Romance your Harvest Home to show your family how cherised they are. One of the best parts of this season is making your nest a cozy, warm haven for your family. This is the time to light the candles, put on beautiful music, and serve a simple but oh so good home cooked meal. It doesn't take much to create a loving environment, a home that everyone will delight in coming home to after a day of work or school.
I don't really have the time to go "all out" for Thanksgiving decorating, but since I have some simple Harvest displays in our home and garden for November, it's easy to make it look great for the holiday. Just before Thanksgiving I will string a few more Garlands here and there, set the table and add more votive candle holders everywhere, but basically, our home is ready for Thanksgiving.
This is the view I see first thing in the morning as I have my first cup of coffee and look outside my kitchen French Doors, a garden table set with a few blooming plants, and this Brown Transferware Tureen filled with squash and gourds. I like to make the "view" pretty, putting something seasonal on this table. It doesn't take much effort, and it makes me smile each time I look outside!
I filled the Tureen with shred first, and pulled a little into view ~ I love how it looks! A few outdoor plants, a Pumpkin and a green gourd, that's it! Simple. But a delight to look at.
The other side. At night, now that the time has changed, I plan to light the candles in the lanterns. There is a big lantern on my front entry steps, too. I want to remember to light that, as well, to welcome my family home at night. When my children were younger, we ate dinner at the table every night, with a nicely set table, lighted candles and all. One of the most significant ways we can bless our family is at the dinner table. According to Time Magazine: "Studies show that the more often families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders and consider suicide, and more likely they are to do well in school, eat their vegetables, learn big words and know which fork to use.”
Creating a warm home doesn't have to cost a lot of money. My decorating plans generally focus on embellishing or adding just a few seasonal things to what is already in our home. Once in great while I buy something, but it has to do double duty, like this sweet set of vintage silverplated squirrells, salt and pepper, they are just the right thing! I bought them at an antique store long ago, and only take them out for the fall. They are a fun addition to the silver hutch. But they are pretty much the only thing I actually bought....the rest of the things I like to use are found in the produce aisle or outside, in the garden.
My antique dolls and sheep are the right color for any season, so they always get to be together in a little display. I don't want all my silver pieces to be too serious, so adding a few fun pieces like this is how I keep it all from being too "stuffy"....
I loved this pair of stray antique doll legs so much, upside down in a cup, that they will most likely always stay that way. Another "not too stuffy" idea. Just because your heart ventures towards French Antiques and Victorian Silver doesn't mean it always has to be so very serious. I added a little bundle of Brown Berries on stems to the crystal jamjar behind the sheep for Fall. Just a tiny little bouquet is all this needs. {In summer, or spring, I might just put a few Roses from the garden there. For Christmas, sprigs of Holly or Greens}
Pulling just a few things into the fore~front, like this little cup and saucer in Autumn colors, is all a vignette really needs. I think if you put just a little effort into how your home looks each season, it makes it a home your kids and husband will want to come home to! And it will be a place you, yourself, will love to be.
Adding a touch of Harvest can be as simple as scattering a few old postcards around. I have several for each season, antique Postcards can be found quite inexpensively at antique stores, or you can print your own from an image online! Just glue the color print on a little piece of cardboard, cut to size, and no one will even know. The one above is one of my favorites, because it has White Turkeys. Postcards proclaim a season or holiday and are so easy to change.
The little shoes have been with me forever. Underneath, is a trick I do with my stacks of dessert plates. I mostly have mix and match China, this is the only one with the Brown coloration perfect for this season, so I just place it on top of the stack! For Christmas, I'll put a Red or Green plate on the top. It's the only one you can see, so fits right in with the other decorations.
A little butterpat holding my favorite "little Pumpkins" ~ I love those. Just a tiny amount is all you need.
This is a little piece of garland that broke off. It looks just fine twisted around the handle of this old silver basket. Best part? At Christmas time I just replace it with some green garland~!
The plate right now is Brown, but after Thanksgiving it will change, too. One of the best reasons to decorate mostly "behind glass doors" is that you don't have to dust! I'm all about making the work part easy. Decorating is fun, but dusting off twenty little Thanksgiving Pilgrims, and a bunch of other decorations isn't my idea of a good time, so anytime I can cover my decorations with glass doors or a cloche, for instance, I'm all for it!
I hope you have a home you love to be in. This is the week to pour yourself a cup of tea or fragrant apple cider, get out your magazines and cookbooks, and start thinking about your holiday menus and tables. Light a yummy candle {my favorite is our Pomme Vert Soy Candle }, play some beautiful music, and plan for your holiday meals so that you can enjoy it all yourself, too!
What are you doing to get ready for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday? Let me know, I'd love to hear what tried and true, or new fun things you are up to!
