Fall Decor Archives

Fall Table Decorating Ideas

Your tabletop is a blank canvas. Your choice of fabrics, flowers, and candles, the layering of colors and textures, and adding personal touches all play a part in the delight and ambience that a beautifully designed table brings to any occasion. Go as big or as simple as you want. It’s one of my favorite elements of entertaining!

Here are a few easy, creative, and inexpensive fall table decorating ideas that I hope will provide some inspiration to get you started on your tablescape art.

fall table decorating ideas with fall tablescape

I am a big believer in reusing/recycling, so I have pieces that I keep and use in different ways each season. Here, I reused my 1-800-Flowers decorative pumpkin from a few years ago, filling it with flowers, grasses, peppers, and succulents in a farm fresh palette.

fall table decorating ideas with fall table setting

I find these little berry baskets to be the perfect size to use as multiples, as I did on the dining table, or to add just the right festive touch on the dessert or buffet table.

fall table decorating ideas with floral foam

Just line the basket with a small dish, bowl, or can. Cut a piece of floral foam to size and thoroughly soak the foam before placing it in the dish. The foam will make it very easy to create your piece, as it holds each insertion in place and provides hydration to keep your flowers fresh.

Keeping it green and lean

fall table decorating ideas with millet plants

Decorate your fall table with plants! They are affordable and have the added benefit of naturally cleaning the air in your home. The millet plants I picked up at Smile Farms are a bit taller than normal for a centerpiece, but they still work. (I find that everything gets moved around once the food starts getting placed on the table anyway.)

Having small unexpected accents, such as the green apple candles and fresh-cut succulents, on each plate can complete your look and keep your fall table decorated and festive even after all the food has been served.

fall table decorating ideas with potten succulents

You can also use small potted succulents as individual place cards that double as a take-home gift.

Forage around

fall table decorating ideas with a votive candle

Don’t be afraid to do a little foraging in your garden (or your neighbor’s — with permission, of course!). I live by the beach, so my garden is full of ornamental beach grasses and millet. And falling leaves are everywhere! This time of year offers an abundance of beautiful branches, berries, and grasses.

fall table decorating ideas with a spring of millet and fresh artichoke

Keep it simple and natural by adding an LED votive candle to the center of a fresh artichoke and place a single stem of millet and a sprig fall foliage on each plate.

Interested in learning more about decorating with fall flowers? Sign up for a workshop with Alice’s Table to discover the joys of creating your own floral arrangements!

3 Sunflower Crafts for Fall

sunflower crafts with sunflower votive candle

As we head further into fall, the colors of the season are reaching their peak. Rich reds, yellows, and oranges add beauty to the landscape. Also at their peak are gorgeous golden sunflowers. Their brilliant shades, large blooms, and sturdy stems make them the perfect choice for a wide array of floral crafts.

Whether you’re looking to create an elegant tablescape for an upcoming dinner party, the perfect gift to kick off the school year, or just looking to add some seasonal décor to your home, these sunflower crafts are both fun and easy to make.

Sunflower votive candle

Set the stage for all your upcoming fall gatherings with these beautiful sunflower votives. Whether placed randomly across the table or individually at each place setting, these lovely and charming centerpieces add a cozy, warm element to traditional tabletop décor.

sunflower crafts with cutting the stem of the sunflower.

Step one

Start by cutting the stem off at the very base of the sunflower head so that the sunflower will sit flat when placed on the table.

Step two

Take the candle out of the metal tea light base and use the empty base to mark off the area in the center of the sunflower where you will place the tea light.

sunflower crafts with pressing votive into sunflower

sunflower crafts with fitting tea light into sunflower

Step three

Using a small sharp edge tool, scrape out the sunflower seeds in this area, going as deep as you need so that the tea light will sit almost flush against the sunflower.

Step four

Place the tea light candle back in its metal base, place it in the sunflower, light it up, and voilà! You’ve got a sunflower craft that will warmly welcome your guests to your home.

Sunflower wreath

Feeling a bit more ambitious? Follow the step-by-step instructions below to create a magnificent sunflower wreath. Once complete, you can display it on a door or wall, or use it as a centerpiece. A wreath you craft yourself also makes a great and inexpensive gift for friends, family, or your favorite hostess!

Materials needed

12-inch diameter floral foam ring
Cutting shears (sharp scissors)
12 3-foot-long pieces of raffia
6 fern pins

Flowers and leaves needed

3 stems lemon leaf
2 stems seeded eucalyptus
2 stems pitto nigra
4 small sunflowers
5 stems button poms
3 stems yarrow
2 stems statice
2 stems solidago
2 stems preserved oak leaves
3 stems wheat

Instructions

Thoroughly soak the floral foam ring in water.
With the florists’ scissors, cut the blossoms and the leaves of all the flowers off their stems, to 2 inches in length. Separate the flowers by variety, and set them aside.
Insert the lemon leaves around the hole and outside perimeter of the floral-foam ring to create a foundation for the wreath.
Sparingly add seeded eucalyptus and pitto nigra, filling the basic shape until you establish the overall width of the wreath. Don’t be too heavy-handed at this point. Leave room for additional flower inserts.
Insert the sunflowers, spacing them at three points on the ring — more or less at 12-, 4-, and 8-o’clock positions on the wreath.
Fill the wreath with the remaining flowers — button poms, statice, yarrow, and solidago — spacing them as desired. Add the oak leaves, more lemon leaves, and the wheat wherever there is a gap.
Twist three or four pieces of raffia together; lace the twisted raffia in and out of the flowers and leaves, securing the ends with fern pins. Repeat the process with the rest of the raffia strips if desired.

DIY pencil vase with sunflowers

Be the teacher’s pet with this clever back-to-school sunflower craft. This adorable vase could hardly be easier to make — it’s just a clear beverage glass covered with unsharpened No. 2 pencils.

Place a rubber band around the glass and insert the pencils between the glass and the rubber band until the entire glass is covered.

Hide the rubber band with a fun, school-themed or colorful ribbon. Pour about 2 inches of water into the glass (this makes it easier for transporting), but make sure the teacher knows to add more water right away so the flowers stay fresher longer.

Create Festive Floral Place Settings

Creating a decorative detail on each dinner plate is an easy and inexpensive way to add a personal touch to your Thanksgiving table. You don’t necessarily need to add a place card, especially if your family is a “first at the table gets their choice of seat” type of family! It is a nice touch though. Here are a few ideas to help you create festive floral place settings for your next holiday gathering.

Savory Succulent
This cut succulent looks good enough to eat. Luckily with all of the food you’ll be serving at dinner no one will be tempted to eat it.

Krazy for Kale
This kale is grown to be enjoyed as a cut flower and really makes a statement when placed on a dinner plate. Use one of the leaves as a place card.

The Colors of the Season
Wrap a few sprigs of colorful fall flora and fauna to bring the vibrant colors of the season onto your table. A few leaf shaped cards from craft store (or you can cut them out yourself) are the finishing touch.

Zen Style
Create a sense of peace this Thanksgiving with a Zen inspired holiday table. Keep the look clean and simple with minimal elements. Now let’s mediate on all we have to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving at the Shore
Whether you’re having Thanksgiving at your home on the beach or you just wish you were there, create the mood with sand dollar place cards with a single orchid tucked in for a look that’s simple and elegant.

Picture Perfect Place Settings
Give each guest at your table their own floral arrangement with petite colored bottles holding a single flower. For a truly personal touch attach a special note to each bottle telling that person what you are thankful for about them. Add a copy of a photo of them on the front of the note instead of just writing their name. I particularly like the look of photos from the past. It adds a sweet nostalgic feeling that is perfect for Thanksgiving!