thanksgiving decor

remember that party planning class i taught? well, since thanksgiving is this week and my decor was centered around thanksgiving, i thought this would be a perfect time to share a few pictures. i went with a traditional color scheme but only wanted a few pops of color, keeping everything else white or neutral. the tablecloth (which is just a big drop cloth) and buntings anchored everything with neutrals and the pumpkins, flowers, and medallions kept it fun with pops of orange and rust here and there.
the "thankful" bunting is just burlap cut into triangles and sewn to bias tape with paper letters taped to it (so i can reuse it with other messages). the doily garland is just paper doilies folded in half over jute.
cake stands help to add height as well as make everything seem a little more put-together. i used my chalkboard pumpkin from halloween as the centerpiece. that with the help of some smaller pumpkins and a cheap bouquet of flowers fill up the table and make for cheap and easy decor.

probably the most time consuming thing i did was make these pretty paper medallions (tutorial here). i was lucky enough to have family in town, so my little brother did all the folding and i did the assembling. it was actually quite fun and brought me back to my days of fan-folding as a child.

i filled an apple basket with different flavors of hot chocolate and apple cider as little favors, and stuck a little "for you" flag in it to up the cute-factor as well as let each person know they were for the taking.

i also put together a few little snacks for the ladies to munch on, plus they also helped fill up space on the table. food is a great way to take up space anywhere at a party! pumpkin dip and cinnamon chips (which are my new favorite things, seriously) recipes found here (i used butter instead of cooking spray for the chips), and bacon wrapped little smokies (not pictured, they hadn't come out of the oven yet when i took all the pictures) recipe found here. these things will change your life, no joke.

i'll be showing more pictures and little tips i taught in my class in a few weeks. i'm thinking of doing a little party planning series....but for now, hopefully these pictures give you a few fun ideas for thanksgiving decor and snacks.
check back later this week for some easy last-minute place setting ideas!