Foraging for Table Decor
On Thanksgiving Day, as Tara was busy preparing food in the kitchen, I had one task — decorate the table. I knew we had a bushel of pumpkins left over from Halloween on the front porch and that some flowers had been purchased from Trader Joe’s. I remembered that years ago on one of the very first Thanksgiving’s Victor and I hosted for our parents, I had made flower vases out of pumpkins. I selected some pumpkins and started carving. I used small glass jars to insert into the pumpkin after I had hollowed it out, filled the vases with water, and then started arranging the floral. The best pumpkins to use are the ones that are tall. You want to have enough space for the water vase and for the flowers to hide the interior cavity of the pumpkin. I did experiment with a shorter, fatter pink pumpkin and thought I had ruined it entirely because the sides weren’t quite tall enough but then I ended up using its glorious top and arranged the floral as if they were cascading from the pumpkin. It worked!
Tara has a beautiful collection of vintage flatware passed down from Chris’s mom that I knew we had to use for the table. I also looked through her collection of vintage dinnerware. I was setting the table for twelve and we didn’t have quite enough of one variety for everyone to have the exact same plate. I didn’t let this deter me. It’s okay to let yourself improvise and be creative. I don’t follow the rules! Kids got a different vintage plate than adults but it worked and didn’t distract from the beauty of the tale. In fact, I think it enhanced it. The most gorgeous cloth napkins that are naturally dyed were used. These napkins are available to purchase in our shop. I can see them working for every season!
I gathered a few of the kids and asked if they might be willing to make place setting cards. They of course obliged and ran off to gather up art supplies. The place cards are made from used brown bags that we trimmed to size.
The table setting was nearly complete. At this point, everything on the table was something I had found in and around the house. The fresh flowers were all that had been purchased specifically for our Thanksgiving table. You do not need to feel pressure to go out and buy table decor for each holiday meal. Experiment with simply looking around your home to see what you might already have that will make a beautiful and unique tablescape. You may surprise yourself! It really is this simple. My design tip for if you do need a few new pieces is to head to your local peddlar’s mall or thrift store to shop. You can always find a treasure or two or five and all for affordable prices. I also think shopping second hand is the ultimate form of recycling as you give pieces a new life.
After lunch we took a woods walk. Seventeen of us went on a short stroll through the forest — like half an hour short. You don’t need a lot of time to forage. And we had eleven kids!! It didn’t take me long to start collecting fallen leaves as I walked along the path. There were so many amazing leaves! I only pick leaves that have already fallen to the forest floor. Towards the end of our walk I noticed some dried floral and started collecting this too. Back at the house I added in the dried floral that had been foraged in with the store bought flowers. The table design took on a wild and whimsical feel. I added in asparagus fern from the garden because it’s romantic and I love how wispy its branches are. Each place setting got a fantastic leaf. The table was nearly complete!!
The final touches were hand drawn turkey’s by one of the kids and gratitude leaves where each kid wrote what they were thankful for. I interspersed the kids gratitude leaves with the real leaves along our table. We were ready to eat!
- Meghan