Quick, make the house look nice!

By Anna Sites

If you’re like me, you’ve spent more time planning the perfect menu (and figuring out who’s coming, who’s allergic to what and where to get the best price on the biggest turkey) than the perfect centerpiece. Now here it is, the day before Thanksgiving, and ne’ery a holiday decoration in sight. Other than enlisting my three-year-old’s handprint turkey expertise, I’ve collected a few quick, easy and fabulous adornment ideas to choose from before the in-laws arrive.

Apple-icious Candle Holders- Core out a fresh red apple, insert a taper candle. Repeat until you have the desired number of apples, cluster together on a table or line up on a mantle. (Trim bottoms to make more stable, if need be)

Cylindrical Centerpiece- Fill a tall glass vase with oranges. Or layer seeds, nuts, unpopped popcorn or cranberries. Leave as-is or top with a bundle of sage leaves.

Glass Half Full- Fill glasses of varying shape and size from around the house- tumblers, wine glasses, small vases- with different amounts of water. Add a few drops of food coloring (one to three drops each to start) to each glass until you get the colors you want and situate in a tight circle on a table. Place floating candles in bigger glasses.

Garden Gourds- Hollow out a small pumpkin (cut a small slice off the bottom to stabilize, if needed) and fill with flowers. Add a little water to keep the flowers from wilting. To get a different look, try a squat acorn squash or tall butternut squash.

Branch Out- Collect a few neat sticks out of the yard, arrange in a decorative box. A simpler centerpiece there isn’t, and your guests will think you’re chic rather than crunched for time.

While there’s likely to be more chewing the turkey than chewing the fat when your

friends and family are finally allowed to dig into the feast, impress your guests with your knowledge of all things Thanksgiving with these fun facts.

• The very first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the surviving Pilgrims in the Fall of 1621 at Plymouth, Massachusetts and lasted three days.

• The name of the Indian tribe that helped the Pilgrims - and were the first Thanksgiving guests- was Wampanoag.

• Until Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed that the fourth Thursday of November would be set aside for Thanksgiving, the holiday was observed on a different day each year.

• In 1941, Congress officially proclaimed Thanksgiving as a nationally observed holiday.

• Each year, The National Turkey Federation presents the President with a live turkey in honor of Thanksgiving. While other birds escaped their fate before, the lucky Tom given to George H. W. Bush in 1989 was given an official pardon, a tradition still in practice today. The fortunate fowl then spend the rest of their days in a petting zoo or farm.

• Beginning in 2005, the pardoned Presidential turkey has gone to either Disney World or Disneyland to be the honorary grand marshal of their Thanksgiving Day Parade.

• The average time spent making Thanksgiving dinner is 3.5 hours.

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Featured Editorial Archive

Beaumont Convention & Visitors Bureau