A Simple Natural Thanksgiving Table to Celebrate

I’ve been so inspired looking at all the beautiful centerpiece ideas for Thanksgiving tables so I thought I’d pull together an idea for what our table will look like this year.

Of course, we will have multiple tables and lots of people, and even more food!  So I figured I’d better pull together something that I could easily replicate for more tables.

Here are my requirements for our Thanksgiving table decor:

• It has to look good
• Different than what I did last year
• Simple
• Can be made ahead

With those rules in mind I decided to get to work.

Now, I do have to tell you that I can’t remember what we did last year for Thanksgiving decor but I don’t remember foraging for it so I think I’m safe on that front.

Here are a few of the items I was able to clip and find just in my yard.

An Easy and Natural Centerpiece for Thanksgiving

The leaves come from oak and crepe myrtles.  The acorns I picked up off the ground but it’s slim pickings right now since I’m competing with the squirrels.  Of course we have rosemary because it grows like crazy around here.  The berries are Firethorn.

Also, please try to ignore my dirty clippers.  They’re outside toys so that’s just how they look.

We live on an acreage so there are plenty of branches around here to clip.  If you have a small yard with only a few trees you might be reluctant to clip branches off of them and I completely understand.

I’m lucky that the few things around here that the deer don’t actually eat grow like crazy.  If you like Rosemary you’re in business.  If you like pretty blooms you’re going to need a tall fence.

I basically just used a wide handful of clippings and put them in a tall glass jar.

The fun thing about branches is that it only takes a few long ones to make a really big impact.  You can see from the stems that I only wound up using 4 of them and it made a nice bushy display out the top of my jug.

Just a tip on using long branches, be sure that your base is tall enough and heavy enough to hold them.  Those berries are pretty top heavy so they’d definitely tip over a smaller vase.

I added a few more loose leaves at the base and used our small Halloween pumpkins to add a little variety around the bottom.

The gold chargers and gold rimmed wine glasses I’ve owned for a very long time.

Our everyday dishes are white so they are easy to mix with all kinds of decor.

The gold napkins were purchased years ago on clearance after Christmas and we’ve used them for so many events since then.

Now I collect napkins in a variety of colors, but I especially love using the gold ones around the holidays.

Of course the oak leaf is from our yard too.

I like having that bright green right on the plate!

So let’s talk about using natural branches on your table for a minute.

There are definitely a few things to consider when you’re planning these for a centerpiece.

First of all you’re going to want to avoid using any kind of poisonous leaves, berries or flowers.  Especially if you’ve got children around that might be tempted to test out the pretty berries.  It’s also generally not a great idea  to have anything poisonous around food right?  Okay.

Second, be sure to wash your greenery before you bring it inside, or when you get it inside.

In the summer I will just run  a hose over all my clippings but if it’s cool outside I’ll lay them in the bathtub and run cool water over them.

This is great for a few reasons.  We have a dirt road so it helps to get the dust off of everything but it also helps remove any leaves that are loose and that saves me some cleaning time.

The other reason is you don’t want to bring any potential pests into your house.  What could be worse than a spider dropping out of your centerpiece during the meal?

I mean, I can think of worse things, but let’s just try to avoid it okay?

I feel pretty confident that we can make a Thanksgiving table out of clippings pretty quickly when we start setting up.  I’m hoping for another year of beautiful weather so that we can all eat outside.

I love to have crisp and cool fall weather for Thanksgiving so I’m crossing my fingers.

These branches will be lovely on the deck!

What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?  Do you host or are you a guest?  Is your celebration large or small?

Whichever way you celebrate I hope that you have a wonderful holiday full of thanks.  And food.  And football too.

Don’t miss out!
We’ve got lots more Thanksgiving Table inspiration for you!
And if that’s not enough check this out!