These Thanksgiving tablescape ideas from Country Living are so elegant & inspiring! I love the sense of warmth conveyed in this first look, which features pretty sepia & brown tones and lots of natural textures…

The sentimental touches are wonderful too – especially the lovely photo centerpiece idea (pictured below), and the handwritten names & phrases applied to the linens, place cards, and even the wine goblets!

This next centerpiece idea could be incorporated into a variety of looks – and the style of font you choose for the words “GIVING THANKS” will really affect the finished look. You could even tailor this idea to an ultra-contemporary table by using a san-serif font, perhaps in all lowercase + a modern color palette. The same concept is applied to the coordinating napkin rings too.

Note: Buying multiple can get expensive, so look for sales and discount places where you can purchase pillar candles in bulk to help cut down on your costs!

Last but not least, a buffet of autumn-toned berries & leaves makes for a rich & colorful harvest look! (You can achieve this look with artificial berries & leaves, which are readily available at craft stores right now.)

Check out more details on these ideas and more in the Thanksgiving Table Settings gallery at countryliving.com.

On the lookout for some pretty new holiday dessert ideas? Check out the lovely – and mouth-watering! – ideas in BHG’s Irresistable Holiday Cakes and Cupcakes gallery.

The gallery features 21 different recipes and also includes ideas that would work well for Thanksgiving, like this gorgeous Chocolate Harvest Cake and elegant Pistachio Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream:

And these lovely red and white cakes and cupcakes would actually be great for Christmas AND Valentine’s Day…

Click here to check out the entire slideshow at BHG!

Ready to update the Thanksgiving table this year? Check out today’s HWTM post over at Real Simple: mini inspiration boards for 3 Contemporary Thanksgiving Tablescapes. (Tables 2 & 3 would actually transition nicely for Christmas as well!)

Today’s HWTM post over at Real Simple… a Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Centerpiece idea so that you have more time to spend in that kitchen! *wink*

P.S. Need to make a bunch of them? Check out these glass 3-Tier Servers from IKEA for $14.99 each!

Here’s a little sneak peek at some of the new HWTM Thanksgiving Themes that we shot on Monday…

Full details & lots of pics will be included with each new theme. I’m hoping to have all of them uploaded to the Party Themes section by the end of next week!

If you’re on the lookout for new Thanksgiving ideas, hope you’ll find something that inspires you here!

P.S. Can you believe it’s this time of year already?!

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Event planner & “seasonal party” guru Courtney Toney is back with another gorgeous fall get-together to share! (Click here to check out her 2008 fall party.)

From the vibrant sunflowers, custom fall banners, and creative mason jar candles to earthy details like twigs & raffia, there’s so much great party inspiration here for everything from Thanksgiving dinner to Autumn cocktail parties!

Read on for TONS of lovely pictures and and all the DIY details, as told by Courtney herself…

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“A few weeks ago, we had our second annual Fall Party. I went for a bit of a different feel with the decor this year and loved the result! Here is a glimpse into our festivities, with photos by the wonderful Jenetta Lea Penner…

For this year’s decor, I found a few fabrics I loved from the Arcadia Line and built much of the design around that. I made a banner for our front porch and a larger matching one for our living room…

I got all of the flowers at our town’s Famers Market. I especially love the pumpkin branches!

I used the fabric throughout the decor. The little bottle tree below was one of my favorite pieces:

We have a large back porch, so we seated everyone outside. I went for a more rustic feel this year, utilizing mason jars, twine, bundles of sticks tied with fabric and organic feeling flowers. (Also see images 2 & 3, at top)

All linens were from Fusion Linens, with the exception of the brown linen overlay which I scored at Target for $7!

Here’s part of the food table set up (without any food yet!):

I filled a train trunk with wooden utensils by Paper Cup Design, purchased at Anthropologie, and eco friendly paper plates from Target.

I created a little dessert station on my vintage ironing board:

A little candy corn and pumpkins to start Fall off right, placed in cut mini cupcake cups from Layer Cake Shop:

I baked these cookies using my new favorite sugar cookie recipe, found on the Blonde Designs blog:

The rest of the menu included: cheese and crackers, risotto, salad, yummy bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, homemade whipped cream and homemade apple cider.”

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Thanks for this fabulous new dose of fall entertaining inspiration, Courtney! Looking forward to your Winter recap already! =)

Here are a few new-found favorites from Martha that I recently discovered in her “Creepy Treats” gallery… which honestly leans more towards “clever & stylish, with just a dash of creep.” (Except for maybe the Ladies’ Fingers cookies, which easily qualify as full-on creepy!)

1. Devil’s Food Cake with Flame Tuiles –Is is just me, or is this cake more gorgeous than creepy?! This look would actually make for a pretty Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert too.

2. I Scream Sandwitches – “wicked witches” with an eerie tendency to melt!

3. Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes – Pumpkin-flavored cupcakes topped with adorable marzipan pumpkins. Pressed for time? Substitute any ready-made pumpkin candy.

4. Boo-tiful Cake – marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles make for super cute – and super easy – friendly ghost cake toppers!

5. Sweet Bones – piped meringue makes for a truly bone-chilling treat!

6. Invisible Pops – These “magical” lollipops actually have the look of cool, modern trees… great party favor idea for Halloween and harvest, and woodland-themed parties. (These could be really cute with red, white, and pink candy corn for Valentine’s day too!)

7.  Jack-o’-lantern Tarts – mini-pie tops are the perfect place for Jack to show his face!

8. Brain Cupcakes – witty labeling like “Albert Mindstein” and “Intell E. Gent” makes these clever cupcakes even more hilarious!

See anything here that looks especially tempting to YOU? =)

As someone whose personal taste leans much more contemporary than country, finding great autumn/harvest-themed decorating ideas with a modern vibe can seem like a difficult task sometimes… which is why I’m feeling especially grateful for all these gorgeous ideas from BHG and Sunset.

These looks are still warm & inviting, but they also have a fresh, chic feel that the modernists can appreciate too! I’m really feeling this Yellow & Gold color palette for a contemporary twist on the Thanksgiving table this year…

And this primarily Red and Orange palette is lovely too…

Pictured at top: various favorites from the Pretty Pumpkins for Fall slideshow on BHG.com. How darling are the pumpkin place cards?! You can easily recreate that look at home using short pieces of extra-wide fabric ribbon (or card stock) and bamboo skewers for the “flag”.

What are some of YOUR favorite contemporary fall decorating ideas?

I’m absolutely in love with the October cover of Living this year… partially due to the fact that I’m in the midst of planning a Woodland Forest baby shower for a friend and loving all things toadstool right now, but this is also just such a clever idea – and something I personally haven’t seen done with pumpkins before. It would make such a cute tablescape for Thanksgiving, too – or really any sort of Fall party!

Here’s a peek at some more highlights from this issue of Living… starting with a few extremely crafty face masks:

This next shot is pretty clever… “incognito” birdwatchers!

Pressed-paper boxes dressed up like owls and jack-o-lantern faced acorns…

A few images from A Wicked Good Time: macabre banquet table (featuring Slithered Scream Beans, Cauldron Curry, and Squeamish Squash with Rice), Snake Cake with Venom Glaze, Poison Apples (LOVE the presentation on these!), and “Eyes of Newt” DIY party favors.

Last but not least, a festive party favor embellishment made from the orange, balloon-shaped calyxes of Chinese lantern plants (very clever!):

For more on Living, check out www.marthastewart.com/living.

I’ve been admiring this swanky party theme from the ultra-creative Joanna of Lotushaus for a while now.  She created this fun “Global Lounge” theme for Thanksgiving (yes, Thanksgiving!!), but don’t you think this look would also work beautifully for a variety of occasions? I’m thinking bridal shower, engagement party, or milestone birthday for starters…

What I love about Joanna’s designs are that they’re always so hip & contemporary – but also very “doable” – which is the perfect recipe for inspiring others! Here are some details on how her Thanksgiving “Global Lounge” came to be…

The inspiration: A bolt of blue and brown satin ribbon that Joanna already owned is what kicked this whole thing off! She wanted to give the dinner a “hip hotel lounge” vibe incorporating these colors.

Design Elements: Global design accents such as origami, rattan, Chinese knots, classic patterns (like woven cane and circle medallions); DJ uplights were also used to jazz up the ambiance and provide mood lighting.

Joanna fashioned paper cranes (which carry a subtle resemblance to the shape of a turkey) from gift wrapping paper and used crimped silver wire to hang them from kiwi vines (available at Michaels stores and other florist/craft supplies). To keep the kiwi vines standing upright, they were inserted into floral foam placed inside of a drinking glass, which was wrapped in turquoise tissue paper. LED tea lights were dropped into the glass as well and gave the arrangements a cool, magical, “loungy” glow!

Cane patterned fabric was used to create the napkins. (Joanna sewed the napkins herself, but you can also find similar designs in pre-printed paper or fabric napkins…no sewing skills required!)

Homemade bookmarks that read “Happy Thanksgiving!” and featured inspiring quotes made for a thoughtful touch.

Every hip lounge needs a fabulous drink! Joanna’s husband whipped up a signature blue mocktail featuring blue raspberry lemonade – which was served to guests in swanky martini glasses. Custom monogrammed drink tags made from scrapbooking supplies were attached to the stem of each glass and doubled as place cards. {For blue cocktail ideas, try a Blue Bird Martini or a Blue Champagne Cocktail.}

The blue-trimmed rattan placemats used at each place setting were a true score at a local discount retailer – only $1 each! Gotta love it when you stumble on great finds like that!

For the party favors, Joanna wrapped up yummy iced gingerbread cookies in a kraft pillow box, then decorated the box with satin ombre ribbon, a custom gift tag, and a Chinese knot (details, details!)

Fantastic party, Joanna – thanks so much for the fabulous inspiration, as always!