"Hosting a Heartwarming Holiday Dinner (In My Living Room)"

As the holidays approach, my excitement over filling my home with friends and family intensifies. This has been a busy year.  I'm ready to slow down and enjoy the company of friends we haven't seen in a while. Imagine my excitement when I found out we are celebrating Turkey Day early this year.

I started preparing my home for Thanksgiving dinner. I moved my sofas into the dining room and brought my table into the living room to create the dining room of my dreams. A crackling fire, and enough space for the whole family to gather in one room to enjoy each other and re-connect.

To keep the focus on the warm fire, family, food, coffee and conversation I kept the tablescape simple.

Here's how it came together...

My daughter and I set out to gather supplies. 

The time we spent having breakfast was also time for her and I to reconnect. We tossed ideas around for the tablescape and created a shopping list.

We headed to the grocery store where we grabbed some fresh artichokes to use as place card holders. After many laughs and awkward moments taking pictures in the produce aisle, we headed home and I got to work.

To get the artichokes to stand up, I used a serrated knife to remove the stems to create a flat base.

I used chalkboard labels (found at my local office supply store) to make a place card for each family member.

I simply stuck the label in the artichoke and placed one at each place setting. 

While we were picking up supplies, I grabbed a bag of whole coffee beans to use as a filler for my candle lanterns. 

Not only does this look pretty, but it smells amazing.

For a quick tablecloth, I used a pretty orange curtain panel folded in half.

Outside of having enough space for everyone and the romantic crackling fire,

Another perk to having Thanksgiving dinner in our family room is being able to take advantage of our occasional tables for serving.

Our family loves coffee and dessert.

The sofa table makes a perfect extra-large coffee bar. 

To create the coffee bar, I removed our everyday vignette, dressed up the table with another curtain panel and added a large white serving tray filled with extra-capacity coffee cups and a carafe waiting to be filled with coffee.

All we need now is the family, the turkey,

and Grandma's pies.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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