Editor’s Note:  With the change in weather and the upcoming holidays, our posts this week will focus on comfort food and being thankful!  Happy Holidays!

I’m sooo excited about Thanksgiving this year.  This will be the second year we’ve hosted Thanksgiving, and I’ve been surfing the ‘net looking for inspiration for our table.  Here are a couple of snaps from last year’s table:

We stuck with the traditional colors.  We had a fall leaves table runner, real fall leaves (I gather these in Western North Carolina press them in a magazine), tea lights, and yellow roses with orange tips in three low vases.  It was a fairly inexpensive set up.  I already had the table runner and tea lights (both of which were inexpensive); the leaves were free; the vases were probably less than $5 each from Michael’s; and I got 2 dozen tea roses at Fresh Market (my favorite place to get flowers other than our yard) for less than $10/dozen.  I loved the table setting so much that, after my parents left, we invited a bunch of friends over to do it again!

I’ve seen a lot of terrific ideas online, from the traditional:

(Images from Postscript Love and About.com)

to the less traditional:

(Images from HomeGoods blog)

Although my table decor was more traditional, I decided to test out this other idea.  You can see my dress rehearsal below.  I found some mercury glass pieces (I have to give credit to E for that idea) to use with my blue and green runner.  The glass and runner are from HomeGoods/TJ Maxx and Target and reasonably priced.  I used my green napkins, wrapped them with gold curling ribbon, and included a couple of acorn ornaments at each place setting.

Here’s the centerpiece I’ve been using this fall.  I’ve relegated it to the breakfast nook along with a birdie teapot.  (BTW, I think this centerpiece is hilarious – it has a Pigwidgin!)

Which do you prefer – the traditional colors or something a bit different?

P.S. In case you’re wondering, that’s my mom and husband in the first two pics.  Aren’t they cute?! :)