Thanksgiving is tomorrow! This is about the time I always start freaking out as inevitably the holiday has snuck up on me and I am scrambling for easy last minute DIY’s for my table, that don’t look too “crafty” and have a level of sophistication to them. So I thought that I would share some of my favorites with you.
This table runner idea is so easy to do and is so beautiful. All you need is a book you are willing to rip pages out of (preferably vintage with those beautifully yellowed pages and it always helps to have a book that people have read it stirs up conversations) and a craft punch like this one.
I love this (easy!) glittered (my one of my favorite colors is after all glitter) corn centerpiece. It would look so beautiful displayed with richly colored gourds. I collect various tall gold/brass candle sticks at thrift stores (believe me every thrift store has them in abundance…) they (the candle sticks) would make a perfect addition to the glittered corn centerpiece.
Another easy trick is to use miss-matched vintage plates (or non-vintage plates) on your table. If you don’t have enough, again the thrift store may be your best friend today. Run out and grab a few plates with various patterns.
I love this banner idea! If you don’t have glitter handy (or your not really into glitter…) the letters would look really beautiful painted brown or a deep coral orange. If you don’t have time to run out and get letters print out easy to cut letters as a stencil and make the letters from cardboard.
And last but not least when in doubt or in a pinch, use pumpkins, gourds and squashes…lots of them…
Hope you all have a Happy and lovely Thanksgiving!
Don’t get me wrong, I love celebrating holidays. Halloween is just a weird/scary/creepy holiday, in my opinion. I have always been a bit creeped out that people want to celebrate all things evil/dark/dead by making scary decorations, putting on freaky costumes. That’s just not for me. I do love pumpkins and the rich colors of Autumn however and so here are some decoration ideas I love for Halloween (and no, I am not that person who turns off all my lights and doesn’t put candy out and I DO like cute/silly costumes)…
I have made the glittered pumpkins (right) for a couple of years now and they are really lovely (and easy). I use a more subtle neutral colored glitter – so pretty. I also love the colored baby pumpkins on the covered cake stands. Such a sophisticated look.
I recently ran across this pumpkin idea in Country Living: covering a pumpkin with wallpaper, paper or fabric. I love this idea especially because the toile pumpkin (love!) is faux, so you can use it year after year (love that!). I love vintage type and imagery; what a great use for your vintage thrift store books!
…and of course my favorite item to make a house feel homey… a wreath! The wreath on the left is up in my shop. I made it from a vintage Gray’s Anatomy book and hug it from a silky black ribbon – I love it! (…way better then a hanging skeleton!) I also ran across this wreath made of candy – so adorable and very apropo for tricker-or-treaters.
We are hosting Easter dinner this year. I have already started brain storming (and searching high and low for) my table decorations and place settings for the special day. I still not sure what I am going to do about the centerpiece (it may just be the ham, yum, yum!) but for each person’s place setting I am going to make a small papier mache nest with a single monogrammed (with my calligraphy of course!) egg in it. I have already found (thrifted) the vintage book I am going to use to make the mini-nests (this is my weekend project…). I am not really into cutesy “bunny” crafts, or fussy crafts that take hours, I love this idea because it’s so simple, sweet and I love the imagery of new life. The nests really are quite simple to make, here are the step-by-step directions! What are you doing for Easter, I love to hear about fun traditions or other beautiful crafts out there!
Image via Country Living (one of my all time FAVORITE resources)
