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How to Decorate for Fall and Christmas Before Thanksgiving

Have you ever wanted to start decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving but don’t want to give up fall? Now you can! Embrace the festive spirit early with these simple tips on blending fall and Christmas decor seamlessly.

When it comes to holiday decorating there are those that decorate before Thanksgiving and those that wait until after.

Which side are you on?

I typically wait until after because I host Thanksgiving and want to maintain that cozy fall vibe for my guests.

But lately, I’ve been wanting to get a jump on Christmas decorating before Thanksgiving because there’s so much to do.

However, I also like to follow nature and what’s happening outside when decorating inside so I’m not always ready to give up my fall foliage to add winter holiday decor.

Since I want to start decorating sooner, how can I balance the two so I don’t leave ALL of my decorating until the day after Thanksgiving?

If you want to decorate your home for the holidays a little sooner than Thanksgiving too, here’s how to do it.

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fall front porch decor on 1850 farmhouse with cottage garden

Is November 1st Too Early to Decorate for Christmas?

Ummmm…no.

There are diehard Christmas decorators who will start before Halloween. Now I’m not in favor of doing that per se, but the point is, you can decorate for Christmas whenever you want!

However, I do suggest doing it in such a way, that you blend your decor for Thanksgiving and Christmas and consider it more of a transition between the two holidays.

It’s your home and you can decorate whenever and however you want. And if you decide to leave a Christmas tree up all year round, I say do it.

5 Really Good Reasons to Decorate for Christmas Before Thanksgiving

If you aren’t sure whether it’s OK to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, let me assure you, there are great reasons to just go for it.

  • Extended Holiday Joy: One of the most significant advantages of decorating before Thanksgiving is that it extends the holiday season’s joy. Why limit the festive atmosphere to just a few weeks when you can enjoy it for a couple of months? Starting early allows you to savor the holiday spirit just a bit longer.
  • Reduced Stress: Waiting until the last minute to decorate can lead to more holiday stress. By getting your Christmas decorations up early, you’ll have more time to enjoy the season without the added pressure of rushing to get everything done in December. To me, that’s reason enough!
  • Creative Freedom: Decorating early gives you the freedom to explore unique and creative ideas for your home. You can plan your holiday decor meticulously, try out different themes, and even make some DIY decorations without feeling rushed.
  • Christmas Decor Backdrop: Since I host Thanksgiving, guests LOVE to get pics in front of the Christmas tree to use for this year’s Christmas cards.
  • Inspiring Fall Transition: When done right, decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving can seamlessly blend fall and winter aesthetics. This transition allows you to enjoy the beauty of both seasons and creates a warm and inviting atmosphere in your home. I’m sharing more about how to do this below!
dining room decorated for fall with crystal chandelier and neutral pumpkin centerpiece
Neutral Fall Table Decorations

7 Quick Tips for Decorating for Christmas Before Thanksgiving

If you want to deck the halls before the Turkey, there’s no reason you can’t do it! Here are some quick tips to get you started.

  • Think Neutrals: Go with a cozy warm neutral while toning down the glitz is a great way to blend Thanksgiving and Christmas.
  • Start with the Tree: If you’re eager to put up the tree, I say do it! Opt for a neutral or autumn-themed tree skirt and add ornaments in an autumn color palette like gold, bronze, or rusty red. Then gradually swap them out for Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving.
  • Wreaths and Garlands: Hang fall-inspired wreaths and garlands featuring colorful leaves, pinecones, and berries. Keep the glitz and glamour off the tree until after Thanksgiving. Then add small Christmas elements like mini ornaments or lights to gradually transition to a full-fledged Christmas look.
  • Dual-Purpose Decor: Invest in decor that can serve for both fall and Christmas. For example, decorative lanterns, cozy throw blankets, and pillows can easily transition into the holiday season with the addition of some festive accents.
  • Table Setting Magic: Create an elegant Thanksgiving table setting with a neutral color palette and rustic elements. As you get closer to Christmas, incorporate more reds, greens, and metallics to transform your table into a festive holiday spread.
  • Outdoor Lighting: Start by adorning your outdoor spaces with fall-themed lighting like warm string lights and lanterns. As the weeks go by, add more Christmas lights and decorations to make your home shine throughout the holiday season.
  • Advent Calendar: Start an Advent wreath or calendar tradition a little earlier this year. You can craft or purchase one that blends fall and Christmas elements to help your family count down to both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
front entry hall foyer with christmas garland decorated with neutrals and vintage decor
Christmas Decor in the foyer before Thanksgiving

Decorating for Thanksgiving and Christmas doesn’t mean skipping the essence of fall. Instead, it allows you to enjoy the best of both worlds, celebrating the warmth and gratitude of Thanksgiving while embracing the festive charm of Christmas.

And in my opinion, there’s room for both. Last year I put up my flocked Christmas tree before Thanksgiving and decorated it with an autumn vibe.

I included foliage picks, warm neutral ornaments, and tucked in lots of gold and it looked great for Thanksgiving!

Since it was flocked I thought some family members might shake their head and laugh because it seemed a little early for snow here in my gardening zone 6a, but you know what?

They were all taking pictures in front of it getting this year’s Christmas card photo! So, believe me, it’s OK to decorate early.

Even if you are hosting Thanksgiving.

flocked christmas tree in vintage farmhouse with painted inlay wood floors decorated with a neutral color palette with ribbon, ornaments, and a garden style touch
Flocked Christmas Tree in Foyer

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front entry hall christmas tree 2023

Decorating for Thanksgiving and Christmas: Create a Transitional Theme

The first year, I decorated for fall and Christmas, I infused the two creating a transitional theme I’m calling “Fristmas.” 

Fristmas is that time of the year when you want to decorate for the holidays but want to keep fall around for a little bit longer.

So it is perfect for those years when Thanksgiving arrives in late November but you want to hit the ground running with your holiday decor.

Blending both means we can decorate earlier while still keeping the fall vibe going through Thanksgiving.

The best way to achieve this is to tone down the autumn color palette and fall colors while adding winter greens and other natural, textured neutral elements to your decor.

Then after Thanksgiving, the neutral fall items get swapped out for some Christmas glam.

decorating for fall and christmas before thanksgiving transitional table decor theme with evergreens, gold pumpkins and neutral textures.
Blending neutral and natural elements of both seasons is the perfect solution to decorating before Thanksgiving without losing that fall vibe.

Decorating for the holidays will go much quicker this way and we can have the best of both worlds through Thanksgiving. It’s a win-win!

So here’s what I do to decorate my home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas at the same time.

I gather all of my fall bins and started putting away any pumpkins or faux florals that are orange or rust-colored.

Anything that is green, white, or neutral, I am kept out.

I pulled out my winter greenery bins – not my holiday stuff – just the greens and natural elements.

This includes pinecones, evergreen branches, small trees, white berry sprigs, and anything else that would work with a Christmas before Thanksgiving transitional theme.

Oh, and you can add some white twinkle lights too. Cozy battery-operated candles and twinkle lights are a must to create a warm, festive glow.

Gold pumpkins on dinner plates with gold napkins, cedar branch placemat chargers and vintage toolbox with textured neutrals of winter greens and gold pumpkins to decorate for fall and christmas before thanksgiiviing -Thanksgiving Table Decor
How gorgeous is this vintage wooden toolbox?

How to Decorate for Thanksgiving and Christmas with a Transitional Theme

If you are hosting Thanksgiving, it all comes down to the table decor. Set a beautiful table with a gorgeous centerpiece and you’ve got a theme.

For this Christmas before Thanksgiving theme table, I designed a beautiful centerpiece that turned out amazing! It was the perfect blend of fall and holiday all in one.

Here’s how I did it.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Transitional Theme Centerpiece Idea for the Dining Table

While thrifting in Vermont, I found this cool vintage toolbox. From the the moment I saw this toolbox, I knew it would be perfect to house a centerpiece on my dining room table for Thanksgiving.

I immediately envisioned small evergreen trees, greens, gold pumpkins, pinecones, and fairy lights stuffed inside. So that’s the look I went for when making this dining table centerpiece.

Won’t that look so pretty?

Because I don’t want autumnal colors in this arrangement, I painted some pumpkins gold. Gold is glitzy enough for winter decor, yet still looks like a neutral fall so you can get away with it.

I saved myself a trip to the craft store because I had two faux pumpkins laying around that I did not mind painting.

orange pumpkins before painting
gold pumpkins and orange pumpkins waiting to be painted on newspaper

I had gold chalk paint on hand so I applied two coats of paint on each. After they were dry, I added a coat of clear wax to protect the color.

While painting these, I remembered having some real pumpkins that I didn’t need anymore from another area in my home.

So instead of throwing them out, I painted them to use at each place setting.

Don’t they look so cute? I kind of like them all gold and may need to do this moving forward!

pumpkins painted gold to decorate for fall and christmas before thanksgiving

Once the pumpkins were dry, I started designing my Thanksgiving toolbox centerpiece. I started with three small evergreen trees then tucked in the two larger gold pumpkins.

As filler, I then added faux evergreen sprigs, pinecones, and a few small gold pumpkins.

When finished, I wrapped battery operated fairy lights around the toolbox handle and winter greens.

blending fall and christmas before thanksgiving  with neutral table decor, gold pumpkins and winter greens -How to Decorate for Fall and Christmas Before Thanksgiving

Setting the Table for a Thanksgiving and Christmas Transitional Theme

For each table setting, I started with my favorite cedar branch placemat. If you can’t find them, you can also try using a small boxwood wreath.

On top, I added this gorgeous antique melamine charger, then topped it off with a Lenox dinner plate, gold napkin, Lenox salad plate, and small gold pumpkins.

I pretty much used what I had in terms of dinnerware, but you can use whatever you want. If you have fine china, use that. And if you have casual dinnerware, that’s fine to use too. Use whatever you have that is budget-friendly and simple to assemble.

Oh, and I added place cards that were attached to the small gold pumpkins. But I forgot to snag a pic of that – sorry!

But doesn’t it look so pretty?

I love the dining room table centerpiece, don’t you?

blending fall and christmas before thanksgiving with neutral textures, winter greens, and gold pumpkins in vintage toolbox dining table centerpieceHow to Blend Fall with Christmas to Decorate Before Thanksgiving
Decorating for fall and Christmas -How to Blend Fall With Christmas to Decorate Before Thanksgiving with pinecones, gold pumpkins and winter greens
I love the gold pumpkins mixed in with my winter decor! After Thanksgiving, I will swap these out and add some Christmas decor.

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decorating for christmas before thanskgiving ideas

More About Decorating for Christmas Before Thanksgiving

Do you decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving or wait? Do you have any decorating tips you’d like to share? I would love to know more in the comments below.

And don’t miss joining my Gardening DIY and Decorating Community on Facebook for more chatter. And follow along there and on Instagram as well. There are behind-the-scenes daily things that I share on Instagram that don’t make it to the blog. Would love to see you there too!

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rudbeckia flowers and pumpkins on front porch

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More Thanksgiving Ideas

If you are looking for more Thanksgiving Day ideas and inspiration, check out these posts.

From hosting gifts to table decor, food, and menu ideas, I’ve got you covered.

Gorgeous vintage toolbox centerpiece decorated for fall with faux flowers in farmhouse dining room with black china cabinet and hutch with farmhouse table -Simple Fall Table Decor and Thanksgiving Food Ideas

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hanging basket of winter greens on the porch

Looking For More Christmas Decorating Ideas?

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Wait until you see these holiday decorating, entertaining, and food ideas to create a cozy home for Christmas.

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how to decorate for christmas before thanksgiving
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Sneak Peak of My Fireplace Mantel

So I just started decorating my mantel and incorporated some gold pumpkins with my winter greens.

I’m giving you a little sneak peek because my fireplace decor is not completely done yet.

But I wanted to show you where it is going in case you want to try a transitional theme too.

For the greens, I bought a gorgeous faux garland, tucked in a few extra branches, added two small trees, five oversized pine cones, white berry sprigs, gold pumpkins, and fairy lights.

cozy night in front of roaring fire with transitional decor theme blending fall and christmas -How to Blend Fall with Christmas to Decorate Before Thanksgiving
It’s a Wonderful Life.

What do you think so far?

I love how cozy and natural it feels!

When we are done hosting Thanksgiving, I’ll swap out all of the gold pumpkin decor for holiday glitz.

The change will be quick and simple. I am also starting to work on my stair garland but will keep it to simple greens and lights until after Thanksgiving.

What Do You Think?

While I was playing around with different tablescapes, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to decorate my Thanksgiving table this year. I am really glad that thrifty vintage find inspired me because I love my Fristmas theme!

While I’ve been using that vintage metal planter centerpiece you’ve seen in my blogs lately, I wanted to change it up this Thanksgiving and do something different.

That vintage toolbox looks so cool with the small trees and gold pumpkins – I may need to replicate this one next year!

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8 Comments

  1. I have my house decorated for Halloween (cute stuff), then I’ll do Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I still have my Christmas tree up but just decorated for each holiday!

      1. Stacy ,Love your addition of gold pumpkins,twinkle lights and evergreens to move into Christmas from Autumn. I love our house in the fall and leave my autumn look until Dec 1st. Now that my husband and I are retired we have plenty of time for decorating for Christmas and have fun doing it. But I love to get early new ideas from bloggers.
        For the last 2 yrs I put just white lights on my full size tree and put it
        in the formal livingroom with a pretty skirt and put the presents under it. A table top tree is decorated in the familyroom with a color and theme depending on my mood. Not decided yet but leaning toward bronze and brass with lots of greenery, little lights and the accent color being red. Haven’t used red in quite a few years and am looking forward to it. Got a large new sectional in a light oatmeal shade and it makes changing up my seasonal decor easy.

  2. I always love decorating for Christmas early and try to mix the two seasons together through November. Great decorating tips Stacy.