The Table..

I apologize to any who think I'm rushing the holiday season but I can't help looking and thinking.  Is two months ahead too soon to be planning a Thanksgiving table?  I think not since a friend called me this week to ask where she and I got the colonial apple tree bases (cones) that we used back in the seventies.  I found several varieties on eBay but I would advise choosing carefully.  The wooden ones with nails are the only ones I think work well.  Like these from the Williamsburg site:

 

Here is a link to the site: 

 

http://www.williamsburgmarketplace.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductView?catalogId=12122&storeId=10001&categoryId=14986&parentCategoryId=18394

 

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 You can choose your fruit.  Pomegranates are a little tricky and are best done on one of the wrought iron frames that cradle the fruit.  If you Google 'colonial apple cone', several varieties of the wire one will show up.  I'm sure this was made on the wooden cone and the fruit has been waxed. 

Use what you can find and what pleases you.

 

While searching for photos, I found a very good tutorial.      

 

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/colonial-williamsburg-apple-tree-tutorial-welcome-to-the-101st-metamorphosis-monday/

 

I never used the pineapple on top although I'm aware it is the colonial symbol of hospitality. 

 

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So, you don't want to make an apple tree?  I have other suggestions.  This one might show best on a sideboard.  

 

 

Nuts?  Several kinds of nuts are available in the grocery and the woods this time of the year.  I love my pistachios too much to use them this way but I might use English walnuts or almonds.  Acorns??  Take a walk in the woods and see what the faeries have left for you.  Stones?  Small pine cones?  I find hickory nuts when I walk Molly and I have buckeyes in my Etsy store.  I promise I didn't make this post to promote my stuff but here it is:

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/115269715/natural-woodland-buckeye-nuts-great?ref=shop_home_active

 

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Didn't find anything? 

 

 

How about flower buds, dried flowers and squirrel corn?   Making a centerpiece does not have to be an ordeal.  Make it fun.  Involve the children in searching for what goes into containers. 

 

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Still lost? 

 

 

Paint your pumpkin. 

Simple and a bit elegant.  I might have fitted a couple of candlesticks into the mix on this one.  If you're really uptown, paint the pumpkins silver and bronze.  The spray paint selection is out of sight these days for innovation and inspiration.  Use more and smaller pumpkins and pile them into a huge pottery bowl with twigs or sprigs.   Farmer's markets are showing an incredible variety of sizes, shapes and colors of fall produce. 

 

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And then...

 

 

I've saved this 'til last because I think it is such an easy and yet welcoming idea for a Thanksgiving table.  We can't see it all so we have to use our imaginations but how very neat to use photos of those who will be at the table.  Family photos, weddings, baby photos.  You can turn any photo into sepia or black and white with your photo editing software.  Talk about a conversation starter!

 

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We all know that however we decorate our table the most important elements are those who sit in the chairs.  I'm not quite ready to say Happy Thanksgiving but I will offer a bon décor!! 

 

~Sami