Thanksgiving Table Decor: 5 Easy Ideas + Free Printable

Create a beautiful holiday family dinner with these five must have Thanksgiving table decor ideas including free printable place cards!

Hey there! Are you hosting your family for Thanksgiving this year? Today we’re sharing five easy Thanksgiving table decor ideas that anyone can do. Plus I designed some special free printable Thanksgiving place cards just for Idea Insiders!

When people walk in your door on Thanksgiving day, what do you think they notice first besides your bright welcoming smile? Probably the amazing smells of a turkey roasting in your oven, am I right? However, I would venture to guess that the next thing they’ll notice once they get past the hugs and hellos is your Thanksgiving table decor. Today, I’m sharing five simple must-have Thanksgiving table decor items. These are super easy, relatively low cost ideas that anyone can do.

To help you create a gorgeous dinner table for your family to gather around this holiday season, I’ve also included Thanksgiving place cards. They’re available as a FREE digital download for Kenarry Idea Insiders.

5 Easy Thanksgiving Table Decor Ideas

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1. Start with a Good Foundation

Whenever I’m decorating a table for the holidays, I find it’s important to start with the base and then work my way up from there. You could start with a simple white or cream colored table cloth. However, for Thanksgiving table decor, I personally think a burlap table runner would be perfect!

A burlap table runner adds just the right amount of texture and gives a fall / harvest appearance to any dining room table. Plus it’s great if you’re going for that farmhouse style look that’s so trendy and popular right now.

2. Create an Eye Catching Centerpiece

Once you’ve got a good foundation for your Thanksgiving table decor, the next step is to think about a centerpiece. Use an extra large white pitcher if you love farmhouse style decor. Then fill it with fresh flowers from your local market. Or better yet fill it with a dried bouquet of blossoms from your summer garden. This not only saves money now, but you can also save the dried flowers to use again next year.

If you love farmhouse style, I think a large wood planter is gorgeous on a Thanksgiving table too. You can fill it with faux flowers to go with nearly any color scheme.

Another simple Thanksgiving centerpiece idea is to use a large oversized clear glass jug vase with a small opening. Tie a little burlap ribbon around the top. Then fill it with long sticks from your yard. The height adds a little dramatic flair to your Thanksgiving table decor. With sticks for the centerpiece, it’s not overly bulky so your guests can still see around it during your turkey feast.

3. Set the Table

So you’ve got a good foundation and a centerpiece. Now you need to actually set your table for Thanksgiving dinner. I really like the beauty and simplicity of white dishes for the holidays. This allows you to dress them up in different ways for different events using the same set of dishes over and over again. For example, as Thanksgiving table decor, you can put your white dishes on rustic wood chargers to give your table a farmhouse appearance.

If you’re a little crafty, you could make burlap utensil holders for your silverware or burlap napkin rings. These would both add more texture to your table. Plus they’d tie in nicely with the burlap table runner you’re using as the foundation for your Thanksgiving table decor.

Now if you prefer a dressier Thanksgiving table, I also think these DIY bead and tassel napkin rings would look gorgeous!

4. Include A Few Special Accents

By this time your table is set with dishes, a centerpiece and a table runner for Thanksgiving. It’s now time to sprinkle in a few special accent pieces. You can do that with small pumpkins or gourds, fall leaves and candles or jars filled with dried beans.

Or keep it really simple and rustic with pinecones and antlers along with a small stainless steel pitcher for gravy or creamer.

5. Add Free Printable Thanksgiving Place Cards

Once the rest of your table is decorated, the last thing to add are place cards. Place cards can designate where people sit like if you want to keep families together or if you intentionally want to mix people up at the table. You could also turn place cards into easy conversation starters by writing questions on the cards in addition to or instead of names. For example, here are some questions you could ask:

• What are you most thankful for this year?
• Who is the person you’re most grateful for in your life right now?
• What are some ways we, as a family, have an attitude of gratitude this holiday season?
• How would you like to be a blessing to others this holiday season?
• How can we as a family bless another family this Christmas?
• What is one way you’ve been blessed this year?

To make this really easy for you, I transformed some of the designs from our digital Fall Art Collection to make free printable Thanksgiving place cards.

Exclusive for Kenarry subscribers, receive the FREE printable Thanksgiving place cards by signing up below. You’ll get the download link sent directly to your inbox.

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What’s Next?

I hope these five simple ideas for Thanksgiving table decor have helped inspire you this holiday season. While you’re here, be sure to check out other Thanksgiving ideas on Ideas for the Home by Kenarry®. You may especially like –

• Washi Tape Give Thanks Vase
• DIY Corkboard Thanksgiving Trivets
• Gobble ’til You Wobble Hand Painted Platter

If you enjoyed these Thanksgiving table decor ideas, please share this post with your friends or pin it for later:

Special thanks to my friend, LZ at The Summery Umbrella for styling and taking many of these photos in her gorgeous dining room. Be sure to check out her 20 Rustic Thanksgiving Table Ideas that will make you swoon!