As the only non-cook in my family, on Thanksgiving I am relegated to the table decor. As family and friends begin arriving, laden with green bean casseroles, salads and sweet potatoes, they will see my grocery bags are filled with all of the table decorations. Yes, while they are busy basting the turkey and mashing the potatoes, I am happily cutting and pasting so I can dress the dinner table with pumpkin centerpieces and gourd-geous pumpkin place cards.
A pumpkin can go from flat to fabulous in just a few minutes and once you’ve gone dimensional with pumpkins, it’s easy to convert them into place cards and centerpieces for any fall-themed event.
Die cut or hand cut a stack of six to eight pumpkins for each place card. I think it looks best when the pumpkins are symmetrical; however, I move the stem to one side of the middle in order to avoid folding through the center of the stem. For variety, cut out the pumpkins from two shades of orange paper, then layer green on top of the front and back of each pumpkin stem.
Once the stack of pumpkins is fully embellished, fold them all in half and staple them together in the middle of the fold line. Reverse on some of the folds in order to fan them out to create instant dimensionality. Because the pumpkins are only attached in the center, it’s a simple task to slide a paper leaf between the layers, which is the perfect place to handwrite each guest’s name.
This project is easy enough to include the kids if they want to help decorate the table. Once you have completed a place card for each guest, you can repeat the process on a larger scale to create a pumpkin centerpiece.
Whether you’re hosting Thanksgiving at your house or planning any fall-themed party, your guests can always find their place with gourd-geous, dimensional, pumpkin place cards.
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