Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Decorating Tips

'Tis the season.  

Stores have become a flurry of green and red, the sound of Christmas tunes filling your ears, kids sitting on Santa’s lap… but wait – it’s still November! Stores may be setting up for Christmas early as per usual but we still have some time left until December and another holiday on the horizon! No, I’m not talking about National Cashew Day, I’m talking about Thanksgiving. On a beautiful day in 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated with the Indians by having a 3-day feast to thank God for a good crop. Then they proceeded to take their land… err, anyway… 

We now celebrate that day by giving thanks for the things we’ve been given and fill up on pie and turkey.  You might be looking for some quick and easy ways to decorate your home for your Thanksgiving feast. In this post you’ll find tips using live plants and wreaths to bring fall color to your home, to more unconventional things such as decoupage pumpkins.

An easy and quick way to bring in some fall color is picking up some live plants from your local garden center or big box stores. Some good suggestions are mums and variegated Crotons available from Costa Farms.

Take a walk and enjoy the fresh autumn air before winter takes over, while picking flowers and colorful foliage found along the way. Just don’t steal them from your neighbor’s yard…

Try dressing up your home with a new festive wreath, it’s a simple way to bring the fall into your home. And as an added bonus with the holiday season fast approaching you can easily change your fall wreath into a holiday wreath. Check out James Farmer’s new book A Wreaths for All Seasons for ideas on how to recycle your wreath all year long! And if time is an issue you can always buy wreaths from James' online store here!

Some DIY ideas include (courtesy of HGTV.com): 

Create a Fall leaf lampshade

Take those old plain lampshades of yours and give them a fall twist by stenciling in some fall leaves. 

Click here for a how-to

Decoupage Pumpkins

“Give faux pumpkins, leftover from Halloween, a fashion-forward makeover by covering them with strips of trendy fabric. Large decoupage pumpkins are a stylish addition to front porch fall displays while small pumpkins will add a graphic pop to your Thanksgiving centerpiece.”

Click here for a how-to

Decorate with fall foliage

Pick up some of those silk fall leaves at the craft store and decorate your home with them for a quick and easy fall look. You can also press real leaves found in your own backyard!

Let us know some of your fall decorating ideas! We’d like to hear them!

Have a happy Thanksgiving!
~ James
Garden Media Group

Cider donuts, pumpkins and plants

With the rich colors of the fall season, a visit to your local garden center makes it easy to add autumnal whimsy to your home's entryway, porch, patio or deck and seasonal touches indoors.

Piles of gourds and pumpkins along with corn stalks, hay bales and more are typically found at this time of year.

Ornamental grasses juxtaposed against textured orange and white pumpkins and colorful gourds, along with garden sculptures and paintings add seasonal interest.

Create containers of mini pumpkins and gourds. Try grouping by color for a monochromatic look that surprises when placed alongside a splash of vibrant mums.

Easy to grow herbs add color and a seasonal touch indoors and out.

Achillea Millefolium is a pretty yarrow that is a perfect "companion" plant in your garden with pink flowering heads that look wonderful when dried out and displayed in an arrangement or tucked in a wreath. Festoon your wreath with other dried herbs and leaves, berries, apples and  pine cones; the possibilities are endless as the acres of pumpkins, gourds and mums.

Beside picking up plants, pumpkins, apples and cider, many garden centers carry a wide array of specialty products. I confess to a secret addiction to crunchy, still warm-from-the-oven fresh baked apple cider donuts that can only be found this time of the year.

My annual pilgrimage to the temple of  apple heaven is rewarded with bags of apples, donuts, and apple and pumpkin butter that I share with friends and family. 

As you're meandering through corn mazes and enjoying haunted hayrides with your kids, don't forget to ask the garden center experts what shrubs, trees and bulbs are perfect for fall planting in your landscape. After the heat and drought many states experienced this year, cool weather is an ideal time to plant.

Share your favorite find at your local garden center along with your creative decorating tips. We'd love to see your images.

~Lynne

Garden Media Group

photos: Linvilla Orchard, GMG