Centerpiece Ideas for Tables

Centerpieces are table decorations set in the middle of a table and out of the way of guests and food. This type of table decoration is suitable for any occasion, both informal to formal. Consider the celebration, time of year or holiday when you are designing a centerpiece so the table dcor aligns with the theme of your gathering. Think about guest comfort and safety when you incorporate candles and tall pieces. The benefits of designing a centerpiece are price, because flowers from your yard or shells from the beach do not cost you anything, and flexibility, because customizing a centerpiece allows you to match it to your occasion perfectly.

Holiday

You do not need to be a veteran crafter to create an appealing holiday centerpiece. For a Christmas gathering, fill a long narrow box such as an old planter with clippings from your Christmas tree and insert tall, thick candles in complementary colors. Using floral foam will assist in keeping the Christmas tree clippings in place and elevated, but it is not necessary. Pile up the clippings until you get the height you want if you choose to forgo the floral foam. Set some of the candles higher by inserting soup or tuna fish cans underneath. Adorn the arrangement with small ornaments.

At Easter, display tall, thin candle holders of different heights or an elevated glass dish. Set painted Easter eggs on the candle holders or in the glass dish. Some candle holders have indentations for holding the candle so an egg will rest partially in that space for a fairly secure holding area. Use hot glue to hold an egg in place on a flat base candle holder, or apply hot glue to any candle holder to increase stability. Incorporate spring flowers such as daisies or tulips around the candle holders or scattered in the dish.

Decorate for a Thanksgiving dinner with a fall-inspired centerpiece. Choose a footed container that is not porous and holds water for an extended period of time. Glass or plastic is suitable but avoid untreated porcelain or clay. Place a water-soaked piece of floral foam into the footed container. Select fall flowers, leaves or branches in colors such as red, orange and brown, and stick them into the floral foam in any arrangement you desire. Purchase miniature pumpkins and use a skewer to pierce the pumpkin with one end and insert it into the foam with the other end.

Formal Dinner

Formal dinners that do not fall on a holiday simply require a little creative thinking. One way to create a centerpiece for a nice dinner is to use the natural elements around your home, inside or out. For instance, place a piece of interestingly shaped driftwood in the center of the table and surround it with shells and candles. If you have a large piece of quartz in your home, perhaps acting as a book end, place it in the center of the table and surround it with flowers from your garden placed in small votives.

Another formal dinner centerpiece uses a decorative pedestal bowl filled with fresh fruit, roses and greenery. Use floral foam and soak it with water if the flowers are real. Stick a wood pick into the bottom of the fruit with one end and use the other end to pierce the foam. Fruits that are not too juicy such as apples and unripe pears or peaches are best because they will not rot soon after they are pierced. Fill the gaps between the fruit with any color roses and flowing greenery such as ivy.

Wedding

Creating your own centerpieces for a wedding gives you the freedom to customize the dcor completely. Flowers work well as wedding centerpieces because they have an elegant appeal, a sweet scent and an array of color and shape options. Flowers are readily available at a range of local stores or in your backyard. Start a floral wedding centerpiece by choosing the vase. You do not need a standard clear vase so consider mixing and matching antique vases. Add a floral arrangement that complements the colors of the wedding. Keep real flower arrangements looking fresh by storing them in a cool room until the ceremony, cutting their stems at an angle so they can absorb plenty of water and adding flower food to the water.

Choose a backlit floral centerpiece if anyone in the wedding party is allergic to flowers or if you want to prevent bees from swarming the guests at an outdoor event. Print out floral images on 11-by-17 thin paper. Wrap an image around a round or square candle holder or vase and secure the picture in place at the base with double-sided tape. Wrap a ribbon in a complementary color around the base of the image and use double-sided tape to hold it to the paper. Place a candle inside the candle holder or vase. Light the candle to emit a glow from behind the floral image.