EAST BAY - Make no mistake: Christmas doesn't have the only claim to fame when it comes to holiday decorations — Thanksgiving can be just as bold and beautiful.

Think of the autumn color palette: Deep reds, bold golds, burnt oranges, velvety browns. These hues are homey and cozy and lush, making you want to snuggle in sweaters, take long walks through the leaves and decorate your home with things like pumpkin-spiced candles, cinnamon-scented potpourri and baskets full of interesting-shaped gourds.

And while all of fall makes a great backdrop for home decor, Thanksgiving is hands down the best. The best part of it all is that you can make a lot of the decorations yourself, like the ones described here. Some are basic ideas, while a few are explicit instructions. The only requirement is that you have fun making them.

So even though stores are already playing Christmas music, have their holiday decorations on display and are pushing you to buy presents, take a step back and remember that it's Thanksgiving.

Do-it-yourself decorations

n Make a table runner out of velvet in browns, golds or burnt orange. Use several rubber stamps in fruit and nut themes to emboss the runner. To emboss, place stamp right side up and place pile side of velvet over it. Press gently with a warm iron on wrong side of fabric to crush the design into the fabric.

n For a quick and easy decorative accent with essentially NO work, buy a few pillar candles in one color and place on silk fall foliage leaves. Group candles in staggering heights. If you like, toss a few nuts or miniature gourds around the base of the candles.

n Decorate the Thanksgiving buffet with plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit, berries and nuts placed decoratively in silver tureens, brass bowls or even baskets. This can also be done with artificial produce to last throughout the month.

n Start making a gratitude journal for your family to fill out. Decorate it with pressed autumn leaves and handmade papers. Allow everyone a chance to decorate their own page by having additional supplies handy on Thanksgiving day.

n Make garlands of nuts, berries and autumn leaves to hang or drape where you would normally put your Christmas garland.

n Buy large bundles of wheat and tie with 3" wide wire edged ribbon. Place one on each side of your fireplace mantle or Thanksgiving buffet.

n Make your own special placecards for everyone at your Thanksgiving table. A nice twist is to make small, foldable handmade cards with notes of why you are especially thankful for them. Tuck in small envelopes and decorate with pressed flowers, or emboss them with a Thanksgiving theme.

Easy projects

Candle and Flower
Centerpiece

This is the easiest — and one of the prettiest — centerpieces you'll ever make. You can find all of the materials at stores like Michael's Crafts, Target, Savers and HomeGoods.

What you need:

n A big fat candle in burnt orange or deep red

n Low candle stand to fit candle, made of a rustic material

n Silk flowers on wired stems, in reds, browns, creams, orange

What you do:

1. Place the candle on the holder.

2. Twist the flowers together so that form a garland.

3. Wrap the garland around base of candle, making sure to secure the ends tightly.

Apple Centerpiece

This clever Thanksgiving centerpiece sparkles with the season's brilliance.

What you need:

n Variety of apples

n Sharp knife

n Hydrogen peroxide

n Short taper candles

n Metallic-color chenille stems (pipecleaners work well, too)

n Scissors

n Ruler

* Colored beads

* Sequins

What you do:

1. Choose a variety of apples with fairly symmetrical shapes. Wash and dry the apples.

2. Using a knife, cut a hole in center of apple to remove core. Pour hydrogen peroxide into the hole to prevent the apple from turning brown; drain. Insert a candle into the hole.

3. Cut several chenille stems to lengths ranging from 6 to 10 inches long. String different colored beads and sequins onto the chenille stems. Curl the ends of the stems if desired. Insert the embellished stems into the apples around candles.

Cranberry Bobeches

Deep-red cranberries always lend a warm, festive touch to Thanksgiving.

What you need:

n Fresh cranberries

n Fine gold-colored craft wire

n A long nail

n Pillar candles

What you do:

String cranberries on fine gold craft wire to make dainty bobeches for candles. Twist the wire ends together, then wrap the excess wire around a long nail to make fine curls.

60-Second Veggie Centerpiece

This is such an easy arrangement and a great project to do with kids. Try to use a pedestal cake platter to give this centerpiece the height it deserves. Though this centerpiece is essentially just a mix of vegetables, the key to making it look controlled is to use enough of one vegetable as a base. You should have enough of this vegetable (such as romaine lettuce or radicchio) to cover the complete diameter of the platter. Besides the veggies, the only other item you'll need is toothpicks.

What you need:

n Variety of vegetables: orange, red, yellow, green peppers; mini-eggplant; radishes, etc.

n Toothpicks

n Pedestal cake platter (If you don't have one, you'll find inexpensive ones at stores like Target, Michael's Crafts or Savers)

What you do:

1. Layer the vegetables on the cake plate, starting with your base layer (Try romaine lettuce.)

2. Then move on to your second layer. (Try using sliced orange peppers for the second layer and then secure mini eggplants to the peppers with toothpicks.)

3. Once your first and second layers are complete, add more vegetables based on your color palette. (For this one here, try using radishes and mini peppers in different colors.)

4. You can also place branches, leaves or pinecones around the arrangement to enhance the theme of bounty and nature.

More difficult projects

Lacy Leaves

A pre-Thanksgiving trip to collect leaves to use as patterns is part of the appeal of this project. Scatter the graceful leaves around a pumpkin to create a seasonal centerpiece.

What you need:

n Real leaves (oak and maple leaves have wonderful shapes)

n Window screen (available by the foot at hardware stores); approximately 6 square inches for each leaf you wish to make

n Newspaper

n Gold spray paint

n White paper

n Permanent black marker

n Old scissors (cutting metal screening may dull your favorite scissors)

n Gold, copper, or bronze paint pen (often used for fabric painting; available at fabric, discount and crafts stores)

What you do:

1. Collect your favorite fall leaves. Pick shapes that have some cleanly formed edges.

2. Cut and paint the window screen. Cut the screen a little larger than the leaf. Lay the screen on some newspaper and spray the screen gold. Let it dry and paint it on the other side. Let the paint dry thoroughly.

3. Transfer leaf shape onto screen. Lay the leaf on the piece of white paper and put the painted window screen over the leaf. Draw around the leaf with the permanent marker. Add the veins of the leaf with marker.

4. Cut out the leaf shape using old scissors.

5. Use the paint pen to edge the leaf and trace over the veins. Let the paint dry. Bend the leaf slightly to make it look real.

Leaf Garland

With its bounty of fruit and vegetables, this garland is a perfect Thanksgiving complement to a mantel.

What you need:

n Small- and medium-sized tree branches

n Grapevines

n Medium-gauge wire and wire cutters

n Clusters of dried oak leaves

n Small gold ornaments

n Russet potatoes, oranges and pomegranates (as desired)

n Satin ribbon in desired color

What you do:

1. Clip branches and wire them together. Clip enough branches and vines to span your mantel, then firmly wire together. Add more branches to create an interesting framework, but take care that branches will not drape into an area where sparks from fire could reach.

2. Add accents. Wire clusters of dried oak leaves to major branches; add gold balls, russet potatoes, oranges, and pomegranates to the garland, as desired.

3. Add ribbon. Entwine ribbon throughout arrangement. You can attach short pieces at various points or thread long pieces throughout entire garland.

Crafty kids

Here are a couple of easy-to-do crafts ideas for the kids at Thanksgiving.

Leaf Suncatcher

What you need:

* Wax paper

* Fall leaves

* Newspaper

* Crayon shavings

* An iron

What you do:

1. Cover the work area with newspaper.

2. Have the kids sprinkle a small amount of crayon shavings onto a piece of wax paper. Arrange the leaves on top, then sprinkle more crayon shavings and cover with another piece of wax paper. Place a piece of newspaper on top and iron until the crayon shavings melt.

3. Trim it and hang it in the window.

Leaf, Twig & Flower Impressions

What you need:

* 1 cup cornstarch

* 2 cups baking soda

* 1 1/4 cups water

* A saucepan

* Waxed paper and objects from nature such as leaves, twigs and flowers

What you do:

1. In a saucepan, mix together 1 cup of cornstarch, 2 cups baking soda and 1 1/4 cups water. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Cool, then flatten the mixture between sheets of waxed paper.

2. Let the children lay leaves, twigs, flowers or any other natural object on top of the cornstarch mixture and press down firmly. Then have them remove the objects to see the detailed impressions they have made.

3. Kids can give these out as fun favors to Thanksgiving guests!

BY Amy E. Karlson

akarlson@eastbaynewspapers.com