12 Tips To Decorating With A Cornucopia For Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is about abundance, gratitude, family, and closeness. Sometimes, though, that message disappears amongst the hustle and bustle of daily life and the pressures of the holiday season. Additionally, gratefulness can quickly turn to greed with the knowledge that Black Friday is just one day away. To truly embrace giving thanks this year, having classic representations of these feelings can go a long way to remind everyone of what is truly important, even if life tries to get in the way. 

A cornucopia is a traditional Thanksgiving decoration and a unique centerpiece full of history. However, it can sometimes come across as outdated or feel out of place among modern decor. If you're looking for a way to bring in this tradition to your Thanksgiving decor while making it feel more personal and modern, there are, thankfully, several ways to do it. From changing up the materials and adding fun new textures to choosing a color scheme and decorating more than just the cornucopia, you can try several options to make this important piece of history feel more modern and like it has a place in your home during Thanksgiving (and the fall season in general). 

If you don't have a lot of items to fill up the cornucopia, a quick trick is to stuff it with foam or another inexpensive filler. Get a piece of floral foam, like the FLOFARE foam blocks on Amazon, and place it as far into the cornucopia as possible. Then, hide it with your decorations, without having to fill it up all the way. Additionally, the foam gives you the chance to better lay out your decoration, as you can push in stems of leaves and florals to hold them in place.

While produce, flowers, and branches are traditional cornucopia fillers, you can use other materials as well. Pine cones and whole spices are everyday items that double as seasonally appropriate fall decor and can be placed in or around a cornucopia to add some dimension and make it stand out a little. Ribbons, moss, succulents, and preserved orange peels are also options. Look at items you have lying around, or things you can find outside, and look for ways to repurpose items for your cornucopia design. 

In the spirit of changing things up a little, make your Thanksgiving cornucopia centerpiece not only decorative but also delicious by turning it into an edible grazing tray. Make the cornucopia itself out of bread, and then fill it with jars of jams, fruits, crackers, meats, or cheese. You could also go sweet, making a chocolate-covered waffle cone stuffed with bites of cookies, cakes, and candies. There are a lot of ways you can go with this, and while it's a little extra work, it's a fun direction to take when you also need to feed your guests.

Everyone expects a cornucopia to be a wicker, horn-shaped basket. But that doesn't mean you can't get creative (and save a little money) by DIYing it. Some examples of materials you can use while sticking to a natural theme include stiff twine, a moss-covered horn, a see-through one made of branches, or even just wicker in a different color. However, you don't have to stick to the natural design, either. You can go for a metal one with delicate patterns, for example. The possibilities are actually pretty endless, letting you have fun with your design.

Adding local and seasonal produce is even better, but you aren't limited to things like squash and gourds. You can go with anything grown locally and in season during the fall. Apples, beets, artichokes, broccoli, cranberries, garlic, pears, potatoes, pomegranates, and radishes are just a few other examples of what you could use. If you want to keep this decoration out for a while, stick to hardy, waxy fruits and vegetables that aren't likely to rot, like pomegranates, cranberries, garlic, apples, and gourds. You could even use a cornucopia as your fruit bowl for the fall season.

This Thanksgiving decoration is perfect for playing around with different textures, shapes, and sizes. Changing the basket itself is one way to do that, but it's not the only option. Another example of a texture you can change is the fruit. Instead of actual pumpkins, find blown glass or velvet ones. You can try fuller branches, larger leaves, small or large flowers, and ribbons. Sometimes, choosing bigger fruits than normal or extra-large plants, like sunflowers, can also add a bit of contrast that finishes off the design well.

While having a cornucopia is a lot of fun, it doesn't always work as a dining table centerpiece, especially when space is limited. Instead, use it to draw attention to another area, like the fireplace mantel or perhaps your entryway. It's a great option to fill up an empty space in a home. Then, you can find something that fits in the center of your dining space better, like the affordable fall centerpiece decor you can DIY that is hiding in the produce aisle. 

A cornucopia looks best if it is overflowing or at least very full. But that doesn't mean you have to go with the biggest cornucopia you can find. If you want it to fill the space, you can find one that is taller than it is wide or long, so you can still get a show stopper without taking up all the space on your table. But if you have a small space, a cornucopia that still fills up the center area, even if it's tiny, can get the point across.

A cornucopia is about abundance. Really fill up the space and have fun with it by making sure it is overflowing. If you feel like it could benefit from another piece of decoration or two, don't fight it. Follow your instinct and add the extras. You might find that it really does complete the design. If you're not sure, go for small items, like tiny pine cones, branches, small flowers, loose grapes, or a piece of ribbon or two, and see if they make your cornucopia look better.

Normally, Thanksgiving is focused on colors related to nature during fall, such as those you would see in falling leaves. However, you don't have to stick to reds, browns, yellows, and oranges with your centerpiece. Adding a few other colors here and there can make it pop. One option is to add a bit of a metallic look. If you can't find any for an affordable price, spray paint a few fruits and plants. A few bronze or gold stems and accents can help to pull your design together.

Choosing a theme is one of the ways to prep your home to host the perfect Thanksgiving, and that includes creating your cornucopia. If you aren't sure what color palette to go with, look at the items already around your home or the colors you have on your other Thanksgiving decorations. You can also just go with what you like. For example, if you prefer more muted tones, you can paint your cornucopia white and stick to matching items, like white and green gourds, white pumpkins, and light green stems.

Adding to the feel of abundance, you don't only have to decorate the cornucopia itself. Place some decorations around it as well so it appears as if it is spilling out and sitting on a pile of other items. For example, stack small pumpkins around the sides, place more leaves and flowers underneath, and set down a few pine cones. You can also tie it together with the rest of your decorations by adding some of the smaller pieces around the cornucopia.