Setting a Pretty Table

I love a pretty table setting, and I suspect I'm not alone. There's a reason all those sell-your-house shows on HGTV always staged with a set table - it makes it easy to imagine yourself having a big dinner like Thanksgiving, with all your extended family invited and a plethora of food.

That said, I'm not very good at actually creating those settings for everyday. Sure, we've got nice dishes (I love Villeroy & Boch) and matching napkins (which are always wrinkled because who irons napkins every week?) and sometimes even flowers sitting on the table. But during the week with a 7-year-old and a business to run, who has time? Getting everything on the table is more the goal, not making it look good.

But this year, I'm looking forward to Doing Things Right for Thanksgiving. It's going to be just a small family affair, but we've already got the turkey and we're planning on a peanut butter pie (yum!). I'm going to pull out the good dishes, and I might even iron the napkins! I will include some Maple Sugar lollipops as part of the place setting though. I'm not sure yet if I'll put them on the plates or maybe at the top of them, but their warm brown color and toasty labels will complement the fall table colors perfectly.