Thanksgiving Pool Noodle Floral Arrangement

Pool noodle floral arrangements make quick, easy, and spectacular centerpieces and they could be the solution that you need to decorate for your Thanksgiving family gathering this year. Let me show you how.

Centerpieces

Whether done simply or lavishly, a stylish, well thought out centerpiece just brings the whole table to life.

Now, there are several things to consider when creating centerpieces.

Cost

Yes, some of those magazine and decor show ideas are absolutely stunning but will they break the bank? Are you willing to remortgage your home just so that you can have a crystal shaped cornucopia with jeweled fruit spilling out? Decadent but highly unlikely.

Height

There is nothing worse than sitting across from someone at dinner and all you can see is the floral centerpiece placed in between you. You also don’t want it so short that no one notices it.

Space

Another consideration is the amount of space the centerpiece physically takes up on the table. To short, it looks silly. Too long or wide and there is no room for moving or adding dishes and glasses.

Longevity

Is this a centerpiece that you plan on having up for only one night or are you needing this centerpiece to last for several days or even weeks?

It is all a lot to consider and creating a long, cohesive centerpiece that is inexpensive, long lasting, and beautiful is a tall order. Fortunately, there is the pool noodle.

Why The Pool Noodle?

The pool noodle, you ask?

I wish I could take credit for this genius idea but I can’t. Some brilliant individual came up with the idea of using pool noodles and Christmas ornaments from the dollar store to create beautiful Christmas centerpieces and they put it up on Pinterest. When I first saw this idea I was blown away. I don’t know who the original creator was but several others have since adapted the idea and I can totally understand why.

There are so many reasons why this idea is perfect:

Pool noodles are foam which makes them really easy to work with.
You can purchase them for next to nothing at the dollar store during spring and summer months. Or for a tiny bit more you can find them at most toy stores.
You can customize the length that you need for a table simply by cutting it to size.
They sit low and are thin but when decorated properly they appear lush and decadent but don’t take up too much physical space.
You can reuse the foam form or cut it up and reuse the pieces in place of floral foam in other DIYs. These can be used over and over again.

How Do You Decorate A Pool Noodle Table?

Surprisingly I haven’t really come across many examples of the pool noodle floral arrangements being used. I don’t think it has reached it’s full potential yet. The most common ways that I have found are to attach Christmas ornaments with hot glue but really the sky is the limit.

How Do You Make A Pool Noodle Floral Arrangement?

Making pool noodle floral arrangements is so easy. To make one you are going to need a few basic DIY supplies.

Supplies You Will Need

A pool noodle
A serrated knife (optional)
Hot glue gun and glue
Medium Sized Foam Pumpkins
Small Pumpkins
ArtMinds Chalk Paint in Trellis Grey
ArtMinds Chalk Paint in Grey Wool
ArtMinds Chalk Paint in White
ArtMinds Antique Wax
Behr’s Satin Spray Paint in Off White
Faux florals
Wire cutter
Wood Skewers
Scissors

NOTE: Everyone’s floral and decoration needs are going to be different depending on the size of your table.

Just to give you and idea: I have an 18 ft long table so I used the full length of the pool noodle. Cut your pool noodle down to a size that fits comfortably on your table.

For the faux florals:

3 large hydrangea blooms
2 bunches of hydrangea blooms
1 bunch of mini dark pink zinnias
1 bunch of large dark pink dhalias, and a stem of eucalyptus
1 dark purple hydrangea stem
2 bunches of white sunflowers
2 bunches of ivory zinnias, and 3 bunches of white mumms
3 of the larger sized dollar store foam pumpkins
12 of the smaller dollar store foam pumpkins

Adjust your faux floral and faux pumpkin needs to fit the length of your table.

I started by cutting the bottom off the pool noodle off lengthwise and then spray painting it with the Behr’s Satin Spray Paint in Off White. You will only need the one coat. You will still sort of be able to see a bit of the original neon colour afterwards but as long as it’s mostly covered then once the other stuff is added you won’t be able to see it anymore.

Next, I painted 3 large foam pumpkins with chalk paint and then I painted the stem part with the Antique Wax. I let these dry.

Then I painted my dollar store mini pumpkins with the chalk paints and let dry. I followed this by painting the stem parts with the Antique Wax as well.

Lastly, using the antiquing wax again, I painted a thin stripe into each crevices of the pumpkin sections. Using my finger I smudged each of the lines out. This gave the pumpkins some dimension and a more rustic and realistic appearance.

Now it was time to collect my faux flower choices. I picked a bunch of faux mumms in ivory and white. Then I choose some hydrangeas blooms in cream, light blush pink, and dark blue with a touch purple. Lastly, several zinnias in ivory and dark pink and a few white sunflowers with dark brown centers were added to the bunch. I cut each of the stems down and set these aside.

Next, I clipped some faux fall eucalyptus stems apart and set these aside as well.

Now came the fun part. Assembling…

Start by spearing each of the large and small foam pumpkins with wood skewers that I’d cut down to about 3 inches. Make sure to stick the skewers in the bottom middle of the pumpkins.
Then the 3 larger pumpkins were speared into the pool noodle. I placed one near each end and one in the middle and ensured that there was equal space in between each.
These spaces were then filled in with the smaller pumpkins. These were also spaced equally far apart and the colour of the pumpkins were varied. These will be the visual base of your pool noodle floral arrangement.

I popped the mumms and zinnia stems in next. These were both really full and fluffy so I used several of each because they took up a lot of surface space. I got these from Dollar Tree. They come several on a stem so it can be a great bang for your buck.
The hydrangeas came next. I added two large, blush coloured hydrangea stems to each end of the pool noodle.
I then added the ivory hydrangea bunches and then I finished this off with the navy blue and purple hydrangea stems.
The white sunflowers were used to fill in any spaces left in the pool noodle floral arrangement.
I then added the eucalyptus leaves throughout the arrangement. I just stuck these in between the blooms. No hot glue or stems needed.

Lastly, the dark pink zinnias and a few more pumpkins were added to fill any holes left on the sides. This way there was pumpkin interest on both the top and the sides, creating a much more interesting and cohesive arrangement.
Optional: I am all about copper this fall so I added a few copper rose hips, berries, and mini pumpkins throughout.

And Voila! An incredibly tasteful centerpiece for Thanksgiving that will fit any dinning room table and can be easily modified to fit your personal fall style and colour preferences.

Jenny’s Finishing Thoughts on Creating a Thanksgiving Pool Noodle Floral Arrangement

This Thanksgiving pool noodle floral arrangement makes for the perfect centerpiece. And now that I’ve made one I can’t stop thinking about all the other possibilities. I think I may be addicted pool noodles!
Seriously though, these pool noodle floral arrangements offer unlimited possibilities. As you can see, they are cheap and easy to create, you can reuse all the items, and they look stinking fabulous.

But what do you think? Do you think you’d ever consider using a pool noodle floral arrangement or are you more of a vase kind of DIYer?

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