I love Thanksgiving. We host the dinner at our house, and I love having friends and family around.

The more, the merrier is our motto so we need a big space for dinner. We set the dining room up as the buffet and everyone eats out on our patio. (Fortunately, Southern California weather usually allows us to do this.) I love to do something big and spectacular as far as centerpieces and tablescapes go.

I do my best to create an outdoor room, and to change it up a bit each year. A few years ago I told Handsome Hubby that I wanted a hanging centerpiece… basically a floating shelf. This is what he made for me, and it was pretty much what I had pictured in my head. (I love it when that happens.)

I love the rusticity of the wood and the rope when paired with the shimmer of the candlelight and the ribbon. Everything else? Clippings from the hedges and trees in our yard and pine cones gathered on a hike. Practically free. Yay. (Then a simple runner of tulle, candles and fresh pears. Simple is good.)

It was very easy to make.

You can use whatever size board you want. The base of this is about 18 inches wide by 7 feet long. I can’t remember if this was built to specific measurements I gave HH, or if this is what he had on hand. Either way… Once the base is cut, frame it out with 1 x 2 and then add a bit of decorative trim. Stain it or paint it. (Or don’t. It’s up to you.) Put an eye hook in each corner for hanging. We added them in the middle for added stability because it was so long.

It looked very pretty at night too. (Forgive the blurry shots. These photos are from 2007.)

I’m going to use this again this Thanksgiving and incorporate these green, blinged out pumpkins.

I’ll show you how it turned out later this week.