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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Create A Pleasant Dining Experience With Table Centerpieces!

By Dane Masters

Table centerpieces are inexpensive and readily available. Yet, when these simple decorations are used every day on the dining table, they enhance its beauty. And the family can end up feeling that every meal is a special occasion! So, why not include them as part of your meal settings then? Oh, you have no clue about how to go about selecting the right centerpieces? Well, the suggestions presented below should help you.

Table centerpieces can be varied. If you are fortunate enough to have a garden of your own, you can always have a large vase filled with fresh flowers on the table. But of course, if you have no garden of your own, then it is simply not possible to go about buying flowers every day! You can move on to something else, if vases are not suitable. After all, a centerpiece is meant to enhance the entire meal setting--not just that one point.

Along with large vases, you can use baskets, decorative boxes or tins, tiny vases, luminaria, votive candles and candlesticks to create your theme.

When creating your table centerpieces, consider the size of your gathering. For a dinner for two, a taller vase of roses set towards the end of the table is quite romantic.

If you've got a large gathering, you won't want a tall vase of flowers, beautiful as it may be, to interfere with your guests' conversation. It can be awkward to crane your neck around that vase to speak with someone across the table.

When there are many people at the table, the table could be decorated with small votive candles or luminaria that are spaced out at regular intervals. Along with them, keep small glasses or vases filled with small and dried flowers that are tied with colored ribbon bows. To complete this attractive theme is a table runner that runs underneath the entire length.

Another large group idea for a table centerpiece uses a couple of large ornate candlesticks with a thin profile placed towards the ends of the table. Shallow baskets filled with silk flowers are set spaced towards the center of the table. This is a good way to have a more formal look without interfering with conversations.

Another glitzy component of table centerpieces are the strings of beads, garlands and "icicles" such as are found as tree decorations at Christmas time. These can be woven amongst your candles and flowers for a special look. Alternatively, small figurines can be worked into these centerpieces. Try to keep the numbers of different elements to just a few. This makes a bigger visual statement than many mismatched items. You want to avoid a cluttered look.

Some people like to decorate the table with baskets that contain fresh fruits. These can be taken by the guests whenever they feel like it. Others prefer to keep one shallow and long basket as the sole centerpiece. There are glittering fall gourds as well as "Indian" corn kept in this basket. The effect is truly marvellous!

So you can see there's a world of ideas for table centerpieces. Some people set aside space in a cupboard or sewing room to store all their "props" to choose on a moment's notice, ready to put some pizazz on your table.

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