Thanksgiving Trance

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving; breakfast, lunch, dinner and during the dessert raid. We sure did.
As promised, here's how we made this day for gratitude more special for us this year.
Yes, I designed and executed everything; but how did I do it? My whole family helped.
1) The kids made the placecards, and we used the leaves we found yesterday.
2) Charlie helped me pick the flowers.
3) All chose a dessert- best incentive!

As a family, we are truly pleased with our collaboration on this table, I'm grateful for my hubby and children in helping bring this look to life. Tell us what you think, so make sure to leave a comment or two!

Our floral centerpieces (I spent $18, but similar arrangements were being sold in the range of $35-$55! I think mine are better; the small vase was a 99-cent buy last year and the tall one, the vase is a Mikasa lead crystal we received on our wedding day. It looks much better than most premade arrangement vases. Yup, I think my arrangements are definitely better.)

Our tablescape (I decided to focus on the warm tones of Fall to invite warmth and romance even during the day. I used the same plates as last year, found matching pieces to my runner throughout the year, and the leaf-shaped decorative plates cost me less than $7! By having their shades close to the tablecloth and runner, it gave the illusion of lightness despite the heavy tone-on-tone. I calculated the whole thing retail and if I was charging to do this for someone else, the materials alone would cost about $305.00! I guess sometimes, it pays to collect dishes you find on clearance bins. Yay, me!!!).

The $1.50 placesetting (for the cost of the charger & placemat; used the leaves we gathered for the placecards and the napkins were from Lisa's party. To focus on the casual tone, I placed the utensils on the plate. The leaves on top give the illusion of a few landing on the utensils after a windy encounter).

Our mantle (after several design consideration and to show flexibility of the design choices I made. Since we'll have tons of food, like each year, I moved around the centerpieces and candles to show the theme of "freshly fallen foliage" when we moved from dining room to living room. It also shows off our unique familial culture).

The dessert table (the puff pastry on the top was a hit! Each dessert is to show what we love as a family; we love fruits, hence in the center, cookies in the front for easy access and cupcakes in the bottom to hide the best for last. The hot cocoa "station" was actually the kids' idea last year when we found these great mugs on clearance for 75 cents each! Again, the candles and the berries give an air of romance and lightness. Jasmine wants to show this to her teacher. I feel very flattered...)

Time to eat!(I was surprised that Ian loved the stuffing, but then again, he's my least picky of the three).

Our Menu:
Sage & Paprika Game Hens
Maple Barbeque'd Short Ribs
Mushroom & sausage dressing
Parsley Potatoes
Steamed corn

The Sweet Stuff:
Puff Pastry with maple-cinnamon cream cheese filling topped with blackberry
French apple pie
Double Chocolate Macadamia cupcakes
Clementines
Apples
Grapes
Blackberries
Buttermints
Hot cocoa station

How our day went:
Breakfast- French toast, bacon, berries and milk/OJ
Charlie and I hit Garden Ridge for some awesome deals
Started short ribs on the slow cooker
Baked cupcakes- 18 minutes
Delivered some cupcakes to next door neighbor
Finished last homework- 15 minutes
Lunch- Jasmine made her yummy nachos
Watched Disney and HGTV
Put in game hens in the oven-2 hours
Read a Thanksgiving picture book
Snack- Popcorn
Baked apple pie (Mrs. Smith's)- 1 hour
Baked puff pastry and started filling
Took more pictures- 30 minutes
Blessed the food and shared what we're grateful for this year
Ate until stuffed- 15 minutes
Watched TV, called family, played on the PC

Is this similar to your day, or where you out playing football?

We hope you had a great, memorable and safe Thanksgiving today.

As for me, I am very grateful for having leftovers enough for the next few days! Yes! No cooking for me!