Thanksgiving Imagined Part I: The Place Cards

I've all but given up on Thanksgiving around here. This year my family is scattered here and there, relieving me of any and all formal commitments, pleasurable or otherwise. I'm beginning to relish the spontaneity of this Thanksgiving, it being a rare event, but my one nod to tradition will be a turkey sandwich and pumpkin pie shared with my grandmother sometime in the evening (one of my most cherished childhood traditions).

But since I'm pretty relaxed this week, it's the perfect time to indulge in some armchair fantasy Thanksgiving over the next few days (while I make things for Christmas).

Let's start with the place cards. That might sound counterintuitive, but I'm a detail person. I almost always come up with a detail first, then build everything else around it. It gives me a manageable focal point so I don't become overwhelmed with the whole. After that I find the rest of it falls into place.

Here are some of my favorites:

Rustic simplicity via Kara Rosenlund

DIY clay conifers from Design Sponge

Plastered rosemary sprigs via Fabric Paper Glue

I never tire of acorns and oak leaves, like these from EAB Designs.

I've always been more of a silver person, but I find myself swept up in the gold craze this fall. Just a touch, like these gilded pears from Freutcake.

I love the sense of movement that these clever leaf cards convey, from Martha Stewart.

These leaf print tags from Skip To My Lou were created to accompany baked goods, but could just as easily translate to a table setting.

One of my favorite ways to decorate a table is to use what's readily available to me, like these acorn and oak sprigs from Delighting in Today.

This appeals to the romantic Southerner in me, completely unable to resist the charms of gardenias. I think the layered, textured neutrals (with just a hit of gold) are equally as wonderful, from Style Me Pretty.