Thanksgiving Inspiration

America's favorite meal- Thanksgiving - is  in 3 days!   As I am sitting here writing this post. snow is softly falling outside.  It may be the first white Thanksgiving in many years. The first snow always makes me nostalgic. So  I am going through pictures of Thanksgiving from years past and have found some favorite images.   Looking for a little inspiration for  your Thanksgiving décor?   Check these out!

 MY ALL TIME FAVORITE_

Linda, a dear friend of mine  and I have the same china!  But she has this knack of finding just the right touches to elevate the place setting to a sheer delight for the eyes!  Her table is set with twig shaped flatware, a gilded leaf dish, antique linens and stemware, all placed on a silver mirrored tray. 

Just divine! 

 



 

Linda's buffet for Thanksgiving

A couple of years ago, I hosted a fall party for my husband's staff.  I asked Jeannie at Twigs to make several arrangements for the table.  I wanted them organic and free form.  I still love to look at these pictures of them.

Using the same color palette, she filled rust eggs with the same colors.  How pretty these arrangements would be on a Thanksgiving table.

 

It's a hike out to Geneva, Illinois from here.  But it's worth the drive to the third street chocolate store called Graham's  to get these chocolate cornucopias and painted chocolate pumpkin shells.  The ideas are endless for fillings-

pumpkin or chocolate mousse,  fruits, whipped cream, and such a beautiful presentation.

 

Ghost pumpkins welcome guests on the front porch.

 

 

I am not sure what I did for special touches during the fall season, before I discovered

Hot Squash's velvet pumpkins.  Here I am playing with some vintage turkey plates that are now in my friend Mariterese's china collection.   The horn glasses and old linen napkins work well with the turkey dinner plate.

 

 

 

 

 

My friend, Lynda's Thanksgiving table in Atlanta.  She used a faux leather croco embossed

piece of fabric as the tablecloth!  Brilliant idea.  Not only did it look good, it was easy to clean up the spilled gravy  when dinner was finished.

 

Another favorite- a more formal table at my friend Lynda's Atlanta home.  Love the feather placements, the old transferware bowls, antlers and hydrangeas.  The large silver chalice goblets add great shine to the table and are over sized- perfect for that large glass of wine!!!

Again- my favorite little velvet pumpkins.

 



My Favorite fall flatware, Antler horn and pewter from Vagabond.

 



 One of my favorite Thanksgiving tables.  I used small antlers as knife rests. A large leopard stenciled cow rug was placed in the center of the table instead of a tablecloth.   Bittersweet, gold painted pumpkins and pomegranates were used instead of flowers.

 

Several years ago, I set  a cozy Thanksgiving table in the kitchen.  There were only four of us for dinner so it seemed more intimate.  I used a tartan blanket as the tablecloth and placed two faux bois runners as the place mats.  The "runners" were shelf liners that I purchased at the dollar store!

They were vinyl and easy to clean. The orange rimmed dishes were from Blackberry Farm and given to me by friends for my 60th birthday.  I love using them in the fall.

 



 

A grouping of the famous velvet pumpkins in the foyer.

 

Another grouping of the rhinestone embellished pumpkins in a nest of antlers and rhinestone studded twig branches. 

 

 

As this special day approaches, I  wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving.