The Last Minute Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Hello and Happy Monday!

Thanksgiving is coming. What??? The holidays have already started, and I only just realized that autumn arrived about two weeks ago. The family arrives tomorrow, and I just started considering festive decorations yesterday. I need a centerpiece, and quickly. 

I'm not going to buy a decoration for one holiday that I would have to store the rest of the year. I don't have space to store dedicated Thanksgiving decorations in my tiny apartment, so I don't want to make a dedicated Thanksgiving centerpiece either, because I wouldn't have anywhere to store it. All my hard work would likely go in the trash at the end of the holiday, and that's no good.

So what should I do? I got on the Internet with this question. I typed in the search bar something like "Thanksgiving centerpieces with stuff from the house."

That turned up...well, not much, really. At least not that would meet my requirements. What appeared in the search results were tutorials to construct new items from supplies found around the house, or worse, from supplies found in a yard. I don't have a yard! I have no supply of twigs or pine cones out my back door, unless I cut up the tiny rose bush that lives on my balcony. 

The Challenge

With few helpful suggestions from the Internet, I went over a few of the pictures I found for inspiration and then turned to my own supplies. This was the most helpful source of inspiration I found: DIY Centerpieces from Household Items.

Next, I made rules.

1. All items in centerpiece must be taken from the apartment. No buying new items.
2. No altering raw materials to make new things, and no item in the centerpiece may be altered from its original state. Items may be used in new ways, but not changed.
3. Unofficially, the centerpiece should take fewer than 15 minutes to construct.

I would make several centerpieces following these rules, and pick my favorite to keep up. I made myself a list of all the items I have in my apartment that might be of use before I started designing. Here's the list I made. I've tried to sort it into categories for you. When I first made it, it was just a jumbled brainstorm list.

Materials for Centerpieces

• candles
• hurricane lamps
• vases
• bowls and baskets
• platters and trays
• cake stand
• pitchers 
• glasses
• chargers
• fruit
• flowers 
• scarves
• burlap
• string
• ribbon
• paper
• pictures
• stuff on bookshelves and tables- take a look around the house

I'm also keeping you all in mind! As I made centerpieces, I considered what you may not have. What follows will be a variety of looks using a variety of materials. May they inspire your creativity and save you some money!

Centerpiece #1

I went into my craft bin for this one, and pulled out the artificial foliage that I use to make Christmas ornaments. I did not modify the foliage in any way that would affect my ability to use it later for its original purpose. I also pulled candles from around the house, including a hurricane candle holder. The pilgrims are actually salt and pepper shakers that my mom gave me, although in this set up I'm using them in the centerpiece. Underneath everything is a piece of burlap left over from the box to basket transformation. Easy!

 I stuck to the rules. This was the most time consuming piece because I had to cut the foliage into pieces (which I would have done eventually anyway, so this does not break rule #2) but it still came in at right about 15 minutes of work, and no cost.

"But wait!" you say, "I don't have artificial foliage laying around my house!"

That's why I have also made...

Centerpiece #2

This is a simpler piece. I already had these beautiful flowers in a vase elsewhere in my house, so I have followed rule #1 (although you could just grab some at the grocery while you're picking up food anyway, so if you do have to buy anything, flowers are a simple choice). My husband got them for me a few days ago because I was not feeling well. I keep the candles for ambiance, and the pilgrims because its Thanksgiving. The burlap still ties everything together. Don't have burlap? Try a tray, or even place mats or a scarf. I have a solid red one and some gold ones that would probably work decently well. I haven't tried this in this experiment because they are long, and the dog may pull them off the table. This came in under 10 minutes even with me doing some rearranging of the flowers.

"But wait!" you say, "I don't have flowers!" No problem! Because I've also made...

Centerpiece #3

This centerpiece uses books, and themes books of course! I chose cookbooks and books that I believe are good reminders of the holiday. I use books around the house in some of my other side table decorations, so this was not much of a leap. Total time here? Less than ten minutes, most of which was spent searching for Just the Right Books. 

Centerpiece #4

The simplest centerpiece yet. If you like understated decorations (and something you can leave up all the time, with little to no maintenance), then this is for you. This is one that you could make using just a few simple household items- any would do. I opted for a simple color palette of white and gold, and pulled this pitcher. If you happen to live in a house with a yard and a tree, you could even pull some branches to put in the pitcher, or put flowers in the pitcher. I found that it was also interesting enough a piece to stand alone. One of the hurricane candle holders would also have worked well here, I imagine. This one also comes in at the lowest time investment. I think I made it in three minutes.

"But wait!" you say, "I want something more...Thanksgiving-y. At the last minute." 

I've thought of that, and I've got you covered with...

Centerpiece #5

Hmmmm...you now say. How this a Thanksgiving centerpiece? 

This is what I will call a symbolic Thanksgiving centerpiece. Almost every item in here either represents something or someone I am thankful for, or was a gift (and many fit in both categories). What better decoration to anchor the table than a reminder of all the things we're thankful for? 

I doubled up my place mats here to fashion a sort of runner. I wanted the metallic thread that's in the place mats. All of the items here (barring one candle) are items of personal significance. 

This is my favorite one, I think. It was on the more time consuming end, because it required thought in collecting and arranging the items on display. It still came in under the 15 minute time limit. 

Decorate creatively

That was my biggest takeaway here. I was concerned that a non traditional centerpiece would be too hard to pull off with items from around the house, but I was wrong. Each of these fit the rules for the challenge. I was able to get a wide range of looks with items I already had, all in under 15 minutes a piece. Each is also a reflection of what I like. The house is a little more festive, and some of these looks would be fun to leave up longer! 

What would you do with items around your house? Good luck with the decorating, and happy Thanksgiving!