The V Spot

Rants, observations, and home decorating... from a woman with no time for a blog.


  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
    • Privacy Policy
  • All Blog Posts
  • Crafts
    • All projects
    • By Project
      • Accessories
      • Artwork
      • Before & After
      • Cheap & Easy
      • decor
      • Floral Design & Centerpieces
      • Furniture
      • garden & outdoors
      • Glass
      • no-sew
      • Upcycle – Recycle
      • Wreaths
    • By Season
      • Spring
      • Summer
      • Fall
      • Winter
    • By Materials
      • corks
      • epsom salt
      • fabric
      • Mod Podge
      • Paper
      • Spray Paint
      • Sticks
    • Round-Ups
  • Holidays
    • Halloween
      • Pumpkins
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Cinco de Mayo
    • Mother’s Day
    • 4th of July
  • Food & Drink
    • All recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Appetizers
    • Side Dish
    • Main Dish
    • Desserts
    • Drinks & Wines
    • Tables & Decor
  • Real Life
    • Family
      • Grant
      • parenting
    • Tales To Tell
    • friends
    • Keepin’ It real
    • Tips & Tricks
      • cleaning
      • Health & Beauty
      • Let me help you
      • organization
    • Just Funny
      • No Mom wants to hear…
      • Exchange of the Day
      • Snarky
      • wacky strangers
      • Big Time Fail

Thanksgiving tablescape. A rained out Thanksgiving: going to Plan B (with minimal freaking out.)

November 29, 2011 15 Comments

My dining room is too small to fit the 15 to 20 people that come over for Thanksgiving dinner, so I always host it outside on our patio.  Living in Southern California, it’s usually safe to do this.  However, this year there were cold temperatures (62 degrees. brrr!) and a threat of rain.  (Yes, yes, all you Mid-Westerners and East-Coasters are laughing at our interpretation of “cold”..)
In any event, my visions of an outdoor room, with drop-cloth and burlap walls and surrounded by colorful fall trees and candles will have to wait until next Thanksgiving.  (click here to see what I did last year.) This year, all 17 of us squeezed into the house for a sit-down dinner.

I still did what I could to decorate with all my fall leaves and sticks though.  I added them to my dining room chandelier for the evening.  I just tucked them into the chain.  I just kind of poked the dried leaves into place in between the sticks and they stayed just fine.

The shades got a quick burlap and fabric leaf treatment.

(Cut the burlap into strips.  Hot glue the end of a strip to the top of a shade, overlapping them until the shade is covered.  Add fabric leaves.  Done.)

Because we ended up with everyone inside, we had to shove all of our living room furniture to one end of the room and clear out our entry way.  Why?  Because I needed a second table for dinner.

Yep.  See that table far, far away from the dining room table?  That was the best we could do, under the circumstances.

All of my table decor was either from my mom’s downed tree, or from the landscape guys that I mugged before I knew it was going to rain…  In other words: Free.

And I absolutely, positively was not going to waste the fabulous branches that I got…

Christmas tree stands can hold up more than Christmas trees…

Someone was asking me how I got the fall leaves under the cloche.  It seemed obvious to me, but OK.  It’s pretty easy.

Please let me know if you have problems doing this… we will get you the help you need. 😉

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!
(ps: it never did rain.  Darn weather man!)

Filed Under: Autumn, decor, Entertaining, Fall, Holidays, Sticks, Tables & Decor, Thanksgiving

Comments

  1. Connie says

    November 29, 2011 at 5:15 PM

    It all turned out great!

    I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry.

    Reply
  2. Maggie @ Midwestern {Sewing} Girl says

    November 29, 2011 at 5:23 PM

    LOL! The leaves under the cloche thing…;)

    I love how you brought your decorations indoors…you did a really wonderful job…your home & the tables were just lovely! I’m sure everyone had a great time…you are awesome!

    Reply
  3. Good Time Charlie says

    November 29, 2011 at 5:31 PM

    Sorry about the rain! It looks beautiful inside. Love all the use of the free leaves. I might have trouble getting the leaves into the cloche. I will try the plate trick, but I can see the whole thing going horribly wrong as cloche slips from my hand, plates falls to floor and suddenly two kids run into the room barefooted to see what the noise was. Followed by dog who decides it might be something to eat…….

    Reply
  4. THIS IS ME....ONLINE says

    November 29, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    Your tables look beautiful. You slay me how you can change your plans that quickly and have it look like this was your plan all the time. You’re REALLY good at this! The hostess with the mostest. (Corny saying, but true!)

    Reply
  5. Carmen @ Life with Sprinkles on Top says

    November 29, 2011 at 6:06 PM

    I love seeing what you do with your outdoor entertaining area but this is amazing too! Way to pull it together. And darn it if it didn’t rain! What the??? But it turned out great anyway.

    Reply
  6. Megan says

    November 29, 2011 at 6:06 PM

    You are too much! Putting those branches in your living room, LOVE IT:) Your setup looks great and what an amazing trick to get your leaves in your cloche, ha!

    Reply
  7. Richella says

    November 29, 2011 at 6:34 PM

    All that inside effort and it never actually RAINED?? Sheesh.

    Oh, well, isn’t it good to know that you can in fact have a sit-down dinner for that many folks indoors? Now you have lots of options, it seems to me! And everything looked beautiful and perfectly autumnal. Well done!

    Reply
  8. Becca @ R We There Yet Mom? says

    November 29, 2011 at 7:39 PM

    It looks beautiful, as usual!!!

    ~Becca

    Reply
  9. Kelli says

    November 29, 2011 at 9:09 PM

    The weatherman was just working on you thinking outside the box and you surely came through! I love all of the leaves 🙂

    Reply
  10. Shawn says

    November 29, 2011 at 9:37 PM

    I feel your pain with those temperatures, Brrr is right!

    Your plans B looks beautiful and I’m sure your friends and family didn’t mind a bit being in the other room, you only sit for the meal anyway.

    Reply
  11. MiMi says

    November 30, 2011 at 1:10 AM

    Bahahahahaha! Leaves. In the cloche. How’d ya do it. HAHAHA. Okay, whatever.
    Anyway, it looked beautiful inside!
    And. 62 is cold? Better pack some sweaters!!

    Reply
  12. Jessica says

    November 30, 2011 at 12:15 PM

    oh gee! i am so bummed! i was so looking forward to seeing your awesome outdoor space all ready for thanksgiving… it still looks beautiful though! you are a brave woman, hosting all those people. i’m glad your thanksgiving was still a success : )

    Reply
  13. SueAnn says

    November 30, 2011 at 3:38 PM

    Your indoor space looked fabulous!!
    Loved the leaves’
    Hugs
    SueAnn

    Reply
  14. Impulsive Addict says

    November 30, 2011 at 11:31 PM

    Oh man. Your set up is absolutely gorgeous. We were in Michigan. Those that couldn’t fit around the table sat on couches, chairs and on the floor. We had 40 people walking around his moms not-so-big house.

    Ok, seriously, someone needed a tutorial on the leaves? Wait. Was it me? I’m thinking that I could have figured that out though so I’m hoping it wasn’t me.

    I loved the branches and all of your adorable decor! xoxo

    Reply
  15. Lauren@BaylorSays... says

    December 2, 2011 at 7:25 PM

    How darling!! Loving what you did with your chandy.

    And I was feeling all superior about the leaves until I thought about it and decided I probably would’ve had to ponder that for a few.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

you might also like:

Thanksgiving, tablescape, centerpiece, fall, autumn, entertaining
Thinking about Thanksgiving Table Decor.
Thanksgiving, tablescape, centerpiece, fall, autumn, entertaining
Thanksgiving Wrap Up: Dinner, Decor and the Thanksgiving Table

frosty, branches, berries, sticks, pumpkins, fall, autumn, winter, centerpiece
A transitional floral arrangement: Fall into Winter Centerpiece.
Making a hanging centerpiece for an outdoor Thanksgiving.

Decorating with {free} sticks.
Make an Outdoor Rustic Chandelier – an easy DIY

Elegant and Easy Jeweled Fruit Wreath.
A Thanksgiving tablescape and centerpiece. (a cheap, easy and beautiful DIY)

Spray paint takes Halloween into Thanksgiving…
Twig and leaf fall centerpieces.

Recent Posts

  • Spooky porch decor and a Halloween Chair.
  • DIY Plaid Wine Glasses
  • Easy Sand-N-Sea Flower Pots
  • How to use an indoor chandelier outside.
  • Quesadillas made with slow cooker Carnitas. (Pork in a crock pot… nothing is easier.)
  • No Sew Project: How to recover your outdoor cushions using fabric and a glue gun.
  • Upcycle project: plain flower pot into decorative ceramic planter.
  • An easy Valentine’s Day globe.
  • Simple, winter themed decor. (Using what you already have, of course.)
  • Easy Goat Cheese Appetizer Recipe

Amazon Associates Disclosure

Vivienne Wagner is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Popular Posts

  • Cleaning Stove Burners & Grates using Ammonia (The best...
    Comments (632) | Jul 07, 2011
  • Easy Dessert Recipe: Oreo Cheesecake Bites
    Comments (64) | Mar 04, 2014
  • How to store fresh produce – From A to Zucchini.
    Comments (111) | Jan 25, 2012
  • No Sew Project: How to recover your outdoor cushions using f...
    Comments (117) | Mar 03, 2018
  • DIY wine bottle crafts.
    Comments (10) | Aug 22, 2013
Privacy

Copyright © 2023 The V Spot · Website by Houndstooth Media Group