Table Setting Thanksgiving

Now that you've seen my Thanksgiving tablescape, I wanted to show you my table setting...

When I got married I chose very simple white square plates.  I knew that they would be my blank canvas to show off delicious food and they would easily go with any occasion. 

Here I put our brown patterned napkins in the center of the plates with gold pumpkins and gourds as name place card holders.  

That's right, I just spray painted the orange and fall colored pumpkins/gourds I had for Halloween.  It was quick and easy.  I love the way they turned out.

 I love that I can mix and match other dishes with my simple white ones as well.  Notice my little appetizer plates I used under the place card holders.  They have an embossed pattern and black edges.

I mixed a lot of different neutrals in my centerpiece and place settings.  I just went with it!  Sometimes you just have to go for it and see if it works.  In this case I mixed white, tan, grey, browns, silver, gold, taupe and a touch of black.  It's just a jumble of soft neutrals and it works! Don't get hung up on matching colors!

November Tablescape

This year after Halloween I changed my tablescape to a more neutral Thanksgiving themed table.  I had picked up a grey Cinderella pumpkin and used that as my focal piece.  It is sitting on a tree slice covered in moss.  I have these scattered around the house.  They are great bases for any decorative object.

The pinecone candlesticks are the same ones that I used earlier.  Now the gold shimmer is more prevalant in this look.

In my large apothecary jars I gathered the painted pinecones I had around the house.  All the pinecones are found in my yard.  Some are spray painted gold and others have gold glitter on the tips.

I love the mix of the grey table runner and all of the taupe and gold.  These are my favorite home decor colors.

October Tablescape!

I may not care for Halloween much, but I love to decorate for fall!  After all I did get married in October and had mums lining my aisle.

My house has so much gold in it, it's fun to move things around and suddenly the items look seasonal!

I made this table runner 2 years ago.  I got the fabric from Hancocks, but I thought it had a decidedly Orla Kiely look about it..

I got the candlesticks and candles from Home Goods this season.  Wondering around Home Goods is only my favorite way to kill a Saturday afternoon.

The green Oliver Vase and these leaf plates were wedding gifts from Crate and Barrel of course!  The gold bowl is from the Nate Berkus collection at Target!

The wood slices covered in moss are from my wedding too!  Those were a DIY project that became more than a labor of love with help from my whole family.  It all started with my father-in-law cutting down a dead tree and slicing it up for me.  I then took the slices to my parent's house to dry out in the garage.  To our delight, those wood slices started to grow mold on them!  Everyday either my mom, dad or I would go outside hand scrape the fresh mold off of them and lay them out to dry in the sun.  Preferably we would lay them on their thin side so that mold didn't grow on the under side.  I think my dad even rubbed bleach into them to kill everything.    After enough of that and the day before the wedding my mom, bridesmaids, and I covered those suckers with floral tack and moss.  The nice thing is I think almost everyone has a few slices around their homes!

Simple Grown Up Invite

I haven't cared to celebrate Halloween much in the last couple of years.  I'm not sure why, but I'm slowly getting into it this year.  So much of the Halloween decor out there is still a little much for my simplistic taste.  I quickly drew up a little invite that I might actually send out to my friends.  It's definitely Halloween, but just enough and not too much.

Family Time

This weekend we went over the river and through the fields to the Hagen Family Orchard.   The drive along the river road in Illinois is beautiful and to add on a ferry trip to Brussels, IL it became a little too picturesque.  I probably spent too much time behind my phone trying to capture all of these totally normal moments that made the day so wonderful.

I think my family may have cleaned out the orchard.  We bought everything from the pumpkins, gourds, mums, to the pickled eggs and ice cream.   We had a great time and then went home and enjoyed a roast and home made apple pie!  That family sure knows how to entertain!