thanksgiving placecards

every year, i get martha's (yes, i'd like to think we're on a first-name basis) thanksgiving issue and pine over all the tablescapes and flowers and centerpieces, etc.  we've never had the opportunity to really put the effort into it because we always do thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's house.  this year, my sister, brother-in-law and nephew will be here, and my parents are hosting just the immediately family.  woohoo!  the martha comes out - except i can't find where i got this idea, so i'm just going to say martha inspired me...  

apparently, all mini pumpkins (the flat, not round ones) disappear the week thanksgiving hits.  which i don't totally get, but i also don't understand why christmas songs start happening the day after halloween.  i digress.  so after hitting whole foods, walmart, michaels, i finally found ones that are just ok at hen house.  they're the smallest 'pumpkin pie' pumpkins i could dig out of the bin.  i bought a couple cans of different colored spray paint, and molly and i decided we liked the copper one better than the champagne.  we wrapped the stems with tape to keep them au naturel, put on our coats, and braved the 35 degree weather to spruce them up!

 

 action shot

then for the placecards, i used gold ink, a paper source stamp, and a gold pen for our names.  we rounded the corners, poked a hole, and ran some sheer brown ribbon through.  

 voila!