Ginger Jar Thanksgiving Tablescape

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This year has truly been a whirlwind! For the last few months, I've been getting myself acclimated to my new job (more on that later) so I had very little time to prepare for a Thanksgiving tablescape like I did last year. But thanks to my patience in thrifting and constantly pinning on my par-tay board on Pinterest, I kept coming back to one super simple idea. Over the past year I've been collecting ginger jars from Goodwill (and a few from discount retailers) and I thought, why not put them to use? So, without further adieu, here's the Thanksgiving tablescape that I created at my in-laws.

This table was pretty inexpensive! Here's what I used:

• Vases I already had on hand
•  Sure, a patterned collection is very powerful, but I'm sure you could do this with any other vase, as long as they are a strict color palette
• 2 clearance Threshold tablecloths from Target
•  These were $12 total because they were even cheaper at the register - I love it when that happens! 
• 3 sets of clearance Threshold napkins from Target 
• The napkins were $4.98 for a set of 4.
• 2 bunches of flowers from Kroger
•  The sunflower bunches were $7.99 per bunch, which is more than I would EVER spend on fresh flowers because I am SUPER COST CONSCIOUS when it come to consumables such as this. I almost NEVER purchase flowers at full price, but like I said earlier, I was short on time. When it was all said and done though, the sunflowers really popped, and I loved them.
• Magnolia leaf branches from my front yard
•  Free 99, Folks! Also these were $5.99 PER BUNCH in Kroger and I was like - nah, I'll pass and snip some stuff in the yard where we pay bills.
• Extra long candle sticks
•  Which now that I look back, they could have been smaller, but again, that's what I had on hand
•  Glass candle stick holders 
• It never hurts to have a few of these around the house, mine were about 99 cents each from Goodwill.
• The placemats were purchased at IKEA for last year's Thanksgiving table. Because they're neutral, they fit in perfectly with almost anything.

When I started taking photos with my DSLR, I realized that I neglected to bring my memory card with me, so sadly these are all taken using my phone. But nonetheless I wanted to share them with you. After all, our holiday gatherings are always perfectly-imperfect, and that's what these photos reflect to me. 

I mean those free magnolia leaves really saved the day! I made sure to give them a good shake down and a once-over before I put them on the table.

Oh, and never underestimate the power of sliced oranges. So easy. 

My in-laws' furniture and tastes are much more traditional than my own, but thankfully I was able to make it feel a little bit playful. The table cloth and floral textiles are nice accent to the dark walls and cherry wood furniture. 

Here's the smaller table that we set up next to dining room to accommodate more guests. Truth be told, I totally forgot about the burlap ribbon that we used for these simple chairs last year. So glad that my MIL kept them. 

So all things considered, I'm so glad that I was able to pull something together in a pinch. I guess it also helps that I gather ideas all year long so when the time comes and I can quickly come up with something unexpected when the time is right. After all, isn't that what Pinterest is for? 

Sure there are always things that I would change about these table settings, especially to make them more "picture perfect", but in person it was SO PRETTY and all the guests commented on how much they loved it. <<<<< Real talk, this sentence right here was hard for me to write. I'm simply not into tooting my own horn, but you know what? I'm walking into next year giving myself more credit for the efforts that I make. I'm always so hard on myself, and sometime you just have to take the compliment or simply pat yourself on the back for completing something good. 

 So what do you think? Do you have any ideas you'd like to try for your next get together? Also - are you curious about where this collection of ginger jars lives in my home? Stay tuned!