Fall is my favorite season. I love the chill in the air, the beautiful colors (for some New England colors, see this post!), the decorations, and the comfort food. So, since Thanksgiving is coming up soon, I thought I would do something a little different with this week’s post. Today I am going to share some of my favorite ways to get your home ready for Thanksgiving!

Simple Thanksgiving Decor

For years I lived in a place where I couldn’t use the great outdoors as a source for fall decor. Either the leaves wouldn’t turn colors soon enough or they would be soggy by the time I was ready to collect some. In our house we use a lot of faux leaf garlands, fun fake pumpkins, and wheat sheaves from the craft store in vases.

Pinterest has great inspiration for simple ways to use things you already own to make decor for Thanksgiving.

Here are some of my favorite:

Acorn Centerpiece from The Thrifty Crafter – I love this idea! I used whatever larger, squat vases I had to make this. Mine ended up being round. Then, use some lentils from the cupboard and some fake acorns and fill it with flowers for your Thanksgiving table!

I don’t know about you, but I end up with so many clear vases. Pour in some popcorn, lentils or dried beans and add a candle! This works with a variety of different sizes and types of clear glass.

Pumpkin Candles from About.com –  These were SO easy to make and so adorable. Mine lasted almost a month before they started to get moldy. Pick up some mini pumpkins at the grocery store (I saw them on sale after Halloween!) and cut a hole in the top to place your tealights!

Burlap – We used burlap for our rustic wedding (see photos here!) and so every fall I re-purpose the table runners and burlap banner for fall. I took the leaves idea from The Shabby Love blog and pin fake leaves over the top of the hearts and letters from our wedding banner. For a great tutorial on how to cut burlap, head over here.

Yummy Thanksgiving Recipes

Appetizers

Cherry Tomato Bites from The Curvy Carrot – I love simple, beautiful appetizers. These fit the bill. The best thing about them is that you can prepare them the day before rather than trying to build them into all the other things going on on Thanksgiving day. I used my food processor and my mom’s pastry bags (smaller, cheaper set) to make these.

Turkey Veggie Tray – Here is the link to to this image. I made my own version of this for Thanksgiving at our home. Pinterest has a great collection of ways to turn your appetizer tray into a work of art.

Side Dishes

Asiago Potato Stacks from A Family Feast – These have to be the prettiest potatoes I’ve ever made. They are simple to make, though they do take some time to cut up the potatoes. I would recommend using a slicer to save time. The Asiago cheese has a strong scent but it complemented the potatoes PERFECTLY!

Coriander Roasted Rainbow Carrots  from The Corner Kitchen – These were a huge hit at Thanksgiving dinner last year. Not only were they super easy to make, but they were the perfect complement to the turkey and dressing. Plus, the colors in this dish bring color to your Thanksgiving table!

Easy Crock Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes from Kitchen Treaty – Talk about easy…after making the Asiago Potato stacks the previous year, these were the easiest potatoes to make. Stick everything in the crock pot and let it cook while you do other things. It fills the house with a wonderful smell, and then right before serving, mash everything up!

What are your favorite ways to get ready for Thanksgiving? Share with me your favorite ways to decorate! Have a great recipe for Thanksgiving? Share it with me below in the comment section, I would love to try it!

Make sure to pin the image below so you can come back and find these recipes later, even next year!