I believe there are three different philosophies that have developed over the years in regards to Thanksgiving and Christmas. The first one is you do not start decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving Day. The second is Thanksgiving is an extension of Christmas so lets put the tree up on Thanksgiving Day. The third and final is Thanksgiving is just a reason to eat and let’s start Christmas in July!
I have always prescribed to the first philosophy. Christmas doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving. However, I have been slowly starting to align my thoughts with the second. That’s kind of how my mom was. As kids Christmas started the weekend after Thanksgiving, but as she started getting older and having grandchildren, she wanted to have them decorate the tree. The easiest way is on Thanksgiving Day when the whole family is gathered together. For me, I still put up fall or autumn décor now, and have a hodge-podge of both holidays circulating throughout the house as Thanksgiving Day starts and ends.
Pictured below is my autumnal Thanksgiving theme that includes soft dusty hues of teals, creams, and browns.
On my dining room buffet, I have a ceramic bird nesting on a vintage cake plate with autumn foilage spilling out beneath it. I flanked my birdie with soft white candle sticks in clear glass holders of various sizes. While above, I hung a wooden shim wreath painted in a color wheel of teal from darkest to lightest and a few shades in between.
I made the wreath from wood shims that you find at your local hardware store. They are originally used to level out cabinets or window frames during construction. I purchased a wood wreath frame at the local craft store to use as the base for the wreath. Then I painted each shim and laid them out to dry. Next I distressed with sandpaper and some brown furniture wax, which I used very sparingly. Finally, using a staple gun, I attached each shim in an overlapping pattern. I do suggest laying out all the shims before starting the assembly process just to make sure you have enough pieces. I painted four shims at a time the same color and used a total of six different colors.
In the center of the wreath I hung a small picture of shafts of wheat with a distressed frame in another shade of blue green to compliment the wreath with word art strategically placed on the outside of the frame.
The birdie centerpiece was very easy to make. All I did was go to a local craft store and purchase two already made bouquet sprigs and place them under the cake plate facing outward so the ends weren’t visible. This makes it look like I spent a lot of time creating this swag arrangement, when in reality it only took me maybe two minutes to complete.
I hope you enjoyed visiting my Home On Elderwood this autumn. Please come again soon!
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