Only a few more days til Thanksgiving. Our family Thanksgiving meal is always at my parent’s cabin. This year we are having a family photo shoot right after our meal. It’s quite a fete to plan a photo shoot with 47 people. (yes, I have a very large immediate family.) The photo shoot will be interesting with that many people and several who happen to be under the age of 5. First of all, we had to decide what 47 people would wear. If you are doing a photo shoot for a family of 6, it’s ok for everyone to wear jeans and a white shirt, but when you put 47 people in a photo dressed that way it begins to look like a cult or corporate photo not a family. My niece who is a professional photographer created a Pinterest board with outfit ideas. It really helped to see various outfit options. We decided to go with a palette of denim, navy, cream and warm neutrals. Hopefully everyone got the memo. I might give you a sneak peek(on instagram) on Thanksgiving but first I have the task of getting our decorations and food organized for our meal. Everyone is pitching in to prepare the meal.
What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Are you cooking or visiting in someone else’s home?
If you are having guests are you ready? Have you planned your table? If you are like me and do things last minute, hopefully, this post will save you a little time and give you a few ideas to expedite your decorations. [click title to continue…]
I looked around online and found some easy ideas for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and then thought of a few ways you could refashion some of these ideas for Thanksgivukkah.
This is my all time favorite candle to burn during Thanksgiving. If you don’t do anything else, make sure you choose a nice scented candle to burn. Candles can really help set the mood when your guest enter. If you are going to a guest in someone else’s house for dinner, this makes a great hostess gift. It’s in a pretty box, just tie a pretty ribbon around it to dress it up.
Do you have a favorite candle you like to burn? If so please share in the comments, I would like to know your favorites. I’m always picking up a new candle.
Don’t we all have extra clear vases around? If not, jars would work just as well. Gather acorns and fill the vases/jars with them, then pop a flower in the middle of them or a candle.
If using a flower, I would suggest putting it in a water tube.
Manzanita branches on the table with moss, greenery and candles makes a beautiful centerpiece with a huge wow factor. Since Thanksgiving is so close, you might have a hard time finding these locally so think about substituting ivy topiaries or any other green plant available at the local garden center or floral department at your grocery store. It would look nice to tuck small gourds, miniature pumpkins, nuts and fruits around the base as well.
Anyone who knows me, knows I love using my West Elm twig silverware this time of year. It’s currently on sale at West Elm for $39 a place setting. Also available in the brass finish which was my first choice, but it was out of stock and it still is!
Here is a display of Hanukkah presents and decorations in traditional blue, white and silver. I like how they dipped the dreidels in blue and silver glitter.
I love the idea of making your own menorah, by wrapping little gifts for each day and placing a candle on top. Not only do you have a pretty centerpiece, but you also get a little present to unwrap each day in celebration.
This year our Jewish friends get a double celebration with the first day of Hanukkah falling on Thanksgiving. This hasn’t happened since 1888 and won’t happen again for 77,000 years, so this is a once in a lifetime celebration! This deserves a little extra special thought! If you celebrate Thanksgivukkah make sure you take lots of pictures!
I applaud 10 year old Asher Weintraub came up with an idea for a “Menurkey” for Thanksgivukkah. A Menurkey is a menorah in the shape of a turkey and sold it on Kickstarter, the crowd sourcing fundraising. It might be too late to order for this Thanksgivukkah, so I think it would be fun to go to the local craft store, buy some
plaster of paris and make this a craft project with your kids. You could make your own
version of the Menurkey and carve the date and family name in the base with a pencil.
You might try using a turkey figurine as the base and apply the plaster to it to make it easier.
I love the menurkey shown here with striped birthday candles from the grocery store. What are you going to do if you are celebrating both? Will your table be the traditional fall colors we associate with Thanksgiving or the blues and silvers of Hanukkah? Here are my favorite online ideas that could work for Thanksgivukkah with a little tweaking.
This table is a bit dressier so I would most likely use pumpkins spray
painted silver on this table to complete the look. This looks like a homemade menorah but a similar menorah is available from West Elm see later in the post.
Again, just toss a few random pumpkins on the table. You can keep the color palette as shown, by adding pumpkins in white or silver or add a pop of color using the pumpkins au natural.
This Hannukkah twig tree could become a Thanksgivukkah tree with the addition of pretty leaf shaped gift tags(could easily make your own) which could serve be tied around the napkin as a napkin ring with the guest’s name on one side for a place card. After seating the tag could be removed and the guest could write something they are thankful for and hang on the tree. After the celebration these could be saved in a book as a keepsake.
If I were decorating for Thanksgivukkah, Here are some tables I would consider using as an example. All you would need to do is throw in a few pumpkins, dreidels, and a few silver stars..
I love this modern crystal menorah from Wisteria Home which has just been reduced from $129 to only $32.25! The ornaments shown on the twigs are all on sale too. Check those out here! Those blue square votive holders are only $9.75 for the pair! The Star of David larger pillars are only $7.25 for a pair! Order quickly!
Love these Star of David plates, antique mirrored menorah and table linens from Pottery Barn. The best part is they are currently all on sale! Click here to see more!
“The Design Connector” connecting you to the people, places, and products you need to know in the Interior Design World. Written by Lisa Mende, who is an Interior Designer, Tastemaker and Brand Collaborator located in Charlotte, North Carolina.