45 Last Minute Thanksgiving Centerpieces
These easy, last minute centerpieces will spruce up your Thanksgiving table in no time! Try one of these ideas today.
Last Minute Thanksgiving Centerpieces You’ll Love
It’s Thanksgiving, and your guests are about to arrive. You’ve cooked a delicious meal and everything is ready to go…except for the centerpiece. Suddenly, you realize you forgot to pick up something festive to put in the middle of the table. Never fear! There are plenty of quick and easy solutions for this holiday décor dilemma.
The key is to keep it simple, use what you can easily find, and to take some inspiration from the ideas shared below. In mere minutes you will have a Thanksgiving centerpiece that will be sure to impress your guests.
Easy Fall Decorations to Make Yourself at Home This Season
It happens.
You have a houseful of holiday guests headed your way. You’ve paid attention to all the details and ticked off all the To Do’s. Clean house – check, menu planned/purchased/ cooking – check. You look up from setting your beautiful tablescape. You step back to admire your handy work and realize that your centerpiece is lacking or worse yet, forgotten altogether. Suddenly, you go from feeling like the Hostess with the Mostess to an amateur throwing her first dinner party.
First. Stop beating yourself up. Human, remember. Then pick one of the following and I guarantee you guest’s will be wowed! And you’ll be back in the driver’s seat, lapping up the compliments you truly deserve.
45 Last Minute Centerpieces for Thanksgiving!
So, you waited until the last minute to plan your Thanksgiving table decorations. Don’t worry – we’ve all been there! The good news is that it’s actually quite easy to put together a beautiful centerpiece with items you probably already have around the house.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Head to the kitchen
- Dried beans, coffee beans, and popcorn make excellent vase fillers.
- Use seasonal produce and fall flowers in a basket. Think: Apples,pears, pumpkins, gourds. sunflowers and hydrangeas.
- Add fruits and vegetables like pumpkins, apples, and oranges as part of your centerpiece
- Use kitchen items like measuring cups rolling pins, spoons, cast iron pans, cookie cutters, muffin tins, or wood forks as part of your centerpiece
- Go for the unexpected and decorate with figs, nuts in their shells, artichokes, green apples, grapes, or pomegranates.
Let the backyard save the day
- Gather fall leaves and branches from your yard to create a minimalist centerpiece.
- Create a Thankful Tree. Cut down a sturdy, straight tree branch. Fill a vase with stones or glass beads. Cut out some leaf shapes and have guests write down positive messages and then hang them from the tree for everyone to see.
- Cut wood rounds out of stumps and use as a base for candles, flowers, or pumpkins.
- Gather fresh fall blooms and grasses to create real flower centerpieces.
- Create a centerpiece using pine cones, candles, and mini pumpkins.
- Drill tea light sized holes into a thick tree branch. Add the candles and use as a long centerpiece. Embellish with mini pumpkins, flowers and greenery.
Free Printable! Thanksgiving Place Cards
Looking to add a personal touch to your Thanksgiving table this year? These free printable Thanksgiving place cards and Thankful Tags are the perfect way to do it! Just download, print, and cut out. Then, write the name of each guest on a card and place it around the table.
Use what you have
- Collect all your candle holders. As long as there is a theme (all glass, all one colour, all silver) it doesn’t matter if they look the same or are the same height. Stagger them down the center of table.
- Fill a large glass jar with water and add floating candles or flowers
- Place a charcuterie or bread board in the middle of the table. Add a few candles, some mini pumpkins, and couple of hydrangea blooms and you have an elegant centerpiece.
- Arrange varying sized vases down the center of the table and fill with coordinating fall flowers.
- Line up coloured glass down the center of the table. For a little extra, surround with mini pumpkins and candles.
Get childish
- Get the kids to create a Thanksgiving banner made out of fall-themed fabric or craft paper.
- Make toilette paper roll turkeys Simple wrap the paper rolls in brown construction paper. Trace their hands 3 times onto orange, yellow, and red sheets of papers. Glue the hand wings to the back of the paper roll. Add eyes, beak, and gobblers. Too cute!
- Have the kids decoupage fall leaves to the outside of glass candle holders. Pop a candle inside and light.
- Get the little ones to decorate mini pumpkins with stick on rhinestones and embellishments.
- Cut strips of paper and round disks. Using the strips of paper, paper disks and glue shape into mini paper pumpkins. Add a leaf and stem with pipe cleaners and you’re done.
Pumpkins to the rescue
- Carve out a big pumpkin. Trim off the bottom so it lays flat on the table. Insert a glass vase and fill with flowers. Beautiful. Can spray paint.
- Send out hubby. Have him grab one a couple bags of those cheap mini pumpkins from the grocery store. Place them with some candles and real or faux fall leaves.
- Go white. White pumpkins in varied sizes, with white candles, and a few eucalyptus leaves looks incredibly elegant.
- Fill glass container and vases with mini pumpkins and gourds.
- Circle a trio of pumpkins with fall berry twine for a simple, minimalist look.
- Carve small circles into the center, top of mini pumpkins and place a tea light in each. Arrange down the center of the tables. Add fall berry twine and pine cones if you like.
Frame It
- Create a wood crate using frames from the dollar store and then fill with candles, faux flowers, and more.
- Place fall motif craft paper inside picture frames and use as the base to candles, pumpkins, and vases of fall flowers.
- Fill mini frames with positive Thanksgiving messages, images, and family photos and display down the length of the table. If wanted, add faux eucalyptus leaves, mini pumpkins, and candles to amp up the look.
Leaf it be
- You can simply scatter some leaves around candles or other decorations.
- For a more dramatic effect, try suspending faux leaves from the ceiling with fishing line. Then arrange tall thin candle holders and vases of flower stems. The height of the table decor coupled with the leaves will make for an easy but dramatic centerpiece.
- Another option is to decoupage leaves onto vases or lanterns. Pop a battery operated tea light into each.
- Create brightly coloured faux leaves and attach them to a paper stem made from berry garland or tree branch. Simple but effective.
Get out Grandma’s China
- Use a china tea pot or two for fall flower arrangements.
- Fill china tea cups with coffee beans or pop corn. Add a tea light to each.
- Use china plates and saucers to display candles and mini pumpkins.
- Use china tiered trays and decorate with fall embellishments.
- Arrange mixed china cups, sugar bowls, and creamers down the center of the tables. Add a single, full fall bloom to each.
When ya got a bit more time but not a lot
- For the perfect finishing touch, cut card stock into leaf shapes, elegantly write the guest’s name and use as a place setting. Use mini pumpkins and with twine tie leaf shaped name tag to stem.
- Spray paint varying sized pumpkins in unexpected colours. Arrange in a cluster down the middle of the table.
- Paint pumpkins silver and gold. Add a string of LED mini lights for some additional glow.
- Create a trio of Thanksgiving cornucopias and lay them down the center of your table.
- Get a bit ambitious. Combine white and grey pumpkins with white pillar candles, greenery, fall flowers, and a few deer antlers.
Jenny’s Finishing Thoughts On Last Minute Thanksgiving Centerpieces
So, there you have it! 45 last minute Thanksgiving centerpieces that are quick, easy and will leave your holiday table looking beautiful. No one will ever guess that you didn’t spend days preparing!
Which one of these last minute Thanksgiving centerpieces will become your go to? Let us know in the comments below. And be sure to check out our other Thanksgiving articles for more great tips and tricks on making this year’s celebration the best yet.
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