Now what about centerpiece? I like this idea on About.com. Just has some greens and Fall leaves, candles…well, take a look: The Centerpiece, It's one where you can just remove fall leaves and replace with berries for Christmas. Saving time is what it's all about. Put up some wreaths on doors and over mantle. A simple grape vine with dried flowers in fall tones is nice. Use some wire ribbon to make a bow.

Put up plain candlesticks with fall colored candles and don't forget whole theme of Thanksgiving is giving thanks for our bounty. Use displays of fruit and gourds, pumpkins and mums. Get out an old watering can and fill it with leaves to place on porch, any old galvanized buckets? Put wheat or tall dried grass display in your bucket. Don't forget grapes. Take a nice glass pedestal compote and cascade different varieties.

If you have a garden, pile day's garden harvest into a wheel barrow at back door.

Just remember …you don't have to use all these ideas. You don't want to have to take all this down to prepare for Christmas that's just around corner. Complete Thanksgiving Menu and Recipes by Lorrie Ann Danner Copyright 2004 Caroline Shaw

• On small cards or paper, write down following categories on each paper: person, day, place, experience, food, item Go around table and have each person draw out a card. Then that person tells of something they are grateful for from that category and why they are grateful for it.

• On Thanksgiving Day hang a piece of posterboard where it will be accessible to everyone. Have everyone in your family write things on it that they are thankful for. See how many you can come up with by end of day. (Or write these on a roll of cash register receipt paper and tape it up around room.)

• Have thank-you notes and stationary readily available to everyone in your home on Thanksgiving day. Encourage your family to write a letter or thank-you note to someone they are thankful for: a teacher, a grandparent, a friend.

• Invite a new family in your neighborhood or a lonely person to dinner

• Go to a homeless shelter to help cook and serve Thanksgiving dinner

• Gather food to take to a local food bank