With the Thanksgiving season approaching, you may have begun considering what your Thanksgiving table setup will be this year. If you’re hosting the meal, you likely could use a little inspiration for coming up with a beautiful, unique, and (perhaps above all) simple way to decorate the tablescape. Good news: Those sweet little white pumpkins can be your jumping-off point, and a gorgeous, inviting Thanksgiving centerpiece is not too far away.
In this article, you will see a step-by-step method of putting together a Thanksgiving centerpiece with white pumpkins. The first is a more rustic look, the second is more classic. Either way, you can choose from the collection of photos here what details suit you for your own style, space, and holiday experience. Enjoy.
Mini white pumpkins are readily available at this time of year, from farmers’ markets to grocery stores, you’re sure to find the sizes and shapes you love. These simple creamy beauties are a lovely centerpiece catalyst – white to lend a subtle elegance to the table, and warm enough to feel like fall.
Rustic Thanksgiving Centerpiece with White Pumpkins
The primary thing to remember about rustic Thanksgiving décor is, in a word, texture. Burlap provides a lovely loose-weave texture. There are a variety of color options available in burlap, but natural always lays a beautiful foundation.
Gather items throughout your house that resemble basket weave or grape vines. A woven cornucopia works beautifully on the Thanksgiving table.
If you can’t find baskets or woven items that you love, consider going outdoors and find a few of Mother Nature’s natural decorations – pinecones are at the top of this list. Make sure you wash them gently in hot water if you’re going to use them on your dining table.
Another genuinely natural decoration you can use on your Thanksgiving table is some wheat or grass tops. A few sparse tips can look wispy and sweet and lend your centerpiece a nice vertical touch; an armful of grass would look well out of a chunkier vase. Be sure to consider guests’ seasonal allergies with this.
As you’re shopping your house or looking around town for some odds and ends to fill in the gaps on your Thanksgiving centerpiece, you might consider gravitating toward slightly rusted pieces. In the center of the table, these (even real rust) lend an authentically rustic appeal.
You could stop there, with the texture and nature, and create a lovely rustic Thanksgiving centerpiece around the white pumpkins. And you could also look toward providing a little shine.
Something sparkly or shiny in the same color family as the rest of your rustic décor (e.g., this sequined craft pumpkin; or a gold spray-painted mini pumpkin) will go a long way in making the centerpiece look and feel more festive.
Last but not least, a subtle way to add variations on sheen is to incorporate some clear glass – a vase or two, or even a mirror that can be laid flat. These maintain the au natural color palette, but they add an element of shine that’s important for many when dining.
Now that you’ve gathered your items, it’s time to let the creativity kick in. Start with your tablecloth and/or table runner. In this case, a burlap runner over the plain table is the foundation of the rustic Thanksgiving centerpiece.
Following inspiration from this article about creatively decorating for fall with a simple white candle, choose something that will add a little height to your centerpiece. In this case, a clear glass apothecary with chunky white candle and small white beans starts us off.
Making sure the white pumpkins are an integral part of the centerpiece, they are arranged casually here, “spilling” out of the cornucopia.
Maintain balance by keeping the two larger decorating items (here, the cornucopia and apothecary) separated. Spread the use of white pumpkins throughout the centerpiece so they can be a connecting “theme.” If you live by the adage, “less is more,” you might be done here and now with your Thanksgiving centerpiece.
If you want a bit more, though, for your holiday feast, consider laying a mirror or other shiny object flat on the table. Take care to pair a shine with a texture to maintain balance. Particularly when the shine is reflective (like a mirror), and that reflection highlights texture, you’re getting quite a bang for your textural buck.
With the cornucopia and the pinecones together, there is a visual mass of natural texture that, while pretty, feels a little heavy. Break up such masses (even when the textures are different, they still read as the same) with something opposite. In this case, a sequined gold pumpkin.
In an effort to balance lights and darks across the length of the centerpiece, some white rusted wagon wheel cabinet pulls were grouped with the cornucopia, while pinecones are positioned more heavily on the side with white candle, white beans, and white pumpkin.
Another detail to consider is the balance of large and small, light and dark, and textured and smooth. These DIY acorns fit nicely into the centerpiece to fill in some white space gaps. Again, this is a preference thing – you could add more or take away items shown here to suit your tastes.
There’s something delicious, to me, about two pumpkins sitting side by side – one all blinged out, and the other woven out of grape vines. And, neighboring these, a genuine pinecone and an artificial acorn. I love the groupings of this.
The horn of plenty (cornucopia) is particularly fun to decorate, as it looks best when stuffed-to-overflowing.
And our mini white pumpkins are a perfect host for all the things. Natural, elegant, distinct, smooth, and perfectly proportioned to the centerpiece.
Some simple place settings will complete the rustic Thanksgiving centerpiece. Doesn’t it just feel like home?
Happy rustic, organic, earthy, modern Thanksgiving.
Simple White Thanksgiving Centerpiece with White Pumpkins
If you want to give your Thanksgiving table a little more classic and/or formal aesthetic, your white pumpkins will serve you well.
Setting the pumpkins on some sort of “mount” (like these super simple gold leaf marble hex trays) will make them look more formal and more elegant, without removing their autumnal soul.
A color scheme to give the centerpiece a more refined look is quite simple: white and gold.
Mix your white pumpkins in with the gold objects, like gold candlesticks. I’m telling you, these white pumpkins are incredibly versatile. They move well in any crowd.
If you have tapers on candlesticks, you’ll want to incorporate another object with some height (unless the candles are centered in the centerpiece). A large pitcher or vase will do the trick. If you have large white hydrangea blooms to fill in the top, that would be even better.
Similar to the rustic table decorating, don’t be afraid to intermix the pumpkins all the way through your white Thanksgiving centerpiece. They create the seam that binds the whole look together, even if the pieces themselves aren’t exactly compatible on their own right. (Or even if they are.)
Part 2: Symmetric White Thanksgiving Centerpiece
To be honest, there was something about that large, chunky, empty pitcher that didn’t speak to me for a more elegant Thanksgiving centerpiece. If you like the look, great – let it inspire you for this year’s feast.
Centering the tallest object, in this case the white taper candles, you can place objects and work your way outward. Use some sort of symmetrical variance – go from tallest to shortest, or most visually significant to least, or darkest to lightest, or something. But use this as a guideline; it doesn’t have to be too structured.
When you set the table for Thanksgiving with such a centerpiece, you might like simple, light settings…with a hint of gold.
These larger platter plates were found this year at a dollar store, and I like the structure they give the table.
While the centerpiece can set the stage and be a talking point, it’s really the company and love that makes Thanksgiving what it is.
But a beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece goes to show your guests just how you feel about them, and it sets the meal apart as something special. And to think it all started with a few mini white pumpkins.
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