5 Décor Items You Can Get At The Thrift Store To Elevate Your Thanksgiving Table
As the holidays approach and you strive to be the host with the most, you're probably beginning to scour the internet for the best ways to step your Thanksgiving day up a notch. Whether that's with fresh recipes on old classics, activities to keep little ones out of the kitchen, or making sure your house is pretty enough for a postcard, it can be a lot to sort through. Not to mention, Thanksgiving is a relatively expensive holiday thanks to the main guest at the dinner table, the turkey. But the good news is you don't have to buy from an expensive home décor catalog to make your Thanksgiving table stunning — your local thrift store probably has everything you need to take your tablescape from a nine to a 10.
Thrifting isn't just good for the wallet, but it's great for the planet as well. Swift Fit notes that thrifting reduces air pollution and energy consumption, and keeps waste from heading to landfills. So before you head to the mall, stop in at the thrift shop and look for these five amazing finds for your Thanksgiving Day décor.
1. Flower vases
Adding floral arrangements, whether dry or fresh cut, is a great way to add liveliness and color to your Thanksgiving table. You can easily find vintage glass vases, pitchers, and carafes at thrift stores. For Thanksgiving, we love seeing a mix of fresh flowers in creams, oranges, and pinks, mixed with dried grasses in neutral shades. One benefit of using mostly dried elements in your floral arrangements is that you can create the clusters well in advance of the big day. But even if you're using fresh flowers, build the arrangement at least one day in advance. Ina Garten swears by this advice, per Showbiz Cheat Sheet, because it allows the flowers time to open up fully.
Before you go building out giant bouquets, though, keep one thing in mind: You want your guests to be able to see each other across the table. For that reason, if you're using tall vases, only use sparse arrangements, including a few flowers and grasses. Otherwise, stick to low-to-the-table vases so you don't impede guests' vision, or ability to hand the bowl of potatoes over the table.
2. Candlestick holders
Few things add a sophisticated, elegant touch like vintage candlestick holders, and you can find plenty of options at your local thrift store. From brass to crystal, wood to stone, there's a vintage candlestick (or more) that perfectly fits your style. If your kitchen or dining room lighting is a bit harsh, candles are a great way to add a warmer amber illumination. And luckily, even if you don't want open flames at the table, there are plenty of realistic LED taper and pillar candles available.
A mix of copper, brass, and gold candlesticks works nicely on a Thanksgiving table, since they work as glamorous, metallic nods to the warm colors of the season, but there's really no bad choice. We fell in love with the bold, lemony yellow candlestick stands that canttalkimthrifting scored at their thrift store that would work as a funky, '70s addition to the Thanksgiving table.
3. Unique tableware
You don't need to buy a whole new dining wear set from the thrift store to give your Thanksgiving table a refined, sophisticated, and eclectic touch. You only need a few key pieces, and they don't need to be part of a matching set. If you don't already have a great serving platter, salad bowl, soup crock, or even gravy boat, don't head straight for the mall. Instead, spend some time scanning your local thrift store's kitchen, glassware, and dining aisles.
And if you've fallen in love with Estelle Colored Glass but can't swing the price tag for Thanksgiving, keep an eye out for sets of vintage crystal wine glasses. They don't need to match perfectly to be a lovely addition to the table; just look for glasses with a similar color story. Warm ambers, pale pinks, or a range of sea glass blue hues will look stunning on the table. Check out the stunning array of colored glass brass_stash was able to find in their local thrift shop for motivation.
4. Vintage Pyrex
Few things can transport us to our grandmother's kitchen as easily as a Pyrex dish, with its delicate patterns and sturdy tempered glass, it's a fantastic functional piece of art. There are even folks who collect vintage Pyrex as a hobby, and it should come as no surprise that one of their favorite places to score pieces is at the thrift shop. In an interview with Apartment Therapy, Pyrex collector Nicole Miller (@pyrexnplants) remarks that "thrift stores, estate sales, and online selling sites for local pickup," like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, are the top spots for finding vintage Pyrex.
One of the best things about Pyrex is that it's often functional cookware that can go in the oven, thanks to its tempered glass design, but also look gorgeous on the dinner table. Especially if your style leans toward vintage kitsch, Pyrex lends a playful, retro, and sweet touch to the Thanksgiving tablescape.
5. Linens
If you've never invested in cloth napkins or a tablecloth because it feels a bit old-fashioned, you're missing out on a great opportunity to dress your table up to the nines. And while we're all about paper napkins for a casual lunch, there's something nice about using a fabric napkin at a formal table. Plus, by washing and reusing cloth napkins, you can help to reduce your footprint by keeping used cloth napkins out of landfills. And thanks to thrifting, it doesn't have to cost a fortune.
If you feel a little wary of buying table linens secondhand, take heart that thrift stores take steps to ensure that critters and dangerous growths never enter their inventories. Home in the Finger Lakes says to give linens a sniff test — if there's a light funk, don't stress, that can be remedied with some laundering and air drying. With that in mind, don't sleep on the linen section the next time you pop into the thrift store.