our Thanksgiving table decor

With Christmas season in full swing, it’s hard to believe that we were feasting on turkey and cranberry sauce just nine days ago. We hosted Thankgiving dinner at our house this year, but I can’t take any credit for cooking for 29 people, since everyone who came contributed part of the meal. We squeezed 22 adults around our regular dining table (fully extended to 16.5 feet!), and put the seven kids at a separate table.

I wanted everyone at the main table to be able to enjoy the decorations, so I ditched the traditional idea of one or two centerpieces and instead created a long runner that stretched from end to end. I laid a burlap garland on top of a long strip of kraft paper and anchored it with gourds, apples, and slim white flowerpots full of wheat and popcorn kernels. (That’s blue and red popcorn you see in the picture below.)

In each flowerpot, I stuck a bamboo skewer (painted white) with paper leaves glued on. During the meal, people were invited to write things they were thankful for on the leaves as a visual reminder of what we were celebrating that day.

That evening our family read through everything that people had jotted down earlier in the day, and it was fun to see recurring themes — and an occasional unexpected item like dirt!

So simple, so easy, so thankful.