There are a multitude of ideas for holiday centerpieces. Here are some we found fun and festive.

Get back to nature

• Take a trip to your favorite grocery store and you’ll find the ingredients for a wonderful fall centerpiece. Combine cornhusks, gourds and pumpkins in a wicker basket or beautiful glass bowl. Or, line a bowl with leaves letting the points of the leaves stick out beyond the bowl and arrange lemons and limes on top of the leaves. Add shiny ball ornaments.
• Put dried wheat (the symbol of abundance) in simple glass vases and add a few candles in your favorite colors.
• A popular centerpiece choice is a fresh fruit basket. The basket itself provides natural beauty and the fruit makes a nutritional snack that will compliment any meal.
• A walk in the woods or your backyard can yield lots of materials for your centerpiece. Twigs, berries, pine cones and vines. Let your imagination run wild! Vines running down the length of the table and mixed with the pine cones and berries will make a beautiful centerpiece that will cost you absolutely nothing!
• Display a colorful bouquet of flowers in a vase or basket. Whether they are real or silk, everyone will enjoy the color they’ll bring to the table.
• Make a festive topiary. Purchase a styrofoam cone at any craft store, an assortment of dried seedpods, pinecones, unshelled nuts and a clay pot. Paint the cone brown. Use a glue gun to arrange the dried materials around the cone, leaving as little space as possible between each piece. Display in a clay pot. You can also use ornaments or fruit for the topiary.

Light the stage

• You can’t go wrong with candles. Choose candles of different heights or use candleholders of different heights. Surround them with gold, sliver or colorful ornaments and add some greenery sprayed gold or silver. Arrange greens at the base of the candleholders for texture.
• Place a holiday wreath in the center of the table and place several large pillar candles in the center of the wreath. Or, use pinecones or colorful ornaments. Add battery operated lights to the wreath for a warm glow.
• Beautiful white pillar candles of varying heights surrounded by holiday greenery will give your table a touch of simplicity and elegance.

Feature Your Favorites

• Showcase one beautiful figurine on the table. Look around your house for a special object. Place a tray or table runner on the table; arrange greens on top, spreading them out from the center. Place your found object in the center and surround it with colorful ornaments, bows or garland.
• Use some favorite candleholders for your centerpiece and top them with colorful ornaments. A variety of silver candleholders with just one color ornament on top will create a sophisticated look. Or use a mix of silver and glass candleholders.

Combine Form & Function

• Use baskets filled with bread, desserts or flowers. Decorate with ribbon and place colorful fabric under each basket.
• Party hats and noisemakers will make a colorful, festive centerpiece. Arrange them along the top of the table and surround with glitter and curly ribbon.
• A holiday cake makes an unusual centerpiece. Surround the cake with balloons, sparklers and other fun stuff.
• Create a simple centerpiece by using colorfully wrapped packages in a variety of sizes. Surround them with holiday greenery and ornaments. For fun, tie a ribbon to each gift and attach it to a specific place setting. Your guests will follow the ribbon to the gift that's especially for them. Pile the boxes in the center of the table or spread them out along the top of the table.

And don’t forget the kids’ table.

If you are having a separate table for the kids, decorate it either in the same way you decorate the adult table or have the children help make a centerpiece and maybe even name cards. This will make them feel special and a part of the festivities. Just be sure to keep the centerpiece child-friendly.

So help set the mood this holiday season with a centerpiece that’s fun, elegant, aromatic, glowing, or colorful. Whatever style you choose it’s bound to be the center of it all!