Decorate Your Table With Fall Foliage And Fruit

We here in the iTaggit family are in the beginning stages of preparing for the holiday season. Christmas Wish Lists are being compiled and travel plans are being made. Recipes and holiday collectibles have been shared as well as fun tales of past gatherings. And we all know that decorating one's home can be a time-consuming, and sometimes frustrating task, so I have found a way to create an easy centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table.

Start by thinking about fall's unusual fruits and foliage, and let them inspire you. Search your market or grocery store for gourds, small pumpkins and colorful fruits, like figs, clementines, and star fruit, and gather oak leaves and branches from your yard (or a neighbor's if they don't mind). When arranged on a tiered cake stand, in bowls, or in carved out pumpkins, these harvest-time items make a centerpiece that takes only minutes to create, leaving you plenty of time to concentrate on the meal.

What You'll Need:

• Cake stands (assorted sizes), and/or pumpkins (hollowed out), and/or glass or decorative bowls

• Foliage, such as oak leaves, acorns, and branches

• Gourds, figs, star fruit, and nuts

• Dried cranberries or cherries, clementines and grapes

Here's How:

1. Use just one cake stand or stack three on top of each other to create tiers. You may wish to place a small glass bowl on top of the highest cake stand to complete the tier. In that bowl you can place a pyramid of clementines (or star fruit) to add a splash of vibrant color – making sure not to stack the small citrus so high that they will topple easily.
2. Start placing the leaves and branches on the cake stands. Arrange an assortment of figs, quinces, star fruit, gourds, and nuts on top of the leaves. If you don't have the cake stands, use two or three hollowed out pumpkins (assorted sizes) or two or three decorative bowls placed down the center of the table filled with the same items.

In addition to the centerpiece, don't forget to decorate the room with flowering fall blooms or colorful fall foliage in unexpected places – and add extra squash, pumpkins, and gourds. With the extra fruits and nuts, you can transform your entire table and decor by placing bowls of fresh figs, dried cranberries or cherries, grapes, and nuts around the main centerpiece. Vary the bowls' contents to include as wide a spectrum of colors as possible of both edible and non-edible items (such as acorns). As your Thanksgiving meal draws to an end, you can dismantle your centerpiece and snack on the fruits and nuts. Also, if you chose to purchase manufactured items, this centerpiece will be easy to recreate year after year. For this article and more holiday inspired decorations, click here.

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