Simple Thanksgiving Table Decor

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When it comes to holiday decor, I like to keep things simple, fresh, and uncluttered. These simple Thanksgiving table decor ideas focus on intentionality, and will no doubt bring warmth to your home!

Autumn colors, pumpkin pie, family, gratitude…these are just some of the words that come to mind when I think about Thanksgiving. It’s filled with delicious food and gathering with loved ones. I believe it’s one of the most intentional holidays we celebrate, and I like to keep my simple Thanksgiving decor on par with that theme.

I’m focusing in on our Thanksgiving table decor, because that’s where all the action happens!

Growing up, we celebrated Thanksgiving at my grandparents home. Family came in from several different states, and we spent an entire day laughing, and eating together. My Grandma is the best cook I know, and we definitely had our fill! This November, we will gather at my grandparents’ home again to celebrate. I am so looking forward to sharing family time and traditions with my husband and boys!

Since we aren’t hosting this year, I wasn’t planning on writing about our table decor, but we ended up having a bit of a “Thanksgiving in August” celebration here at our home. As we were going through the deep freezer, we saw several large birds, and decided to cook one up for a family get-together here in Kentucky. We decided to dive in with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and rolls, so of course I’m adding in the decor!

When it comes to decorating my own home for the fall season, I keep things simple, and usually involve my kids. Involving them in the prep work helps prepare their hearts for gratitude and encourages great discussion. You’ll see some small touches from them mixed in!

Here are a few things we are doing this year to ring in the fall season!

Fall Napkin Set

This year, my fall napkin set will make their debut at our Thanksgiving table. At the time of writing this, I don’t have a full set of napkins for each family member, so I borrowed some other cloth napkins from my mother-in-law, and did some mix and match. The final product was so warm and colorful!

I wrote about these embroidered Thanksgiving napkins in another post. I share basic instructions for you, and include free templates you can use to make your own! They’re so simple, and can be ready for this Thanksgiving.

Handprint Leaves

Here’s where my boys come in! I came across these adorable handprint leaves, and tried them with my boys. We used cardboard instead of paper, because I wanted them to have some weight to them. Although paper would’ve been quicker to cut, the weight of the cardboard leaves work better for what we needed.

As we work on Thanksgiving projects, I try to spark conversations about gratitude and why we celebrate this holiday. We’re usually thankful for monster trucks, spiderman, and animals in this house, but we eventually come around to loved ones, and the many blessings in our life.

So here is how to make these simple handprint leaves!

Materials needed:

• Cardboard (or white paper)
• Box cutter
• Paint (fall colors)
• Fine tip sharpie
• Wet wipes (for kids’ hand)

How-to:

• Paint kids’ hands, and press firmly onto cardboard or paper.
• Once handprints dry, cut. Leave a little space around the edges, and some extra at the base of the hand to create a “stem.”
• Use fine tip sharpie to draw in leaf veins.

Continue to Content

Yield: 5

Fall Handprint Leaves

Print

Painted handprints turned into fall leaves! A great way to involve your kids in the Thanksgiving decorating.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Materials

• Cardboard (or white paper)
• Box cutter
• Paint (fall colors)
• Fine tip sharpie
• Wet wipes (for kids’ hand)

Instructions

1. Paint kids’ hands, and press firmly onto cardboard or paper.
2. Once handprints dry, cut. Leave a little space around the edges, and some extra at the base of the hand to create a “stem.”
3. Use fine tip sharpie to draw in leaf veins.

Dishware

One of the beautiful things about a Thanksgiving meal, is that the food itself is aesthetically pleasing. So when it comes to the dishware, you can keep it simple. We have cream dishes because they are versatile for any occasion. This keeps less dishes in the house for more space.

However, this year, we’re living with my husbands’ parents during the holiday season, so I get to take advantage of all the colorful, beautiful dishes my mother-in-law owns! So I used shades of purple, red, yellow, and navy for this table set.

But my favorite fall dishes, are the adorable autumn mugs I picked up at Hobby Lobby last season. Ready for a warm, delicious drink, these mugs added the perfect touch to our Thanksgiving table this year.

Stick Tree Centerpieces

Another way to involve my sons, we made these stick-tree centerpieces! Last year, we made these as stick bouquets, with paper handprint leaves intertwined. This year, I separated the vases with just one stick each, and twine stretched between. I loved the height it created.

The boys collected all the acorns for the filler. A great way to get them busy and active outside, and be a part of hosting this meal! We then used small, golden clothespins to display photos of our family from throughout the year. My sister-in-law has captured several photos of our family with her polaroid camera, so we used those photos, and it turned out so cute! The kids love looking at the pictures of themselves and our family members.

Displaying photos is a great way to encourage conversation centered around gratitude for the people in our lives. This simple touch is definitely my favorite part of our simple Thanksgiving table decor this year!

Thanks for reading along, happy Turkey Day!

Other Fall Ideas:

• Fall Mason Jar Gift Ideas
• How to Embroider Thanksgiving Napkins
• How to Decorate Mason Jars for Gifts

If you tried something you saw in this post, please share or tag me on Instagram! @homesweetharps