It’s no secret, I love to entertain and this time of year is so fun for me. I have always loved Thanksgiving and the recent newest addition of celebrations Friendsgiving seems to be gaining in popularity. It’s fun to arrange a gathering just to celebrate friendship. The holiday season can get so busy you hardly have time to see and enjoy friends. So, putting together a small gathering is the perfect way to have some time with your dearest friends and celebrate. I’m sharing my ideas for this year but have several posts with other ideas here Ideas For Creating A Friendsgiving Gathering and here Easy Tips For Hosting the Best Friendsgiving

Whenever I plan a party or event, I really like to start with a theme and a color scheme. This makes it much easier for me to put everything together and makes the event more cohesive. I think it helps all the way around for planning when you have an ideas of how you want things to look.

Since I will have Christmas decor out, I wanted to make the table and decor theme blend with our home so I am staying with a more neutral woodland theme for the table. The color scheme is white, greenery and wood tones. I wanted it to still have an earthy, natural and casual vibe.

 

Invitations

I usually will email all my guests to confirm a date and let them know I’m planning an event. That helps me get an idea of how many can attend and what to expect when planning everything.

I Love my invitations to coordinate or match with what my theme will be for the party. That way guests have a sneak peek of what they may expect at the party.

 

 

In this case I decided to make the invitations a little gift as well. I found these cute signs at Hobby Lobby and bought them to use for the invitation. On the back I created a label with all the information for the event.

 

 

Then I embellished it with a little greenery and tag directing them to turn over for information. Next I packaged them in a little white bag, tied it up with twine and added a sprig of greenery. They went into a small padded envelope and mailed to each home. They loved the unexpected surprise gift/invitation in one.

 

 

Party Favors

I always create a party favor for my guests. Usually just a small token of something I make that can go on the table as additional decor. Since it’s a woodland theme, I wanted something from nature. Paper white bulbs are so fun to force this time of year and look gorgeous with Christmas decor.

 

 

I put these cute kits together with just a few supplies:

• paper white bulbs (ordered on Amazon) can be found at local nurseries 
• clear treat bags
• white rock (purchased at the dollar store)
• glass or terra cotta dish (i got my vases at the dollar store)
• gable paper boxes (purchased at Hobby Lobby)
• items to embellish the boxes
• gift. tags
•  

 

I created tags with instructions on how to plant and grown the bulb. I filled the bags with white rock, the bulb and then tied the tag to it with twine.

 

 

I added the glass jar and bulb kit in the box wrapped in tissue.

 

 

Finally I tied a personalized tag with a saying about friendship and embellished with greenery and a tiny pinecone ornament (found at Walmart)

 

 

 These will look so cute on the table with the coordinating place setting.

 

 

Tablescape

The table setting was so fun to create. I started with a cable knit table runner and added various sizes of wooden trees and battery operated candles. Then I just tucked in pieces of greenery to fill in the gaps.

 

 

For the place settings I started with a pine placemat, added a wood charger and then placed the dinner plate. For the napkins, I used a creme fringe napkin and doubled up 2 napkin rings. Instead of place cards, I used these leaf ornaments I found at Hobby Lobby and wrote each persons name on the tag. That will also be a little take home gift as well.

 

 

I also kept my everyday candle sticks for height and placed birch battery operated candles inside.

 

 

For the menu I am serving a ham and each guest is bringing their favorite Thanksgiving family dish . That way we can share in each others traditions and I don’t have to prepare a lot of food. I will set it up buffet style on our island and everyone can serve themselves.

 

 

I hope this gave you some simple inspiration to create your own Friendsgiving gathering. You can make it as easy or elaborate as you. want. If you plan ahead and prepare it all, the day of can be all about enjoying your friends and great fellowship. To stay updated on all the latest holiday inspiration and ideas, be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter.

 

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Happy Entertaining