DIY Thanksgiving Dining Table Centerpiece Idea
Making a beautiful Thanksgiving table centerpiece is easy, but this table decoration works especially well for round tables where a cloth table runner may not fit correctly.
Easy Thanksgiving dinner table centerpieces usually include a bouquet of flowers and greenery from the grocery store and candles or a cornucopia filled with some natural elements like wheat, eucalyptus, nuts, apples and pears. Or perhaps a wooden bowl filled with a gourd or two with mini pumpkins.
I like all of these ways to make easy Thanksgiving centerpieces, but this year I wanted to use my bubble glass candle hurricane with one of more pillar candles on the table. By itself it looked plain. I had to find something to make the candle feel more rustic and fall like.
I would have liked to use fall foliage from my yard for a centerpiece arrangement for my table decor, but since I live in the south, the leaves on the trees have not turned colors yet.
So what did I do? I DIY’ed my own fall paper leaves to make my Thanksgiving table decorations around the glass hurricane.
Before we moved to the lake house, we had a dining room with a rectangular table that sat 6. For holidays and birthdays when my whole family would come, my dad made a large removable plywood top that went over the existing table top to seat twice that number of guests comfortably.
When using this extended table, I placed the turkey in the center of the table with two candle arrangements on either side of it.
Since we moved to Lake Murray, we no longer have large gatherings or a dining room or that dining room table anymore.
I have an eat-in kitchen with a round dining table. I have gotten used to the more cozy feel of eating around a round table in my kitchen for all holiday meals, entertaining and celebrations.
I have had this round table with a metal base for years. Two years ago we decided it would be nice if it had a larger top, so we removed the original top and replaced it with a new permanent larger diameter, more rustic style table top that we DIY’ed.
The only time I like the color brown in decorating is in the fall when I set the Thanksgiving dining table.
Fall tables were made for mix and match place settings. I love the mix of the rustic woven plate chargers, melamine plates, fine Spode Transferware and even fancy monogrammed silverware. They all work beautifully together.
Each place setting has a black and white plaid napkin, a silver glass votive holder and for an added pop of color a little paper pumpkin.
Make a Quick & Easy Thanksgiving Table Centerpiece
To make this DIY table centerpiece, I went to my china closet and chose a few items to compile into a Thanksgiving tablescape centerpiece.
The bubble glass hurricane I bought at Target a few years ago. It has a wood base, but for Thanksgiving I wanted it to have a more rustic feel and placed it on a woven dinner plate charger.
To make the paper oak leaves, I used the crinkled brown paper bag placemats I made for last year’s Thanksgiving table setting. A pumpkin colored pillar candle, and acorns that I found outside. I did buy the orange oak leaves. They are made of parchment paper used to line a charcuterie board.
It is such a simple centerpiece to make that even your kids or grandkids who like to do crafts will have fun helping you create. You can even use the cut-out leaves to make dinner table place cards. If you would like a mix different shapes of leaves, you may also like this maple leaf template.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: Making Paper Oak Leaves
supplies needed:
- Brown paper bags, kraft paper or construction paper
- Cheese board parchment leaves
- Scissors
- Pencil
- White chalk
Time needed: 30 minutes
How to Make Paper Oak Leaves for the Table Centerpiece
- Gather Paper Bags and Paper
To make the paper oak leaves, I used brown paper grocery bags, construction paper and parchment leaves. You can also use scrapbook paper.
The crinkled circles in the photo below were table placemats I made last year. I am cutting them up to make some textured leaves.
- Print Oak Leaf Template
Print: Oak leave pattern .pdf
Depending on your printer settings, the .pdf oak leaf pattern may not print the exact size. You may have to adjust your settings.
Using scissors, cut the leaf out. This will become your tracing template. - Trace Oak Leaf Cut Out
Lay a few layers of paper on work surface. Place leaf template on top and trace around it with a pencil.
While holding the layers of paper together, use scissors to cut the leaf. Cutting 3-5 sheets of paper at once will speed up the cutting process.
- Outline the Oak Leaves with Chalk
Once leaves are cut out, outline each leaf with chalk and draw a few vein lines in the center.
- Place Around Your Centerpiece
Arrange the oak leaves around the base of the candle and hurricane. I used acorns around the glass hurricane.
If you don’t have any acorns, consider using pinecones, dried berries, nuts or grapes. If you don’t have a round charger, perhaps you have some trays that would look nice to create the centerpiece on.
Free Printable Oak Leaf Pattern .pdf
Here is the link to the oak leaf pattern I used to make the centerpiece – Oak Leaf Pattern Printable .pdf
If you enjoy setting your dining room table, don’t miss seeing the other DIY Thanksgiving centerpieces and Thanksgiving decor I have created in this post – 25 Thanksgiving Table Setting Ideas.
