contemporary Thanksgiving tablescape

Have you ever considered a Thanksgiving Progressive Dinner? A moveable feast is a fresh way to enjoy the holiday. Perhaps pre-dinner cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at the first home while watching the Macy’s Parade and Bowl games, the main course at House #2 with a little more football, and finally dessert at House #3 followed by a neighborhood tour of Christmas lights to kick off the new holiday? You’ve arrived at House #3!

(1:18. No music, just in case you’re opening this at work! I’ve got your back!😉)
And oops! Yes, that IS an open laundry room door caught in the mirror!🙄

A table laden with a variety of desserts is a sure way to delight your guests! I describe this one as Thoreau meets Liberace…a hybrid of natural and glitzy elements.

This dessert bar could be easily transformed into a Christmas/winter theme by exchanging the pumpkins and wheat for holiday elements like small trees, poinsettias or paperwhites, and interesting ornaments.

The huge dessert board that displays the cookies and pecan pie is from a lovely shop in downtown Lee’s Summit, MO, called Very Violet Boutique. I have BIG plans for this substantially-proportioned board in the coming years!

I LOVE this tray from Home Goods that holds the Cambridge “Esben” flatware and Pier 1 napkins! Those wrought iron handles…yaaaaaassssss!!!

These little duck casseroles were purchased at World Market YEARS ago. They’re perfect for individual rice or bread pudding with whiskey sauce! Emphasis on the whiskey sauce, y’all!🥃

The table runner with colorful meandering vines was purchased along with 6 matching placemats at Pier 1 many years ago. It’s nice to be able to shop your home for “just the perfect thing” and actually find it!

The wheat sheaves and smaller charcuterie/cheese/breadboards are all from Home Goods. I particularly like the wood slice cake riser. It will serve me well for years to come.

I created this cupcake stand using a couple of wood slices and a 3-legged wrought iron piece I happened to have. The oven-safe Rae Dunn cupcake holders are from Home Goods. They REALLY dress up cupcakes and muffins!!!

The expanse of desserts is broken up with this pumpkin/gourd/acorn/apple-filled wooden “trough” from Nell Hill’s in Kansas City, MO. I’ve used this vessel for a couple of tablescapes this season, including “**Home for the Thanksgiving Holiday**“.

More miniature covered casseroles from World Market for perhaps a taste of crème brûlée?

I have had these striking candelabra for a number of years and pull them out just about every fall for decorating somewhere around the house. As I often do, I used metal case candles which are a bit safer if accidentally knocked over. These are 15″H and perfect for lending a bit more height to the tablescape. (I have them in 6″ and 25″, too!)

More desserts, you ask?!! Why, indeed! It’s a dessert extravaganza!!! Don’t forget the coffee!

So there you have it! Perfect for Thanksgiving or anytime during the holiday season when family and friends gather together!

This is my final autumn-themed post for 2021. I hope to see you back here soon for the winter holidays!

If you’re looking for more ideas for your Thanksgiving or autumn tables, take a peek at these on this blog!

If you’re looking for more dessert buffet ideas:

I had a good time this morning doing a live segment on holiday tablescaping at our local CBS station, KCTV-5, on the “Better Kansas City” show. Host Kelly Jones made me feel very comfortable and welcome. It was weird to be on the “other side” of a show like that. I hosted a half-hour news program called “District Directions” way back in the 1980s. (Yes, young people…television had been invented back then!) Don’t know if it’s because I’ve ~~aged~~ mellowed or what, but it seemed less frenetic than back when I was doing the interviewing with someone else in the hot seat some 25 years and 40 lbs. ago!

Behind the anchor desk of “District Directions”, November 1987.
That was then…

…and this is now, 25 years later.
On the set of “Better Kansas City” with my friend, Barbara, and host Kelly Jones.

I wanted so much to hate the tall, svelte, gorgeous, gracious host of the show because she is tall, svelte, gorgeous and gracious, but I just couldn’t. She was aces! 😉 My friend, Barbara, is skinny, too, and she did a fantabulous job of helping me to set up. Because she is skinny, though, I have officially decided I don’t like her, either! 😉

So…the table. My segment was first up, so Barbara and I kicked into high gear with just about 45 minutes to get everything ready. I had set up at home first to make sure I had all the necessary elements. Our dining table is 6 ft. x 42″, but the table on set was only 30″ wide. I made some adjustments for width by putting 3 place settings on each side. Then, per the director, I moved some of the centerpiece items around to create an unencumbered sight line for the camera.

A quick change out of my very ladylike Keds and chambray work shirt into high heels and jacket, then ready, and…we’re live!

Click the image above to see the live segment. (For those of you hearing my voice for the first time…I’m sorry! I kinda laugh like a hyena in heat! ;-))

Here’s the winter tablescape as it was set up at home…

Having a 42″ vs. 30″ wide table makes a huge difference! I like the way both turned out, though. It’s really a very simple tablescape to create that doesn’t burn through your bank account. Lots of candlelight adds warmth to the wintry look while the glass cylinders, mirrored chargers, and silver Christmas ornaments add that icy shine. The pine cones bring a rustic element to the tablescape. Changing out the ornaments for gilded mini pumpkins would turn this into a slick contemporary Thanksgiving look, while deep-sixing the pine cones for miniature disco balls (mirror balls) would transform it into a terrific New Year’s Eve tablescape.

So that’s my day in the bright lights! Many, many thanks to host Kelly Jones, producer Erin Cansler, and all the terrific folks at KCTV-5 and “Better Kansas City” (including that very handsome camera operator!). A special thanks to Ty Edwards of All Things In Place who recommended me for the show and to Barbara Alsup for getting up at the butt crack of dawn to help me set up.

For more Winter tablescape ideas, please visit the Winter page!

For more tablescapes on this site using clear glass cylinders:
“And the Winner Is…“
“Welcome Back, Joel“
“Flamingos in Paradise“
“Mardi Gras Mojo“
“Apple Green Luncheon“
“Oopsy Daisy“
“Raining Orchids“
“Pretty In Pink“
“Autumn Orchids“
“Love & Orchids“
“Contemporary Christmas – Fire & Ice“
“Get Me to the Church On Time“
“March of the Penguins“