a white pumpkin mantel

 I decorated our mantel using white pumpkins and limelight hydrangeas that have dried nicely this season.  Since we will be hosting Thanksgiving at home I want our home to still have a Thanksgiving vibe.  A little bit of Christmas magic has started too sneak in but I don’t want it to be the focus until the end of the month once the Thanksgiving celebration is behind us.

All the pumpkins on top of the mantel are faux, either velvet, ceramic or the foam ones from the dollar tree that I DIYed, which you can read all the details here {5 simple&fantastic ways to DIY pumpkins} and here {dollar tree pumpkin upcyle | make-overs}.  All the pumpkins on the hearth are real and they will grace our Thanksgiving tablescape.  On Thanksgiving we will probably burn a fire so I would want them moved away from the hearth anyway.  I have been preparing my Thanksgiving chores and designing our tablescape is one of them.  You can read about my {Thanksgiving prep} in this post.

If you remember my early fall mantel it was all about grapevine pumpkins and dried Annabelle hydrangeas from last year.  The mini grapevine pumpkins will also be part of our Thanksgiving tablescape.  I hope to share the table real soon since I am trying to do as much preparation as possible before we leave to pick up my son from college.  He will be home from Thanksgiving through to the new year.  I am beyond excited!  Here’s a little reminder of what the early fall mantel looked like.

rustic autumn mantel

The early Fall mantel changed into a Halloween mantel for a split second until I styled it with the white pumpkins.  Here’s a peek at the Halloween mantel.

halloween vibes

But back to today’s mantel-  I loved the simplicity of just using a couple of elements.  Pumpkins and hydrangeas- a classic combination in my book.  These are the same hydrangeas I used in the {pretty perch in the garden} post and the {halloween vibes} post.

Also for awhile these hydrangeas sat on my French chest in the foyer.  These flowers truly yield so much pleasure from starting to bud in the Spring to their full beauty during the Summer and drying to perfection for the a Fall and even Winter seasons.

I haven’t decided if these dried limelight hydrengeas will move to our Thanksgiving table with the white pumpkins.  I will decide when I set the table next week.  Either way they will land somewhere in our home.

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?  I know this year will be different for many of you.  There will only be 5 of us at our Thanksgiving table but we’ve had intimate Thanksgivings these last few years as it is so it’s a bit of status quo over here.  I appreciate the small, intimate Thanksgivings since we truly focus on family, enjoying each other’s company with no outside distractions except football and the Thanksgiving parade.

Between watching Thanksgiving festivities on the big screen, there’s cooking and baking and laughing and games.  I love it all and I love making all these memories with my family.  “This is Us” for sure!

I love the little felt pumpkin garland.  I believe I picked that up at Home Goods a few years ago.  The Parkhill lanterns are my absolute favorite lanterns of all time and I move them around the house quite a bit.  These are the baby ones but I also have the momma size and papa size which you’ve seen in many posts.

When we pick up Sebastian, my oldest, at college next week we will stay in Florence beach again the way we did last summer.  You can read about our little excursion here {bon voyage to Oregon}.

We will be gone 4 days so I am trying to be as organized as possible since I will only have one day before the big feast when we return.  I have started my grocery shopping and I have my menu and tablescape decided upon.

 Like I said it is only five of us, but regardless I am super excited to be together and celebrate.  I love Holidays and everything that comes with it!!!  On a separate note, I have started my Christmas shopping.  Have you?

“Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.”

~William Shakespeare~