I love a huge Thanksgiving dinner. You know, the kind with a dozen kids running around, a 35 lbs turkey, a gallon of gravy and a vat of my cousin’s old-school sweet potatoes with ooey-gooey melted marshmallows.
Alas, this year it is not meant to be. We will be only eight. So, with a little help from our friends at Target, I’ve decided to make it the most beautiful, special, magical and meaningful Thanksgiving I can.
Starting with a beautiful table.
My daughter and I spent an afternoon at Target hunting for treasures to make our table perfect. And, in eight easy-peasy, inexpensive steps, here's what we did.
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Lay the groundwork. A beautiful tablecloth instantly dresses up your everyday table. But our style is a bit more modern. For this Thanksgiving, a sparkly runner and grey placemats provide the perfect backdrop for our table. Threshold Placemats, $3.99.
White Out: Did you know that food always looks better on white plates? Especially a Thanksgiving dinner with all of its rich colors. There’s no need to buy special plates for the holidays, stick to basic white and enjoy dressing up your table with colors and themes for the season. Our all-time favorite white plates? Threshold’s White Round Coupe Dinnerware Set. $59.99 for complete settings for four.
Break Out the Good Stuff. Holidays are the time to break out Grandma’s silver. Mine gets used so rarely, a quick cleaning was in order. Weiman Silver Polish $3.99.
Places Everyone. Thanksgiving is a time for us all to reflect on the harvest and bounty of our lives. And kids love to assign seats, probably because they are so often told where to go and where to sit. So this year, I asked my daughter to help create the place cards and to include something she is grateful about for each person.
Bring the Outside In. Forget flowers from the local florist. Right now, the most beautiful colors in the world can be found in nature. Maddie and I loved the two oversized, sparkly silver jars and filled them with cuttings from around the neighborhood. Threshold Hurricane Candleholder $7.99. Here's how:
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Set the Bar High. Whether its bubbly champagne, sparkling cider, or mulled wine, even your holiday beverages should be special and everything looks better on a tray. Silver serving tray $14.99, Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider 2.99. Dom Perignon … a gift from a friend.
Add Some Treats. Since we sit down to dinner so early, we never do appetizers for Thanksgiving dinner, but we love to have little bowls of treats around. Cashew, Cranberry & Almond Trail Mix with oodles of cranberries are prefect for the holiday. Archer Farms Cashew, Cranberry & Almond Trail Mix. $10.29
Light the Lights. It is amazing how candlelight immediately changes the mood of a table and these two candles, each with three wicks, a metallic holder and a gentle vanilla smell, are perfection. The Collection by Chesapeake Bay Candle. $8.00
Now, all we need is a turkey.
