Thanksgiving: Set the Table

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hosted Thanksgiving at my house for the first time ever! 

It ended up going well, but you feel like there is tons of preparation, cleaning, cooking, etc, then you sit down, stuff your face, & -snap!- it's over! 

Not to mention the mess to clean up...

I wanted to share some of my table decor, which I culminated from various pinterest inspiration.

I had 2 tables, which both set 4 people, but we had 9, so my daughter was squeezed in. 

Here is the table in my dining room (which I inherited from my great-grandmother): 

The placemats I found at Ross (cost $4 fo 4), & the centerpiece was a combination of things I already had, a splurge (from Pier One), & Goodwill.  Of course the dishes (Mikasa French Country) are our everyday sets.

A closer look:

The tray I had, which I lined with a lace placemat (the splurge from Pier One).  The bronze dessert cups I found at Goodwill, which were perfect to hold votives.  And one of my faux pumpkins.  I added some raffia to give it the look of "tendrils".  The glass pedestal I also already had.  I wrapped a strip of my burlap garland around the center of the table to act as a runner, which you can barely see peaking out at the bottom of the picture (you can see it better in the picture above).

The second table, which was in my kitchen breakfast nook:

I also found these placemats at Ross, for the same price.  I love the colors against the black table.  You can see my daughter sitting at her seat with her placemat she made at school. 

A closer look at the centerpiece:

Same story here, center placemat was also a splurge from Pier One, & the pedestal I already had (a previous find from Goodwill, one of their new items.  Did you know they had new items?)

For the flatware, I bundled them in a paper napkin (well, one of those "fancy" linen-like paper napkins) with a cinnamon stick & tied with twine.  Super easy, & no stressing over where all the pieces go! 

I'll round out this post with a shot of some of our spread, which I served buffet-style from my kitchen island (that's my dad in the background):

Yum, yum!