Harvest Centerpiece Ideas

For a more formal display on a dining room table, fill lanterns with leaves and candles. Place a colorful miniature pumpkin at each place setting. Look for worry-free LED flameless candles to enjoy the same warm glow of a live flame.

Place decorative elements such as twig pumpkins and lanterns on a burlap table runner and embellish with live goods such as mini pumpkins and apples. White pumpkins make an eyecatching display.

Reach for your pruners and head out to the garden for some greenery like ivy or jasmine, or evergreens like magnolia and pine. Put the last of the tomatoes, growing green on the vine, alongside fruit like pears, persimmons, clusters of grapes, even pomegranates, to add natural warmth to your table.

Dried peas from the pantry make for a handy base for candles in hurricane lamps and glass bowls.

Garlands of fresh greenery aren’t limited to Christmas. Use your yard for inspiration. If you have evergreens on your property, tie a few branches together with orange, yellow or gold ribbon. Leaves from a magnolia tree can accent almost any harvest display. You can also wire magnolia leaves together to create a long garland to drape in the middle of the table.

If you’ve got pinecones, bring them inside. Place them in a bowl, along with a few white mini pumpkins. Are there dried blooms or plants in your garden? Use them to create an autumnal arrangement.

Long-lasting and low-maintenance succulents are a natural choice for a harvest centerpiece. Choose different sizes of your favorites, like echeveria and hens and chicks. As you shop for containers, consider copper for a formal look. For a shabby chic effect, grab a galvanized metal container.

Tip: When using deep containers, fill the bottom half with extra pine cones, packing peanuts or empty plastic bottles. Place plants on top. Fill the arrangement in with peat moss and spreading vines like creeping myrtle.

Fill a long wooden box or crate with mini pumpkins, squash, colorful leaves, berry branches and other symbols of the season. Put the box on top of a textured table runner and sprinkle some leaves around it. You can continue to use the box even after Thanksgiving. Replace the squash and leaves with evergreen branches and colorful ornaments.

Don’t have a wooden box handy? Try the same approach, but arrange everything in serving tray with tall sides instead.

Make a word related to the season the focal point of your tablesscape. Think “thankful,” “gratitude” or even “plenty.” You can buy wooden letters and paint them to match your dishes. Try gold or silver for a more elegant look. Prop them up against tiny pumpkins or squash. You could also attach the letters to wire or small stakes and place them in miniature flower pots.

Use alphabet blocks to spell out “Thanks” for a fun, colorful centerpiece for the kids’ table. Of course, you can also use blocks for the adults’ table. You could connect the blocks to each other with ribbon or arrange them among flowers or faux leaves.

Provide your guests with an edible centerpiece to keep them from coming into the kitchen to nibble the turkey. Arrange several varieties of cheese on an attractive serving dish or silver tray. Use a cake stand to add some height to the display.

Surround the tray with food to complement the cheese, like crackers, pita chips, breads, nuts and dried fruits. Provide small plates and fan out an array of colorful napkins. Add to the scene
with apples, pears and grapes. You can display them in fruit bowls or arrange them along the table, individually or in bunches.

Paint a small tree branch and display it in a vase. Cut out leaves from construction paper or cardstock. They should be big enough to write on, but not too big to hang on the painted branch. Punch a hole in each one.

Invite each of your guests to take a leaf and write what they’re thankful for. Provide lengths of string or twine and have them tie their personalize leaves to the painted branch.