Simple tips for spicing up Turkey Day
By David Mink Specialty Publications

It's Thanksgiving time, and while the most important issue may be cooking this year's family feast, don't get out that turkey just yet. Setting your table with cranberry sauce and stuffing doesn't make it a Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, what will really set your Thanksgiving Day apart from everyone else's will be your approach.

Thanksgiving is as much in the decoration as it is in the turkey. Just as you'd spend countless hours preparing the perfect feast for your family, you should also spend an equal amount of time preparing your home. Your guests came to your house for some late-fall, holiday atmosphere, and you're going to make sure they get it.

Whether your guests are your parents, your brothers and sisters, your extended family or just some friends, they should be virtually hypnotized by Thanksgiving during their stay at your home. Every room, every door and every table is another chance for you to blow them away with your smart holiday design. Your goal is to have them telling everyone they know that your dinner was "the most Thanksgivingy Thanksgiving I've ever been to" and begging you to do it again next year.

Following are some very good and very low-budget design ideas. With these easy steps, you'll have your guests so impressed with your home that they'll forgive any mistakes that come from the kitchen.

Every little bit counts

. Your supplies are outside You're going to see this over and over. Use leaves.

Color-wise, Thanksgiving is one of the warmest and earthiest holidays of the year. Orange, brown, auburn, green, gold, wheat, rust, copper, burgundy, burnt sienna - all these colors are readily available in any outdoor setting. So, here's the cheapest tip you'll get: use the outdoors.

Leaves are perfect for Thanksgiving decorating. They're the perfect color base for any project you're working on, they symbolize the end of the season, and they're readily available everywhere you look. But don't stop there. Get pinecones, sticks, twigs, grass, vines, acorns, walnuts, corn stalks, wheat ... spend a day rummaging through the forest and salvaging in your neighbor's garden, and you should have 95 percent of your shopping done.

Don't forget about the fruits and vegetables, though. Thanksgiving symbolizes the end of the season and the bountiful harvest it rewards, so stock up! If you can fit some fruit into a decoration, do it.

Start with the mailbox . You have to catch your guests before they even get out of the car. A smart decoration on your mailbox will catch their eye as they're pulling up to the driveway, and it will also provide your house with an identifying mark for out-of-town guests who don't know where you live.

Some good ideas: cover the pole of your mailbox in leaves using hot glue. Hot glue is easy to remove once the holidays are over - just pick at the glob with a knife and it will come right off - but it also has tremendous, weatherresistant hold. Wrap some vines around your creation for a more earthen look, as well.

For your mailbox, be creative. Make a mini-scarecrow and sit him on top like a horse rider. Decorate your mailbox like a turkey, with a fantail and a beak (use felt instead of paper to avoid problems with rain). Buy an oversized cornucopia and cut it to fit over the mailbox, and then balance some wax fruits on the open lid (only do this on Thanksgiving Day, since the mail won't run).

Get them before the door

. There are probably 20- or-so steps between the driveway and your front door. That's 20 missed opportunities if your guests knock on your door and aren't already tired of Thanksgiving decorations.

Yard decorations are everywhere this time of year. Scarecrows, pumpkins, hay bales, inflatable Pilgrims and paper turkeys are readily available at any local superstore. If you can't get your hands on a bale of hay, however, use boxes covered in burlap or a neutral color of drop cloth. Weigh the cloth down with rocks, and cover the rocks and the ends of the cloth with a healthy dose of natural confetti.

Every family should have a scarecrow in their front yard. Make yours using an old pair of coveralls, or stitch an old pair of pants to an flannel shirt and stuff it with whatever you have - hay works well, but grass clippings from mowing the lawn will work fine and cost a lot less money.

For the head, use a personal touch. Have a child draw a self portrait on a burlap bag. Add a hat and some hay for hair, and you have a personalized scarecrow.

Don't forget the wreath

. - A wreath on your front door is a necessity. If you don't have enough material growing naturally around your house for one, pick up some colorappropriate flowers, grasses and vines in the plastic section of your local craft store. Add some mini pumpkins or gourds for a seasonal splash.

Bring the outdoors

indoors

. Nothing says Thanksgiving like autumn, and bringing autumn into your home will make your Turkey Day just that much more festive.

For quick and easy adjustments, wrap double-stick tape around your favorite vases or pots and decorate with leaves, twigs and other natural confetti. To top it off, tie it all together with a green ribbon.

For more festive flower arrangements, use unorthodox vases - a hollowed out pumpkin, melon or gourd works wonderfully. Use Styrofoam inside the shell to keep your arrangement together. Finish it off with ribbon, and set it on a bed of confetti.

Extend the life of your flower arrangements, as well, by adding fall tree branches covered in turning leaves. A healthy dose of outdoor additions can make your expensive flower package go much further.

For effect, stack firewood near the front door, even if you don't have a fireplace. Guests will automatically assume you're stocking up for winter, and most won't even question what type of heat source you're using.

Pumpkins can be used

anywhere

. Don't mistakenly believe that pumpkins are only for Halloween. Often-times vendors will discount their stock after Oct. 31, so you can stock up for Thanks-giving at a fraction of the cost.

The pump-kins can be used with any arrange-ment, whether it's outside or inside. They can also be used to make a tasty pumpkin pie or baked pumpkin seeds.

Build your centerpiece

from the center

. The cornucopia was for the mailbox. If you've got an extra one for the table, throw it away. You can do better.

For an awesome centerpiece, grab the hot glue gun and your outdoor supplies. Starting with a good-sized branch, start gluing together a cone-shaped pyre. Be generous with leaves, acorns, and anything else that will fit. Tie it together with your harvest-colored ribbon, and place it on your table on top of a bed of leaves that stretch from end to end.

Don't forget the lighting

. Lighting is also a very important factor in creating ambiance in your home. Bright lighting, while making things easier to see, also says cold and clinical. Thanksgiving is a warm holiday, though, despite what the weather is like outside. So far, your color pattern, your holiday cooking, your family gathered around the living room talking and laughing ... all of that says warm.

The best way to provide warm lighting is through candles. Be generous, but remember to be careful. While you're going to be tempted to decorate candles with your natural confetti, you're approaching fire hazard territory. Instead, just use a sensible combination of ribbons to set them off. Wrap your candles in a large brown ribbon underneath a small green one (or whatever colors work best for your design).

Lamps are also quite warm - much more comfortable and inviting than overhead lighting. Spread lamps and candles throughout your home to make it a welcome place to spend the day.

And remember, that's the most important thing. You want your guests to feel comfortable, because they're going to be there for the day. Go out of your way to make everyone welcome in your home.