Decorating for Thanksgiving

When I recently posted a Thanksgiving decor pic on Instagram, my friend commented, "Cute, I never knew how to decorate for Thanksgiving." Fall happens to be our favorite season at the Lunt home & Thanksgiving is particularly cherished by my Hunny. So I try to always make an effort to decorate for it. Here are some tips to help make fall special at your house . . . 

Tip 1 - Pumpkins

They are the perfect seasonal accent, but if you are purchasing a lot every year they can be expensive! We often grow our own to save money. {The mini pumpkins in the first pic were grown in our yard this summer.} I also buy fake ones on clearance after Halloween or Thanksgiving. These "faux" pumpkins are getting more & more realistic. Remember you can dress them up with ribbon, raffia, etc. Every year Walmart carries these glitter letters {above} in their Christmas section for 97 cents. I buy handfuls of them & use them to decorate my house. {The pumpkins on my porch - below are also fake.}

Tip 2 - Wreaths

I love a beautiful wreath, don't you? The nice ones can be pretty pricey. One of my favorite things to do is to buy an inexpensive one & "doll" it up. The one above was around $20 at Walmart. I just added the ribbon & all of a sudden it looks glorious! 

Tip 3 - Decorate Mirrors

What I put on them varies from year to year, but I love to decorate my mirrors. Some ideas: berry garlands, letters, vinyl, etc. A wreath looks really pretty hung on a mirror too. It can be attached with a suction cup or a ribbon that goes around to the back. 

Tip 4 - Mantles
Mantles are so pretty when decorated for fall. Some of the same things used for Christmas, can also be repurposed at Thanksgiving. For instance in the photo below, an evergreen garland is used under the pumpkins & berries to add some detail & bulk. {Notice the difference without the fir in the photo above.} It also looks nice to let the garlands drape off the shelf in areas. GOLD is a fun trend in home decor currently & it looks great with fall colors - even gold glitter. {Yay for glitter!} The "Give Thanks" pendant banner was made with the 97 cent Walmart letters I told you about earlier.

Tip 5 - Have Fun With Color
For any occasion or holiday, I recommend "coloring outside the lines" - thinking outside the box, if you will. It's so fun to throw in an unexpected color combination.  For instance, last year I used some pops of turquoise with the traditional orange & it looked great. {CLICK HERE to see more of that post.}

Another year, we used green & white for our tablescape. {CLICK HERE to see it & for a tutorial on how to make your own napkins.} If something is not the right color, paint it! Small white pumpkins were not available when I created the table settings below, so I had to spray paint some orange ones. The candlesticks in the photo above have gone from brown to black {Halloween}, to turquoise back to brown. Ha ha. 

Are there any good tips I've missed? Please leave a comment & share yours!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!