With good food, great company, and a festive table, Thanksgiving often tops the charts as one of the best holidays of the year. With only a week left until Turkey Day, how are you planning to make your dinner special and festive? Whether it’s colorful floral pieces and seasonal potpourri or simple pumpkins and lit candles, your beautifully roasted turkey and signature dressing deserve the last perfect touch.

Rely on your personal style to bring out your favorite Thanksgiving table design. From formal to modern to country chic, there are numerous ways to incorporate local farmer’s market flowers to make your table pop. Use bright sunflowers, wheat, and cattails to set the mood for a natural fall harvest. Got a set color scheme with your table cloths and napkins? Pair them with complementary roses and soft baby’s breath for a simple yet elegant floral centerpiece.

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to dress up your table, lit candles will instantly warm up any room’s atmosphere. You can add luster on a budget, and you can maximize the impact by repeating or grouping elements. Instead of one huge centerpiece, complete the look by adding pieces in glass containers. Fill them with gorgeous cranberries, dark pinecones, fresh nuts or anything that will complement the other decorative elements you have in mind. Stagger them down your table and voila! In just a few minutes, your lonely candles will becomes pieces of art.

What kinds of decorative touches will you be adding this year?

Looking for new ways to incorporate the flavor of fruits, veggies, herbs, and even edible flowers into your favorite cocktails? Infused vodkas lend flavor to the spirit right out of the bottle, making straight vodka drinks more interesting and adding subtle undercurrents of taste to mixed beverages.

The Process:

Choose the type and amount of vodka you want to infuse. Select a brand that could be drinkable on its own but isn’t so expensive that you won’t feel comfortable experimenting–there’s no reason to pay extra for a premium brand when you’re about to change its basic flavor!  Any quantity of vodka will do, though you may want to start with a small amount on your first attempt, or when you’re trying a new or adventurous ingredient.

Choose your ingredient for infusion. Fruits, vegetables, herbs, berries: anything is possible. One Russian restaurant in New York City sells vodkas infused with tarragon, pepper, ginger, dill, oregano, and horseradish, in addition to more obvious infusions like cranberry, peach, and vanilla. Lavender, rosemary, thyme? Yes, please!

Seal your ingredient(s) with the vodka in an airtight container, refrigerate, and let sit. Sample periodically–when you’ve reached the right strength of flavor, remove the ingredients with a strainer, label the bottle, and you’re done!

Enjoy! Drink these vodkas straight, on the rocks or with soda water, or use them to form the basis of a superior cocktail (imagine a bloody mary made with horseradish vodka, or tea-infused vodka with sweet southern tea). The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Image via RealSimple.com

Living in a big city, the ideal kitchen is often hard to come by.  Luckily, there are beautiful accessories that can instantly infuse any space with color and charm. From hand-painted measuring cups to a pretty pitcher (that can hold anything from pink lemonade to fresh flowers), you’re sure to impress any guest with this selection of botanical-inspired wares.

Images clockwise from upper left: Painted Amaryllis Measuring Cups, Painted Amaryllis Spoon Rest, Orange Floral American Chopper custom mixer, Iznik Pitcher, Blue Floral Cake Stand, Fluted Flower Baking Cups, Orange Flower Oven Mitt