Find your fall decor in the garden

Date published: 10/30/2009

By KIM YEAGER

McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Whether you're hosting a full-force dinner party or a cozy brunch for four, your tabletop can shine with these ideas for harvest decor, using unexpected items, found objects and botanicals foraged from your own backyard.

SHINE ON

Gild the lily or anything else you grab from your garden to give a glamorous, unexpected twist to the season's usual harvest bounty. We spray-painted hosta leaves copper to tuck beneath moss nests of white pumpkins, into the centerpiece and beneath a pedestal of chocolate-dipped apples.

STAR POWER

Whole star anise ($3.85 for a 10-ounce bag from Penzey's Spices) imparts fall flair--and a faint scent--when hot-glued to card stock for a place card.

Another idea: Use a paper punch to put two holes in the top of your card. Thread it with a slender ribbon, tying it at the back before gluing on the anise. Now the place card has a handle to hang from the corner of a ladderback chair.

CASTOFF CONTAINERS

A found object makes for an unusual vase for flowers. An round tin, encircled with pretty fretwork, was an old heat grate (purchased for about $6 from the Olde Town Creamery in Maple Lake, Minn.). We added a plastic saucer inside to hold a piece of floral foam, soaked with water, and arranged sunflowers from the garden; the center is a sunflower center freed of petals past their prime.

Another idea: Place a piece of round cardboard underneath and fill the center with acorns or dried moss for a minimalist look.

REPEAT PATTERN

Fill tin Jell-O molds (50 cents each from an occasional sale) with reindeer moss and dried seed heads picked from the garden to weave down the middle of your table.

Another idea: Elongate your display by alternating each flower-filled tin with a glass votive candleholder. Change out the seed pods for other accents, such as bittersweet at Thanksgiving or red pepperberries in December.

METAL WITH METTLE

Ubiquitous hosta leaves do double duty as a place mat. After they're spray-painted and dry to the touch, press them flat between sheets of paper parchment and weight with books. Don't press for longer than 10 days or you'll run the risk of them discoloring and becoming tissue-thin. Once flat, they're easy to fan out beneath a plate for a surprising shimmer.

Follow us on

Date published: 10/30/2009