Easy Fall & Thanksgiving Centerpiece {10 Minute $1 DIY}

Easy DIY fall & Thanksgiving centerpiece for $1. Tutorial & video on how to make beautiful & natural Thanksgiving table decorations with colorful fall leaves!

A beautiful fall and Thanksgiving centerpiece really doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming to create. Today I want to share a really easy way to make an almost free fall and Thanksgiving centerpiece in just 10 minutes, using simple materials and things you already have.

This fresh fall and Thanksgiving table decoration centerpiece is also long lasting without the use of floral foam or any fancy supplies.

materials for a DIY fall centerpiece

There are so many beautiful fall flowers and foliage at this time of year (remember all the amazing leaf crafts & decor you can make?). Combined with pinecones, moss, and berries, you can create gorgeous table centerpieces with natural elements found around your home, or on a nature walk. Let’s begin!

Materials and tools to make a DIY fall and Thanksgiving centerpiece :

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You will need a simple wood crate or basket like these, and a few plastic containers.

use wood crate to make DIY fall & Thanksgiving centerpiece table decorations

You can make many sizes of wood crates easily from 1x4s, 1x6s, pallet wood or reclaimed wood. Here’s a detailed tutorial.

You will also need some natural elements, such as fresh plant cuttings like leaves, flowers, and / or berries, a few pinecones, Spanish moss (used here) or  mixed moss like these. You don’t need everything I listed, feel free to improvise with what you have!

Check out the video tutorial below, or skip to step by step written tutorial.

Step 1: gather vessels for the DIY Thanksgiving centerpiece

There are so many wonderful uses for wood crates in home decor.You can purchase small wood crates like these, or make your own easily.

DIY fall table decor natural elements, such as fresh plant cuttings like leaves, flowers, and / or berries, a few pinecones, Spanish moss

We made a simple wood crate that measures 15″ long by 7″ wide and almost 4″ high, which looks great on most rectangular tables that seats 6 to 8 people. How to make vintage wood crates from pallets.

Three plastic containers fit perfectly in the crate. They should be about the same height as the crate, or a little shorter.  You can always cut plastic cups or bottles to the right heights.

plastic containers fit perfectly in the crate, add water

Pour some water into each cup, this way all the fresh cuttings will last much longer without the use of floral foam, which I read can contain harmful chemicals, and they are not recyclable.

Step 2: add foliage to the DIY Thanksgiving centerpiece.

add foliage to the DIY Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Choose a mixture of foliage with many colors, shapes, and textures to create your beautiful designs.

In fall season, we can find such beautiful colorful leaves and berries. I placed a similar group foliage and berries in each cup to create a balanced look.

 a mixture of foliage with many colors, shapes, and textures

We are almost done. Just need a little highlights here and there to complete our DIY fall and Thanksgiving centerpiece!

Step 3: add fall centerpiece accents

You can add fresh fall flowers like mums, small sunflowers, and marigolds, or dried elements such as twigs, seed heads,  moss and pinecones.  Take a walk in nature, I am sure you will find lots of treasures to use in your table centerpiece!

add fall centerpiece accents  fresh fall flowers like mums, small sunflowers, and marigolds, or dried elements such as twigs, seed heads,  moss and pinecones.

The pine cones are simply placed snugly among the cuttings, no wires needed. The silvery Spanish moss makes a beautiful background for the colorful leaves and flowers.

Easy DIY fall & Thanksgiving centerpiece for $1. Tutorial & video on how to make beautiful & natural Thanksgiving table decorations with colorful fall leaves!

Isn’t this a beautiful and easy fall table centerpiece? I think I am going to make something like this every week for our dinner table. Why wait for Thanksgiving to celebrate all the gorgeous fall colors in nature?

You can use the same technique to make this festive DIY Christmas centerpiece easily, tutorial here.

tin cans and jars in wood crate

Easy & gorgeous DIY Christmas centerpiece tutorial

You may also love: 27 beautiful DIY Thanksgiving and Christmas table decorations

27 gorgeous & easy DIY Thanksgiving and Christmas table decorations & centerpieces! Most can be made in less than 20 minutes, from things you already have! - A Piece of Rainbow

If you want to make a crate from pallets, here’s a detailed guide on where to find pallets and lots of tips on how to work with pallet wood!

Our favorite tool to take apart pallets: a  Duckbill Deck Wrecker we got on Amazon 

More beautiful DIY Thanksgiving table decor ideas here to explore!

no carve pumpkin decorating for fall and Thanksgiving

And check out these creative no-carve pumpkin decorating ideas for fall & Thanksgiving!

Happy creating! See you next week!

9 Comments

  1. wow, this centerpiece is really amazing and beautiful. I just love this. thanks for sharing this amazing article with us.

  2. This fall thanksgiving centerpiece is so beautiful! The leaves are just turning colors where we are. Can’t wait to make this!

  3. I read the instructions and watched the video on Easy Fall and Thanksgiving centerpiece. You did not mention names of plants. The first green one is lovely. Can you tell me what it is?

    • hi Vicky! you would not believe this but the first one is a weed i found on a walk! a small bush growing on a dry slope, similar to cayote bush / Baccharis pilularis 🙂

  4. This is such a great idea! My boys love finding things like this when we go outside, but I never let them bring it in the house. They would be ecstatic over getting to help make something for the table.

  5. You definitely inspired me to get crafty! I love all thingsa automn and in all honesty I wonder how I did not make something like that before! I will definitely this year!

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