How to Style a Thanksgiving Dough Bowl Centerpiece in Minutes

Inside: Create an easy DIY Thanksgiving dough bowl centerpiece using faux pumpkins, hydrangeas, greenery, and natural accents. This simple tutorial shows how to style a Thanksgiving table centerpiece in a burgundy, green, and white color palette—a fresh, elegant, and on-trend look that works for both modern and traditional fall decor!

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Getting everything done when you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner is A LOT.

With all the work that goes into it, we want that meal to feel extra special. So a few minutes spent on a beautiful centerpiece is a must to elevate your everyday dining table decor. This simple idea doesn’t take long (and it can be done ahead of time)!

The centerpiece secret? A dough bowl. It’s the perfect mix of rustic charm and timeless style.

1. Choose a Color Palette.

I went with a nontraditional fall color scheme this year, without the expected orange and yellow hues. Burgundy is back from the nineties in a big way and I’m here for it. Pairing it with green and white looks so fresh for fall!

You can see my all of my fall decor using these colors in the post “Fall Decorating Ideas With Moody Colors + My New House Tour“.

2. Start the Centerpiece with a Large Dough Bowl.

A wooden dough bowl makes the perfect centerpiece foundation, adding a rustic elegant touch to the dining room table. Even better, it keeps the decor low profile so people can still see each other across the table.

If you don’t already own one, you can easily find new dough bowls at craft stores or online, or you can hunt for an antique dough bowl treasure at a local antique store or thrift store. The vintage bowls can be quite pricey, but are so gorgeous. Many of these antiques are a deeper bowl style, and not as much like a tray like I’m using.

I acquired this new extra long large bowl on of my trips to Round Top, and it has been put to use many times! I think this shallow, more affordable version works better for centerpiece purposes than the deep vintage wooden bowls because it keeps everything low and out of the way.

3. Lay in a Base of Faux Greenery Stems.

Next, I took two large faux magnolia stems with a dried fall look and laid them across the bottom of the bowl, overhanging each end a bit. Since I was able to stick everything else into this base to keep it into place, no floral foam is even necessary—so easy!

At this point, I also added a couple of large picks of faux dried pods so their long stems would be covered in the end.

SH&H Tip: My magnolia “stems” are really fall candle wreaths from Hobby Lobby that I straightened out!

4. Layer in Faux Florals.

Here’s where the color palette comes together…

I tucked in white hydrangeas, burgundy hydrangeas, and dried limelight hydrangeas (in the perfect soft green shade💚), spacing them all out to create balance. I think I’ve used these white real touch hydrangeas for every season.

A few picks of burgundy leaves in that gorgeous merlot color:

And a few sprigs of green eucalyptus brought in more green and different texture for visual interest:

5. Finish with Pumpkins (and Plums).

White pumpkins added the perfect fall touch and contrast to the centerpiece.

I used faux pumpkins in different sizes, from smaller pumpkins to slightly larger ones, and nestled them into the dough bowl. My center pumpkin got the extra special touch of a real stem.

And a few faux plums made for the prettiest muted purpley wine-colored natural accent.

6. Bring the Color Theme to the Table Settings.

The Thanksgiving centerpiece was complete at this point. I filled in each side with a set of gold candlesticks (similar)—because every Thanksgiving dinner should be eaten with candlelight:

Then I brought the burgundy and green color scheme to the Thanksgiving place settings.

Then I carried the burgundy and green color theme into the place settings:

• Green velvet napkins
• A sprig of dried purple eucalyptus
• A printed vellum tag with words like Thankful, Gratitude, Blessed, Family, Friends, and Gather—a reminder of what the day is really about.

How do I change up this dough bowl centerpiece for each season?

Using this technique makes it easy to create a beautiful dough bowl centerpiece for every season!

Here are a few filler ideas of decorative items to get you started:

For Fall: Mini pumpkins and Gourds; Pinecones; Acorns; Nuts; Dried Leaves; Cinnamon Sticks; Fall Florals (Mums, Dried Hydrangeas, Wheat); Faux Apples and Pears; Feathers

For the Holidays: Ball Ornaments; Ribbon Curls; Pine Cones; Winter Greenery; Dried Orange Slices; Faux Cranberries; Santa or Angel; Fairy Lights

For Winter: Winter Greenery; Pinecones: Birch Logs, Twigs, or Slices; Antlers; Cotton Stems; Wood Beads or Garland; Wool Balls

For Spring: Lemons; Spring Floral Branches; Spring Faux Flowers (Tulips, Daffodils, Lavender, Peonies, Ranunculus), Nests; Faux Herbs

For Easter: Easter Eggs; Bunnies or Chicks; Moss; Spring Blossoms; Ribbon in Pastel Shades

For Summer: Moss Balls or Wicker Balls; Coastal Items (Shells, Driftwood, Sand Dollars, Coral); Evergreen Leaves; Succulents; Summer Faux Flowers (Hydrangeas, Sunflowers); Citrus Fruits

Remember, these wooden dough bowl decorating ideas aren’t just for the dining table. The buffet table, coffee table, kitchen countertop, console table, or entryway table are all perfect places for narrow decor like a dough bowl.

Styling a Thanksgiving centerpiece doesn’t have to be complicated. With a few faux pumpkins, floral stems, and natural elements and a few minutes you can have a beautiful focal point on your Thanksgiving table.

If you create your own DIY dough bowl centerpiece inspired by this post, please share a photo and tag @southernhomeandhospitalityblog on Instagram so that we can all enjoy, and I can share your inspiration in my stories!

Wishing you many things to be grateful for this Thanksgiving,

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