I don't know about your family, but my Mom and Grandma have always been "all about" a "pretty looking table" on holidays. Not only do we use the good dishes and flatware but there's always some beautiful centerpiece involved as well. Even if you're using your normal, everyday plates on Thanksgiving, you can still spruce up your table with a centerpiece!

In fact, it could be a tradition to start for years to come. You (and your family) can make a centerpiece for your child's family and they could make one for you. That way, even if you can't be together on Thanksgiving, you are still joined by something pretty in the center of your dining room table.

Need some ideas to get started?

Well, if you're all a bunch of adults (or the children are too young to make anything) go the more traditional route and send a floral arrangement. (Don't do this if anyone is allergic to flowers!) With the many floral delivery places available on the internet, it should be easy to find one in your price range. I encourage you to have it delivered one to two days before their scheduled Thanksgiving meal so that you won't miss it! (By the way, this is my favorite. Oh, stunning!)

What says Thanksgiving more than a cornucopia? Nothing! Go to your local craft store and find an inexpensive cornucopia and let your child pick out the fall colored vegetables, leaves and flower that he would like to include. Help him arrange the contents with glue or your normal flower foam block inside. Or, if you want to pass the fun on, simply purchase the contents you think would look the best and ship them off with a note to your relinquished child's family telling them to arrange it how they think looks best!

If a centerpiece seems to be too much of a hassle to create and mail, consider making place mats with leaves (and then laminating them!). You'll need to find out how many people will be attending their holiday dinner so that no one is left out, of course. I don't know about you but our leaves are almost all dead and gone so if you want to go this route, you might want to get outside immediately and gather up those leaves!

The point is to share Thanksgiving with one another even though you can't be together. So don't forget to take pictures and say a note of thanks for the beauty on your table before you begin your meal.

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For more on Creating Traditions, read:

1. Recipe Exchange.

2. Sending a Boo-tastic Treat.

3. Opposing Football Teams.

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Photo Credit.