Pumpkin Pie Table Setting
Courtney RussellWe have a full menu of Thanksgiving decorating ideas for your table that you can mix and match to suit your family's needs. They're very simple and sweet -- a refreshing departure from formal traditional table centerpieces -- and the kids can help.

As you can see below, here we repurpose cans from your feast preparation and use them as flower vases, allowing them to set a home-spun theme for your table. We used One-Pie Pumpkin (hint: due to a pumpkin shortage, you likely won't see these in your market until holiday season), but many brands such as Oregon Fruit Company are beautiful as well. And we riffed on the blue-and-white color scheme for the other table elements.

More Thanksgiving Recipes and Tips:


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Courtney Russell
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What a Card

Have your kids fold paper boat place cards in a nod to the pilgrims. Cut a piece each of festive printed paper (we used Lake Dots pattern, $7.95 a roll at Paper Source) and kraft paper into to 5" x 5" squares and follow the directions on Origamiclub.com, keeping the two pieces together. Add the name of each guest to the kraft paper "hull" with a colored pencil.

Rolling your eyes at the notion of origami? In all honesty, you could just fold the squares in half, write people's names on the front, and the table will still look great.
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Courtney Russell
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Flower Power

Don't be intimidated by the prospect of arranging flowers. Think super market flowers, supplemented by whatever herbs you have left over from your meal preparation and the last few items (berries? grasses?) that are lingering in your garden. Arrange them loosely, or better yet, enlist your kids to do it, who are likely not hung up on achieving perfection.
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Courtney Russell
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Sew Nice

A homemade table runner pulls the homey look together, especially when it's made from striped cotton toweling ($3.98 a yard at Haberman Fabrics).