I’m not entirely sure how this happened, but we are mere days away from Thanksgiving here in Canada. I was feeling resistant to the calling of cooler temperatures, knit sweaters and falling leaves but since October hit, I’m feeling all in. Bring on the soups and stews, pumpkin everything, and foggy mornings. My hygge-loving soul is ready.
I love Thanksgiving weekend. The food, the family, the kickoff to the holiday season. I always felt a bit sorry for Americans who have to wait an extra 7 weeks to stuff their face with turkey and pumpkin pie. This year we’re hosting a small 4-person dinner with my in-laws at our place, followed by a second dinner with my family at my mum’s the next day. I will take any excuse to set the table for a special occasion. My rule of thumb for creating any tablescape is to shop your own home and forage everything else. To start off I always decide if I’m doing just a tablecloth, just a runner or a combo of the two, and if there are going to be placemats involved. I was feeling a minimal layered look so I went with a white linen tablecloth and an off-white textured runner, no placemats.
Next up is deciding what to place along the center. I love a centerpiece and so I used a bunch of dried hydrangeas from my living room shelves. I then like to layer in candles in various heights. In this case, two brass candlesticks (that I thrifted long ago) with beeswax candles and two amber glass votives with tealights (these were filled candles that I cleaned out once used and now just fill with tealights from Ikea). Next I think about what serveware I will have on the table. All the food will be served on the kitchen counter and so all that’s needed is a bowl of cranberry sauce and pitcher of gravy, served in pretty ceramics of course so that they feel part of the decor. Then I fill in the gaps with foliage and seasonal produce. The stems of eucalyptus were borrowed from a vase of flowers (a bridemaid bouquet from a wedding nonetheless!) and the pears and white squash I picked up from a local produce store. The pears will end up in a dessert of some kind later in the week and the white squash will migrate to a large bowl on our coffee table. I LOVE multipurpose decor.
Now that the center is set, it’s time to lay out the dinnerware, flatware and napkins. Condo living requires an edited dishware collection and so when searching for new dinnerware last year it was important that I find a set that can be dressed up and down. I love our Fable set and it’s truly a workhorse in our home (#notsponsored #Iwish). For this table, I layered a dinner plate and side plate together and placed a folded taupe linen napkin on top, followed by gold flatware (also by Fable). With the center being quite busy, I wanted to balance it with a simple place setting. Lastly, I set out my favourite thrifted wine glasses and of course, a favourite bottle of wine.
Et voila! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
