Holiday Blend: How to Make a Thanksgiving /Christmas Table Setting

With Thanksgiving sneaking up right before Christmas this year, I totally get the temptation to blast Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” while tossing aside the turkey decorations. I mean, who wouldn’t want to trade in their cornucopia for some twinkling lights? But wait—what happens if you’re the one hosting Thanksgiving? Do you slap a Santa hat on your turkey and call it a “holiday fusion feast”? Or maybe drape your pilgrims in red and green and have them awkwardly hold hands like they’re about to break into a Christmas carol?

Before you start decorating your mashed potatoes with holly, let me suggest a classy option that seamlessly merges Thanksgiving with Christmas, all without turning the dinner into a “Christmas in July” theme! Imagine a tastefully arranged table where a holly-adorned tablecloth complements a floral centerpiece bursting with autumn foliage, such as sunflowers, cattails, and wheat stalks—all within a cohesive red color palette that matches the tablecloth. Now that’s a way to keep both Santa and the turkey happy!

This may seem like a daunting task, but before you go stuffing your turkey back in the freezer like it owes you money or putting your favorite restaurant on speed dial (again), try these 5 steps. Trust me, your turkey deserves better than a permanent staycation in the freezer!

1. Color Palette

Don’t overthink things when creating a blended and balanced table setting. The key lies in the colors you choose. Start with what you already have or what you want to achieve. For our Thanksgiving table, we used our favorite Christmas tablecloth—a lovely Ralph Lauren piece that we found on clearance at TJ Maxx after Christmas. The main colors of the tablecloth are shades of red, green, and cream. These colors can easily be incorporated into a flower arrangement.

If you have difficulty visualizing color arrangements, I highly recommend the use of color pallet apps like the app I used “color picker”. I am not affiliated with this app but it allows you to take a picture of your household items and select the colors from those items and adds them to a color pallet. You can start with the tablecloth and then manually add other colors that compliment those colors. I’m including the color palette I chose for my flower arrangement below.

While colors are important, we also need to consider seasons when arranging. This brings us to our next step:

2. Seasons

If our goal is to blend Christmas with Thanksgiving, we should also consider incorporating seasonal flowers into our floral arrangement. While placing a pot of poinsettias on a table is a common approach for Christmas, we want something more unique that goes beyond a traditional Christmas look. So, why not mix fall florals with a touch of winter foliage to create a captivating arrangement? Of course, it’s important to remember that every floral arrangement is subject to what is available at the store.

The great news is that both fall and Christmas florals are often available at the same time, and better yet, one or both will likely be on sale. So grab your purse and shopping bag because it’s time to go shopping!

3. Selection

When creating floral arrangements, most people may think of heading to their local florist. However, for the purpose of this blog post, we’ll focus on the exciting world of artificial flowers.

As I mentioned, the selection you find in stores will greatly influence the kind of arrangement you can create. Occasionally, the options may be limited, but if you’re faced with a delightful abundance of choices, like I was this past Thanksgiving, there are a few important questions to consider when selecting your flowers for the arrangement.

First, think about the size of the arrangement you envision: Are you aiming for something tall and striking, or perhaps a shorter, more compact design? Determining the size will significantly impact your flower choices. I’ve included ideas for both tall and large arrangements, as well as small and short arrangements, to spark your creativity.

Once you’ve settled on the size and corresponding flower dimensions for your arrangement, it’s time to move on to the next crucial element: texture.

4. Texture

You might be surprised at how easy it is to overlook texture in floral arrangements. In the heat of the moment, we often focus on the gorgeous flowers and completely disregard the more understated elements like wheat stalks, cattails, and even that often-dismissed ragweed—I mean, goldenrod! Don’t underestimate these seemingly sad-looking plants; they can elevate a lovely flower arrangement into a stunning bouquet. Incorporating these elements adds layers of color and depth that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

While some of the more expensive bouquets come pre-arranged with a mix of blooms and greens, don’t hesitate to explore options beyond what is included. After all, the creator of that bouquet didn’t know you were aiming to blend Thanksgiving with Christmas when they made that arrangement.

5. Bringing It All Together

Step 5 is crucial because it involves putting all the previous steps into action. Remember to use the color palette app we discussed earlier. Arrange the flowers, then step back and evaluate your arrangement. Visualize how the flowers will look once they are ungrouped and scattered in a vase. Take photos of your arrangements with the app and add the colors to the color palette.

Consider the following questions:

• Do the colors work well together?
• Do the shades vary enough to create depth?
• Are there different textures among the flowers?
• Do the colors complement my tablecloth?
• Will the flowers suit the size of the bouquet I’m aiming for?
• Do the flowers vary in shape and size?

If your answer is “yes” or at least “I’m pretty sure” to all of these questions, then it’s time to move on to step 6.

P.S. I always buy more flowers than I think I’ll need. If you end up not using some, you can return any extras. However, I usually keep them since they’ll likely be useful for another project in the future.

6. Pick a Vase!

This step doesn’t have to be the final one. In fact, knowing which vase you want to use can help you decide on the right size flowers and arrangements. However, if you haven’t completed this step yet, there are a few important factors to consider when selecting a vase:

1. Will my arrangement fit in the vase?
2. Will my arrangement overpower or topple the vase?
3. Does the vase’s color complement the colors of my arrangement? (Remember your color app? Feel free to add the color of the vase to your color palette.)
4. Will the vase and arrangement overpower my table? In other words, you don’t want a large arrangement on a very small table, and conversely, you don’t want a small arrangement on a very large table.

In our case, our table is quite large, so we chose an arrangement with larger flowers like sunflowers. The vase we selected needed to be tall enough to accommodate the sunflowers while also being large enough to ensure they didn’t overpower it. We went with a lovely blown glass vase featuring brown and cream swirls of color, which we found on clearance at Old Time Pottery!

If you are satisfied with the answers to all of the above questions, then you’re ready to move on to Step 7.

7. Arrange

Arranging flowers is my favorite part of the process. It’s when your creation truly begins to take shape. I always start with the flowers that I want to be the main attraction—the stars of the show, if you will. For this arrangement, I’ve decided that sunflowers will take center stage. Not only are they large and a perfect representation of the fall season, but they also match the main color of our Christmas tablecloth.

Star Attraction

Tablecloth

I never leave my flowers bunched together as they come from the store. It’s essential to cut them apart, so be sure to have some sturdy wire cutters on hand for this task.

Once I’ve separated my star attractions and arranged them in the vase, I begin filling in the spaces with supporting flowers. It’s important not to group too many flowers of the same color together; aim for a mix of colors and textures. I noticed that the smaller flowers tended to droop, so I placed them along the bottom of the arrangement to drape down and add visual interest. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so at this point, I’ll let the step-by-step pictures of me building the arrangement speak for themselves. Once you’re happy with your arrangement, it’s time to move on to Step 8.

Supporting Cast #1

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Creates texture and brings the cream color of the tablecloth into the arrangement. This is the weedy looking part that looks sad on its own but adds visual interest to the overall arrangement.

Supporting Cast #2

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Creates textural and visual interest. The colors and plants are also associated with the fall season which keeps to the fall theme of the arrangement.

Supporting Cast #3

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These flowers are small and drapey. They bring the cream of the tablecloth into the arrangement and add visual interest to the bottom of the arrangement.

Supporting Cast #4

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This is probably the most important supporting cast member as it brings the Christmas theme into the arrangement. Not only does it add visual interest and texture but it also incorporates the berries from the tablecloth.

Supporting Cast #5

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This supporting cast member would get top billing if our arrangement were a show. This flower brings the colors of the tablecloth into the arrangement while also helping the sunflowers fill the space. They are also flowers associated with the fall season which helps to incorporate the fall part of the mixed season theme arrangement.

Supporting Cast #6

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This supporting cast member would also get top billing. This flower fulfills the same purposes as Supporting Cast #5 while also providing a contrasting color to Supporting Cast #5 which adds depth to the arrangement.

Supporting Cast #7

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This supporting cast member adds a shade that helps transition from the main red/burgundy color of the tablecloth to the fall colors of Supporting Cast #2

Step 1 Arrangement

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Begin with the star attraction and then begin filling the space with Supporting Cast #5 and #6

Step 2 Arrangement

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Begin adding Supporting Cast #1 and #2. Re-arrange what was added in Step 1 as necessary to make space. Try to evenly distribute Supporting Cast #1 and #2 throughout the arrangement to prevent any clumps of color and texture.

Step 3 Arrangement

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Begin to add Supporting Cast #7 to help blend colors. Then begin adding Supporting Cast #3 along the bottom of the arrangement. See the lovely drape Supporting Cast #3 provides?

Step 4 Arrangement

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Continue adding Cast #3 and making adjustments to the arrangement as you feel necessary. Sometimes arrangements can begin to take on a life of their own.

Step 5 Arrangement

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Analyze the arrangement. Does it look balanced? Will it suit your table? For this arrangement, it felt right to place Supporting Cast #1 and #2 at the back of the arrangement as these were taller and straighter elements. The arrangement isn’t’ as beautiful from the back but still make a stunning addition to the table. I didn’t add Supporting Cast #4 till later because I wasn’t sure if it would unbalance the arrangement.

Need a Smaller Arrangement?

Step 1 Arrangement

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Supporting Cast #5 and #6 make the stars of this smaller arrangement. A smaller, shorter, more bulbous-shaped vase was chosen to complement the fullness of the star flowers.

Step 2 Arrangement

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Elements of Supporting Cast #2 and #7 were chosen to add additional texture and color contrast.

Step 3 Arrangement

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Analyze the arrangement. Does it look balanced? Will it suit your table?

#8 Setting the Table

For our Christmas Thanksgiving table, we chose light gold pressed vinyl placemats. This color not only captures the festive spirit of Christmas but also complements the cream color of our tablecloth. To maintain a cohesive design and avoid clashing patterns, we selected plain white Cornell plates for each place setting. We purchased our placemats at Old Time Pottery, but you can find similar options on Amazon as well. Check them out Here and below.

Festive Gold Vinyl Place Mat

White Cornell Plates

#9 Napkins

I’ve mentioned before that I often buy too many flowers and look for creative ways to use them. For this table setting, we decided to create napkin rings that feature several of the flowers from the centerpiece. You can see how we made our napkin rings here!

#10 Enjoy!

After all your hard work in setting the scene, it’s finally time to serve the food, sit back, relax, and enjoy the compliments that come your way. You truly deserve it!

As the evening winds down and the last bite of dessert is savored, you can relish in the success of your culinary efforts—or at least in the dim lighting that masks any kitchen mishaps! Cheers to you, the champion of the dinner table!

Bonus

Want to jazz your arrangement up even more? Consider these re-chargeable fairy lights.