I wanted the foam to fit right inside the hole with little or no movement so I didn't have to anchor the foam to the pumpkin.  There are special tapes to do this with, but this is much easier.  After marking the area I would need to cut, I used a sharp knife (actually, one of our steak knives - don't tell) to cut the top out of the pumpkin.  You will have to make up and down cuts just like with a real pumpkin.

Remove the top and place the block of dry foam inside the pumpkin.  I call this dry foam, because wet foam is used for fresh flower arrangements.  You may have to shave the sides of the foam with the knife to get it to fit in the hole.  Square foam, round hole.  Just shave it a bit at a time so it doesn't end up too loose.

Next, you want to set the line for the height of the arrangement which should be at least the same height as the container or higher.  Mine is at least two times taller than the pumpkin.  I used a stem of japanese lantern to do this.  Since these are artificial, I broke the stem down using wire cutters, leaving the longest piece to go in the center of the foam.  The other pieces should surround the center at east, west, north and south.   Place them close to the center stem at varying heights.

Next, I used the cattails and placed them around the base of the foam at north, south, east and west, and then filled in between the base of the foam and the japanese lantern with more cattails so there is a symmetry and "fullness" beginning to the arrangement.  You will want to place these stems at northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest.  Make sure to cut the stems different lengths so the cattails are different heights to give the arrangement interest and depth.

Next, I used the fall leaves and mums to fill in between the cattails and the japanese lantern.  Use the same procedure and fill in at different heights and around the entire block of foam.  Because the wheat is real and the stems break easily, make them the last step when completing the arrangement.  Make one or two stalks of wheat tall and place them near the center of the arrangement.  Place one stalk at east, west, north and south and fill in the rest of the arrangement placing stalks of wheat all around the arrangement. Then, take the top of the pumpkin that you cut out of the middle and place a bamboo skewer in the middle of the underside by pushing it into the foam.  Put some hot glue around it to hold it in place.  

Now, take the pumpkin top with the skewer attached and place it into the finished arrangement.  

Wow, you now have a beautiful arrangement that will last through the entire autumn season.  How pretty is that?

Remember, I have been doing floral arranging for 30 years and it doesn't take me that long to put an arrangement together.  My goal is to show you the principles of arranging so that you can make professional looking arrangements.  Like anything else, it takes practice and patience.  Remember to always cut your stems longer than you think you will need them to be - you can always cut them off if they are too long.  The other most important thing is to have a really good pair of wire cutters to use.  That will make the whole process easier.  Now, go make yourself an arrangement to enjoy.  

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

"For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.  
For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad."-   Edwin Way Teale