{create} a backdrop for the thanksgiving feast

Updated 11/14/12: Hi Pinteresters! Thanks for hopping over to check out my Thanksgiving table. If you're interested, I posted a 2012 Thanksgiving table this week. :) You can find the new Thanksgiving table here!

Are you all ready for Thanksgiving? My turkey is busy brining away in the fridge. I didn't even know what brining was until last week. We'll be doing a lot of food prep tonight, but I am excited that my table is all set and ready to go! Priorities, right? :)

The blue background for the color scheme is a little untraditional, but I LOVE the way it looks with orange and gold. I think the light blue napkins help tie it all together. It's part rustic (berries, dried leaves, woven napkin rings) and part glam (gold, gold, gold). I really like the combo.

As you can probably tell, our table is TINY. There was a LOT of editing happening here. On a table this small, there is a fine line between making the table look festive and making it completely unusable.

Some details: besides painting vases this weekend, I also painted pumpkins! Above is a Charlie Brown sweater chevron pumpkin.

And on the other side of the table are are a couple gold pumpkins with a fancy herringbone pumpkin.

For the place settings, we're using our everyday dishes, which are these from Pottery Barn. I wanted to add a little substance to the setting, but we don't have chargers, so I added our wood grain melamine plates to serve as chargers. I love just the little bit of brown peeking out. The blue napkins and the napkin rings are both from Pottery Barn, but they're a few years old. The orange berries really pop against the light blue, and tie the place settings into the middle arrangements.

For name cards I simply pressed a few leaves and then spray painted them glossy white. It worked okay. I like the way it looks in context of the table, but it was really hard to write on the leaves.

Here's how it'll look in the evening .... since we'll probably be eating in the dark.

I LOVE how the candles make all the gold sparkle. So lovely.

And just in case you were worried that the other vases didn't get used on the table ....

Don't. They found a home on the mantle with extra flowers and an extra gourd. This is a first .... our mantle decorated for a holiday other than Christmas!

I hope it doesn't get used to it :).

I hope you all have an AMAZING holiday! One of the things I am most thankful for this year is all of you. Thank you for always being so encouraging and delightful. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!