Photo by Eric Keith / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Table top decorations at Jamie's Secret Garden in St. Joseph, MO

Thanksgiving has become a lost holiday in the season of decorating. It tends to get missed in the fanfare of the more flamboyant holidays of Halloween and Christmas. As soon as the goblins come down, Santa goes up, and Thanksgiving is lucky to get a turkey on the table.

But that’s not the case for Sherry Trout, owner of Keeping Good Company, and Jamie Buczek, owner of Jamie’s Secret Garden. Thanksgiving is a time they like to go all out, especially when it comes to dressing up the dinner table.

“I think it’s one of the better holidays for dressing up the table,” Ms. Trout says. “That’s because Thanksgiving is more about family and food and gathering together than gifts.”

“It’s the art of hospitality,” Ms. Buczek adds. “Making people feel special and appreciated.”

And there is much more you can do than stuff a cornucopia.

The women will have two of the 25 decorated tabletops at Sensational Settings, a showcase of decorative tabletops and a fundraiser for the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art. Ms. Trout gave hers a rustic look, starting with a gold and black “Dot” patterned pottery (which would also be great for University of Missouri fans). She made clever and inexpensive napkin rings using large acorns from Hobby Lobby attached to black raffia. For a “wow” factor, she used two 20-inch hand-blown hurricane glasses. They have a coated, black metal insert in the middle where you can either put a candle or other decorative items. “We love them,” she says. “You can do so many things with them.”

For this table, she filled them with acorns, pinecones and autumn fruit.

A pine garland and wooden twig runner ties it all together. A wooden deer and tiny “cheddar mice” add whimsey.

Ms. Buczek uses autumn fairies to create a table that’s anything but dull.

Her table is a multi-layer affair, starting with a mocha brown table cloth and topped with a moss-colored tapestry. The dishes are a mixed variety, beginning with a metal leaf tray, followed by an ironstone charger, a brown reproduction 18th century Transferware, salad and dessert plates and an acorn tureen. Green linen napkins are folded like a pocket for the silverware and wrapped with autumn berries, a touch that would be perfect for a buffet.

“You only need to pick up one item instead of four,” she says.

Above it all are the glittering fairies, suspended by garlands of feathery green sprengeri and locust leaf around a gold smoked chandelier with sparkling prisms.

“There are no rules,” she says. “It’s really about being creative and having fun.”

Bring back Thanksgiving at your home and get many more tabletop ideas for the rest of the year at Sensational Settings Sept. 25 and 26.

See the Sensational Settings

5 to 8 p.m., Sept. 25: Girl’s Night Out preview party, $30 per person (reservations required) 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 26: $15 per person or $30 with lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art at 233-7003 for more information and reservations

Lifestyles reporter Sylvia Anderson may be reached at sylviaanderson@npgco.com