Hosting the family meal for Thanksgiving this year? Pull out the stops and follow the full tradition of festooning the venue with fitting décor as well as food. This is America's foremost feast day, and the purpose of the day is to gather, eat and be thankful. Decorating is not only fitting, it is a wonderful opportunity to truly honor the day.

Nature Inspired
The bounty we find outdoors should be on display to inspire a grateful attitude for the simple joys of this life. Use colorful leaves as place cards, using a paint pen to inscribe names. Keep little hands busy by painting acorns with acrylic craft paint. Place them in tall, cylindrical glass vases and nestle a pillar or votive candle in the top. Acorns can also be painted gold for an elegant setting. Nuts, popcorn and dried beans of all colors also make great natural materials as a base in glass vases to hold candles, bare branches, or dried flower or grass arrangements. Natural materials blend well with most color palettes, and go the extra mile of providing texture. They also offer the average family budget a lot more room for the necessities. Get the children involved in gathering and decorating with nature to round out the tradition.

Bring out the Best
If you don't own a set of fine china, just one little trick will make your table look formal and festive: stack the plates. Find an inexpensive set of white dinner plates topped with salad plates in a rich color, or with an embellished edging. Add linen napkins and a row of pillar candles in different heights in a monochromatic color scheme.

Pack a Punch
Let's face it, decorating for the holiday is upstaged by the main event, the Thanksgiving dinner. Enhance the day with elements that will make a wow statement, or can be repeated without becoming ho-hum. Choose plants, flowers and fruit you can mix and match, like fresh or dried hydrangeas, plums, blushing artichokes, green and white pumpkins and gourds. Or make a "Thankful Tree" with a large tree branch anchored in a vase or pail. Try red twig dogwood, twisted willow, or Harry Lauder's Walking Stick branches. Decorate the branches with photos of loved ones, or cut-out paper, hand-written with grateful sentiments. Guests can add their own photos or statements, if they wish.