Are you hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your home this year? While many stress over the menu, it’s also important to create a beautiful setting for your guests to relax, mingle and, of course, eat! However, your Thanksgiving tablescape doesn’t need to be expensive or difficult to put together. Here are some easy tips for making your table look beautiful—all with items you already have at home, or that you can easily pick up at any craft store.

Start with the Table

If you have a table you want to show off, such as a beautiful, rustic table, you can choose not to use a tablecloth and, instead, show off the character of the table itself. If your table has seen better days, or you simply prefer the look of a tablecloth, you can use a favorite one and even enhance the look by layering a table runner.

Gather Round

Once you have your table ready, it’s time to collect the items you’ll use for your tablescape, from the dishes to the décor. We suggest starting with what you already have at home. There’s no need for special plates when you can dress simple ones up with the setting. Plus, you can create the centerpiece and décor from things you have in your Thanksgiving décor box or craft collection.

Here are the key pieces you’ll need:

• A centerpiece containing at least one tall item, such as a vase or an assortment of candles.
• Placemats and neutral colored dishes. You can use what you’ve got at home—no need for Grandma’s fancy dishes.
• Neutral colored cloth napkins, such as green, white, brown or even a print. You can use your everyday napkins.
• An assortment of artificial gourds and pumpkins in oranges and creams. Make sure to grab a few different sizes and heights for your arrangement. While you can use real pumpkins, today’s artificial pumpkins are beautiful and convenient. You can use them year after year, and you don’t have to worry about the mess that can come with real pumpkins.
• Artificial fall flowers that were bought in big bouquets and cut up.
• Plus, the extras! Ribbon pieces, wire, metal leaves, clip on flowers to clip on napkin rings. Basically, anything you have around the house, you can use. It doesn’t have to match. In fact, a nice, assorted collection can make you table even more festive for the holidays.

Coming Together:

Once you’ve assembled the items you want to use, it’s time to start putting everything together. First up, your centerpiece. You want to start with some height. We love using a beautiful, tall, glass vase, that can be filled with various autumnal pieces. Alternatively, you could also fill it with a big chunky candle, or you could simply use a collection of candles for your centerpiece. Choose candles in fall colors of varying heights—just make sure to put a plate under them to collect wax and make sure they are taller than any fall foliage you are using, so nothing catches fire. Next, you can simply set the table using your placemats, dishes, and napkins. It’s that simple!

Along with the table, you can use the items you’ve collected to decorate a hutch or buffet. Again, you’ll want a tall focal point, and you can simply arrange your pumpkins, squash, fall foliage, flowers and more around this main piece.

Pro Tip: Take the stress out of your Thanksgiving weekend. You can prepare this tablescape at the beginning of October, and it’s perfect until the day after Thanksgiving when you start pulling out your holiday décor.