Home Table Centerpiece Ideas

A centerpiece makes a table look festive and striking even long after the guests have eaten dinner and you've cleared the plates away. Often, some of the most memorable and elegant centerpieces are the ones that you make yourself as only you know what will best complement your decor or table. Does this Spark an idea?

Red Arrangement

This centerpiece is suitable for a romantic meal or for any dinner table that could use a striking splash of color. Start by washing a bag of fresh cranberries and patting them dry. Pour them into the bottom of a clear glass vase and fill the vase with water until the berries are completely submerged. Cut red roses or red carnations until all the flowers are the same height. Add them to the vase, pouring in more water, if necessary. The red flowers on top and the red berries at the bottom should give the centerpiece a harmonious balance. On the other hand, for a slightly different effect, you can use berry stems cut from a garden or florist, in lieu of flowers. This would give the centerpiece a striking contrast between green and red.

Miniatures

This centerpiece allows you to capitalize on the magical quality of miniatures and use them to create a scene to represent any season. For example, during winter you could make a miniature ice-skating rink by taking a round mirror and placing it in the center of your table. Then place miniature ice skaters in various positions around the "skating rink" you can have couples skating together, even a skater falling on his butt. Surround the rink with a few fake trees and even a small mountain covered in fake snow. You could place a couple sledders or skiers at various points on the mountain. For spring, you could plant a miniature garden and position miniature people planting flowers and mowing the grass and generally attending to the fresh floral display. During the summer, you could create a beach scene by filling a tray with real sand and cutting out miniature towels out of an old beach towel and positioning miniature people in the sand sunbathing, playing volleyball and running. In autumn, you could create a miniature pumpkin patch complete with a scarecrow and miniature people picking out pumpkins, perhaps drinking tiny cups of apple cider.

Eco-friendly Centerpieces

Eco-friendly centerpieces are some of the simplest to make and often the most elegant. You could use an appropriate eco-friendly centerpiece to display for each season. For example, in summer, you can fill a wooden bowl with green apples or lemons or limes. Alternatively, in winter, place a few bare branches in a glass vase and tie a piece of twine or ribbon around it, adding perhaps a pine cone or two. In spring, coax branches into budding blooms by cutting branches and placing them in vase of warm water or vases of varying heights, sizes, shapes or colors for an unusual effect. Or in fall, you can pile autumn leaves in a wicker basket to fill your dining room with a fresh and fragrant centerpiece.