Foraged Holiday Table for 2017

First published December 3, 2017

As promised, I did get a nice table together for Thanksgiving and documented it with Phoebe's help. My goal was to keep the look of the foraged table pretty flexible so that it can be slightly modified for Christmas dinner and work just as well. 

When Lev saw it he said "Woooow". I asked "Do you like it?" and he replied "I like it A LOT", which made the rather small amount of effort I put into it 100% worth it. Playing off the minimal white and black dining room scheme, I laid out a white linen table cloth with a mix of larger basic white dinner plates with basic black bowls.

Target had just released their Hearth and Hand collection and as much as I resisted liking it, I had to admit the black steel flatware and Acacia wood footed tray were no brainers for building my table's basic monochromatic style. I pulled some smaller pieces from my growing collection of vintage ceramic vessels to add earthy warmth to the black and white mix.

Then came the fun part - foraging! Both for sumptuous colorful winter fruit like persimmon, clementines, and pomegranate, along with textural walnuts and hazelnuts. Now that we have landscaping, I was able to clip branches of our wispy Agonis tree for greenery. Eucalyptus or peppercorn branches would equally well. To make it more Christmasy I could blend in pine and holly to the greenery.  Scatter pine cones and chestnuts on the table along with small ornaments at each place setting.

Lastly. I did an array of terra cotta hued napkins. A different hue at each place setting for a subtle ombre effect. I wrapped each with cotton cord and a bead to hold the rosemary (also foraged) and used for its look, calming scent, and to flavor the meal.