Simple tips for spicing up your Thanksgiving decor
David Mink GateHouse Plus

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 latefall, 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 lowbudget 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.

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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.

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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 color-appropriate flowers, grasses and vines in the plastic section of your local craft store. Add some mini pumpkins or gourds for a seasonal splash.

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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.

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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 Thanksgiving at a fraction of the cost.

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

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Build your centerpiece from the center - For an awesome centerpiece, grab the hot glue gun and your outdoor supplies. Starting

with a good-sized branch, start gluing together a coneshaped

pyre. Be

generous with

leaves, acorns,

and anything else that will fit. Tie it together with 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.
Quick tips
• Big splashes of
color liven up a
Thanksgiving Day dining room. Make
sure you lay out placemats in bolder fall
colors.
• Make napkin rings out of hollowed-out
mini pumpkins or gourds. Make sure to clean
them out really well; using shellac will make
them sanitary and will make them last longer.
• Scent is the most often overlooked decorating
element. Be sure to flood your home
with warm, spicy smells, like apple-cinnamon
and pumpkin-spice candles or
scented oils. An inviting scent in your
home - aside from dinner, that is
- will make guests more comfortable
in your home. And because scent
is the strongest scent attached to
memory, those scents may later
trigger comforting memories
for your family.
• Making decorations
is fun, but to make it
extra special be sure to
share the experience
with your children or family.
Home decorations
mean a lot more when warm
memories are attached to
them.
• The most important thing to
remember about the holiday season
is it's a time to be with loved
ones. Your decorations should be a
way to help your guests
feel comfortable and
welcome in your
home.