My (Fantasy) Thanksgiving Table

Here are a few ideas I've been having about decorating my table and home for Thanksgiving. All selections are picked from the pages of Design Style Guide's wonderful designers. Some of these selections are incompatible with one another, but all are suitable as part of the setting for a feast.

Before I get to my table I want to take care of the front door. When my guests arrive I want to set the mood immediately. This Autumn Scented Wreath by Felicia Kramer/FPK Enterprises Inc. is the perfect tool for that job. It is apple scented. I'm serving apples in my fruit salad. That works out great!

Or...

...I could go with this beautiful wreath by Southern Girl Florals. It isn't scented, but that might not be a problem considering I'm hanging this outside on my front door, and we generally have lots of wind around the end of November. This beauty has similar colors to the first one with an emphasis on flowers and leaves instead of fruit. Hmmm... choices, choices... This is a great problem to have!

To get things started on the inside of my house I want to cover my grandmother antique table to protect it from (further) damage. So I'll use this fabulous quilted table runner by btaylor quilts. This is the perfect combination of colors to highlight my turkey dinner. The details in this quilt are subtle, and the whole thing is punctuated with bright fall colors mixed into the darker whole, just like the dinner I have planned.

I want some mood lighting for my table so I turn to these beautiful black walnut candle holders by MaxWood Creations. With a couple of tapered candles burning in these, some indirect light covering the table, things are off to a great start. These candle holders are elegant enough to hold their own in most settings, yet simple enough to avoid distracting my guests from the beauty of the food I serve.

And if I don't want to bother with candle sticks...

...here is a great alternative. I can just place a couple of these wonderfully scented candles in the center of my table to provide beautiful light and make my guests hungry for pumpkin pie or apples at the same time. Perfection. These candles from Bliss Soybean Candles and Gifts come in a variety of scents and sizes. It's easy to find pretty much anything you're looking for.

I need a bowl or basket for fruit or bread. I haven't decided if I have room for a fruit bowl on my table, but bread is a certainty. This "Thanksgiving Turkey" fabric bowl looks to be exactly what I want. Made by zizzybob, it is "100% cotton fabric, wrapped around a cotton rope core, then coiled and stitched" into this great one-of-a-kind bowl that will display the bread at my table very nicely indeed! Beautiful colors, fine craftsmanship, and no one else in the neighborhood will have one.

Terry Aske Art Quilts provides the final addition to my decorating masterpiece. This is a tall seasonal quilted wallhanging, suitable for Halloween and Thanksgiving. The colors are perfect for enhancing the mood for my feast, it coordinates well with the table runner, and I can place it in any of a dozen spots visible from my table.

Now, I take my choices, combine them with my grandmother's table, an old, scarred stoneware bowl she gave me years ago, add a few decorative gourds in the bowl, place my food on the table...

...and get out of the way as my family starts eating. After that, I only have to clean up a bit and then it's time to watch the Dallas Cowboys play football.

Ahhh... Life is good!

Holding a Candle

I make candle holders out of wood. I got the idea for my first candle holder from an article I read in Woodworkers Journal a few years ago, and then the idea just snowballed into a small industry. I sell these things online and at craft shows, and I have a lot of fun making them.

The idea, at it's core, is to simply make something to hold a candle so it sits upright whilst burning. That way you don't burn your house down. This idea, of course, leaves lots of room for artistic expression, and there is no shortage of artisans taking a stab at building the better candle holder.

You see, it turns out I haven't exactly cornered the market on candle holders, and that's a good thing. Variety means competition, and that means everyone strives to get better. Here are some examples of the candles and holders -- including a pair of my own -- to be found at Design Style Guide.

Hand Painted Candle Cube

V Silcox Designs/ A Painted Setting

This glass candle holder refracts and reflects the flickering candle light, creating ever-changing patterns all over your room. Vickie Silcox says, "Amazing table top illumination comes from the candlelight passing through the transparent paint on the glass. Styled to resemble stained glass yet much more durable and robust." It holds one votive candle in any scent you desire.

Tealight Candle Holder by Charan Sachar

Creative with Clay

These are hand thrown clay candle holders, designed for use with tea lights. They sit low to the table, the light plays off the warm colors of the clay, and the mood is set. These would be wonderful around an intimate dinner for two, as lighting for a holiday setting, or in your master bath.

"Balanced" Candlestick

Boone's Hooks

From short to tall, here we have a forged steel double candle stick holder by Master Blacksmith Smyth Boone, a descendant of that guy with the coonskin cap. This unit makes a statement, and it would make a wonderful addition to an elegant dinner, or as a centerpiece whilst sampling a bottle of your favorite vintage. Personally, I'd like to have this sitting on my buffet for this year's Thanksgiving dinner.

Red Heart Candle Holders

jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks

And here's the pair of my candle holders, as promised. I built these out of Redheart, one of my favorite woods with which to work. I love the figure of the wood when finished. I also love the smell of the wood when I am working it. When the candles are burning low, and the lights are down, the flames seem to dance off the reds and browns in the wood, creating an effect similar to the clay holders above. Any room is the perfect room for this pair, but I prefer them in my library and my wife loves them in the master bath, where they create a mood of utter relaxation... when we're not trying to read, of course.

Contemporary Steel Wall Sconces with Wax Cylinders by Jacob Kennedy

Wink Art & Design

This is a pair of high end candle holders, designed to mount on your wall. Jacob Kennedy says, "Sculpture for your wall. Stunning waxed steel wall sconce and inset wax pillar candle creates a soft glow perfect for an entryway, dining room focal piece, or bedroom mood setter." I couldn't have put it better myself. But I can imagine these in an entry foyer, lighting the way for guests arriving for a Christmas party.

Premium 10 oz. Soy Jar Candle

Bliss Soybean Candles and Gifts

Which brings us to the candle in a jar. It arrives in it's own holder. All you have to do is take the top off, light the candle and enjoy. The piece you see here can be had in any of more than 185 scents. It burns clean, smells wonderful, looks great in your master bath, master bedroom or living room... what more could you want?

This is a 10 ounce jar, but you can also buy these in other sizes, including jelly jars, and I even build a candle holder specifically for the Bliss Soybean Candles Jelly Jar Candle. Check it out, and check out the other beautiful work from all these gifted artisans. They make decorating your home a pleasure.

There are other candles and holders available from these vendors and from several others as well, all under the Design Style Guide umbrella. Check it out. See what treasures you come up with.

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