Fall Harvest-to-Holiday Tabletops from Molly Wood

Lifestyle / November 11, 2016

Fall Harvest-to-Holiday Tabletops from Molly Wood

Click through for Molly’s DIY tips.

Start with the basics:

The perfect tabletop for your fall gatherings begins with an affordable and durable burlap runner. It provides an interesting textural ground for your tabletop arrangements and will hold up well to spills and candle wax. And, if it doesn’t, it’s easy to replace! Next, it’s time to layer in other elements that evoke the feeling of fall. Molly loves using branches, pods, greens and other natural pieces.

For a classic look, do this:

Molly recommends selecting pinecone garland, pussywillow branches, pheasant feathers and olive branches. Laying them on top of the runner and lengthwise along the table, stepping back to look at them and rearrange to please your eye.

For a classic look, do this:

Next, add in coconut pods (which can double as place card holders for guests), small rosemary topiaries in mercury glass vessels for a bit of sparkle and green, and elegant tapered candles in brass holders for richness and vertical elements to balance the horizontal lines of the tabletop.

For an organic look, do this:

Choose manzanita branches as your base. As with the classic look, Molly suggests laying them lengthwise along the table on top of the burlap runner and arranging them so that they please your eye and provide a beautiful frame for the other elements you’ll be adding.

For an organic look, do this:

Next, add in some eucalyptus leaves, strikingly structural star pods, geometric green hurricanes for candles, small succulents in lovely ceramic vessels, and white mini pumpkins.

To freshen your harvest tabletop for the winter holidays, do this:

Molly deliberately selects long-lasting natural elements for her tabletops so that they will look beautiful all season long. That said, it takes only minutes to take the harvest tabletop to winter holiday with a few easy switches (e.g., switching the white mini pumpkins for pomegranates or holiday balls or globes) and additions (battery operated LED lights, evergreen branches with red berries).

For the past two decades, landscape designer and style-maker Molly Wood has been creating beautiful garden and home environments throughout Orange County — and beyond! We recently attended one of Molly’s fun, hands-on workshops to learn more about how to assemble a beautiful, long-lasting tabletop arrangement that will make every day feel like a holiday this season.

Molly shared how to create a beautiful tabletop that transitions from fall’s family dinners to Thanksgiving celebrations. Turns out, from harvest to holiday is simple — thanks to Molly’s easy DIY tips! Start the slideshow for a closer look — plus a tour of her shop! And to purchase any product you see, click here.