The way this year has been going so far, it just doesn’t seem November! With our oddly warm (and much appreciated) weather, fall has just crept by without much notice.  BUT before the busy rush of travel, holiday shopping and family get-togethers are upon us, take a little bit of time to relax and enjoy your closest friends with a Friendsgiving.  The Thanksgiving season is one of the few holidays where gifts are not required and you are able to reveal in the company of loved ones.

I have some great, quick and easy solutions to help entertain all of those close friends and family members when they decided to descend upon your house! In this posting I will help walk you through a quick but classic tablescape for the holidays.

This post includes: a table runner, painted plates, the discovery of wood flatware, and some fun wishbone place card holders that can help make your existing party supplies POP!

Please note:

Majority of my supplies came from Dollar Tree, my goal was to merely accent some fun pieces that I already had! Plus when you can find your plates cheaper than your paint pens, you are still winning! Also when it comes to paint pens, please make sure whatever brand you use is food safe!

Project 1: Table Runner

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Supplies:

  • Your favorite fabric cut at 14-17” wide and a foot longer than your table
  • A thick/long needle and a handful of pins
  • Yarn to coordinate with your fabric colors

How to make it:

  1. Instead of using my sewing machine, I used yarn and a large needle for more of a simple chic stitch.
  2. For both ends of my table runner, I doubled my yard for a different stitch. I knew I would not need a lot of yarn for only 16 inches so I used about three times that just to make sure. (Take a look at the picture below to see how I doubled up on yarn)
  3. For the two long sides I just left the edges raw and put a nice long stitch to give the rest of the table runner a more finished look.

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Project 2: Painted wood utensils and plates

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Supplies:

  • A package of wood flatware , I found mine at JoAnn’s
  • Inexpensive dishes, like from Dollar Tree
  • Oil based paint pens (these are also used on the painted plates)

How to make them:

  1. For wood utensils, it is as easy as drawing fun patterns on the handles. Who would have thought of finding wood flatware? Thanks to Brit+Co for this Friendsgiving inspiration!
  2. As for the plates, it is a very similar process. However, I learned from experience; remember to wipe down the plates with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball.  The rubbing alcohol helps remove any oils or dirt that might affect the paint’s ability to adhere to the plate.
  3. Get creative with your plates! Since I stayed with the same two colors on both of my plates I felt comfortable mixing up my prints on the plates.

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Project 3: Wishbone Place Card Holder

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Supplies:

  • Clay (I prefer Staedtler, after years of architecture studio)
  • Nice card stock
  • And once again use your paint pens

How to make it:

(Just a little reminder, the clay I used requires kneading and being warmed up in your hands. Also once formed this brand is required to be baked in an oven. It is possible to buy air drying clay as well.)

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  1. This project will take you back to your childhood play doh days. It is a fairly simple process of kneading and warming the clay in your hands. Note: the clay will be crumbly at first but just keep working, it will hold together once it is warm.
  2. Once the clay has been warmed start by rolling the clay into a ball, and then slowly work a section of the clay into a snake.
  3. At this point it is up to your preference of how large and thick you would like your wishbone.
  4. Once your snake is at the right size, fold the clay in half and twist the top to make sure it stays connected.
  5. From there feel free to continue to form your clay by curving it, turning up the ends as well as giving it a textured look by twisting it.
  6. After the clay is formed, either let it air dry or place it on wax paper on a cookie sheet and bake it according to the clay package instructions. (Mine was at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.)
  7. Be sure to take a peek every now and then, but once the clay is thoroughly dry take them off of the clay and prepare for the final stage.
  8. Once I remembered that white clay would bake into a funky red color I decided to paint them. One got painted solid silver, while the other one got tricky.  I attempted to make the wishbone look marbled.  Since the white baked differently, I colored only the white for a black and gold marble.
  9. Following the wishbones being painted and dried, cut the cardstock to the size of place card you would like. After playing with the letter stickers, I opted to just hand write the names, by once again using my paint pens.
  10. Cut a small slit into the card and string some leftover yarn though and tie a nice bow to the wishbone for a finished look and place on the now complete table set up!

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Now that your four quick and easy tablescape DIY’s are done, it should be nothing to throw together a quick turkey dinner to finish off a fabulous photo ready table!

Hannah Kern, born and raised in Marietta, eventually made the move the great white north, also known as Cleveland.  After graduating Kent State she began working for a commercial real estate company. Outside of office life, she love to explore CLE with her boyfriend and play with her dog Indie Jones– and most importantly, make the trek south to visit Marietta.
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