Easy Cleanup Thanksgiving Table Ideas

With Christmas kicking into high gear right after Halloween these days, Thanksgiving doesn’t get much airtime.  And I love Thanksgiving.  My mom is hosting this year, and we’re looking at a big crowd of extended family this year, which should be a lot of fun, but certainly poses some unique challenges as a result.  How do you handle a large Thanksgiving crowd, while keeping things pretty and elegant?  How do you keep cleanup to a minimum?  Is it possible to balance both at the same time?  That is our task this year!  Just because you don’t pull out the fancy china, doesn’t mean that you can’t put together a gorgeous table!

Thanksgiving Table Ideas with Easy Cleanup

Placemats and Table Runners

Let’s start from the ground up, shall we?  I love that there are so many inexpensive options when it comes to decorating your Thanksgiving table.  Plus, you can throw it away without any guilt!  After all, isn’t that the point of this exercise?  This post contains some affiliate links.

I love the disposable placemats and table runners that are available – so pretty and practical at the same time.

These pumpkin placemats caught my eye right away.

If you’re looking for something that isn’t necessarily “themed”, these marbled placemats fit the bill for an elegant Thanksgiving table.

These simple paper placemats are the perfect backdrop for any Thanksgiving table.  They leave the door open for adding touches of pretty fall flowers, without stealing the show.

How about some buffalo check for your Thanksgiving table in the form of a runner?

Tableware

For the tableware, there are all sorts of options that mimic that of fancy china.  All of the pretty without all of the cleanup.  That means more time for a post-Thanksgiving dinner nap! #priorities

Let’s start with plate options.

These simple white plates with the gold trim look so very similar to my own good china.  I like the simple, elegant look, and these fit the bill!

If gold isn’t your thing, no worries, there are lots of other options available out there.  Maybe you’re jazzing up your Thanksgiving table with a bit of color.  In that case, these pretty turquoise places with a graphic edge will do the trick.

Or perhaps you want to make things interesting with a square plate.  No problem.

Got Drinks?

Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without drinks, and we want to make sure we have all of our bases covered in that department.  For cocktails, you can find these great plastic wine tumblers that look so real, you’ll have to do a double-take.  They’re on trend, and disposable, which is a win-win.

But you also need to consider the glasses you want to use at dinnertime.  That’s where these pretty gold rimmed cups come into play.

Why not have a little fun by adding gold silverware and some heavy duty coordinating paper napkins?  Now you’re all set!

 

 

You can even add some cute Thanksgiving cutlery holders to your table to give it a polished look.

You can add some more drama to the table (or the buffet table if you’re setting up that way), with some pretty fall flowers, pumpkins, candles in vases filled with acorns as fillers – you name it.  Let your imagination and Mother Nature be your guide.  That’s what I did last year when I was hosting and had just finished my dining room makeover.

Navy Thanksgiving Dining Room Table

Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year?  Have you ever gone the disposable tableware route for the holidays?

Jenny

 

 

2 Comments

  • Reply
    Shelly
    November 1, 2018 at 7:10 am

    Thank you Jenny, great ideas here. I may have to pass these along to my sister, she is hosting this year.

    • Reply
      Jenny
      November 4, 2018 at 2:59 pm

      If I were hosting this year, this is definitely the direction I would be going. WAY too many people this year to mess with all of those dishes!

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