In honor of Thanksgiving, today’s tablescape features two all-American household items, penny rugs and ball jars.

Penny rugs are a decorative art made by appliqueing round cloth medallions onto another piece of cloth in a pattern. As with many fabric crafts, penny rugs were first made when materials were scarce, as they were during Civil War times. Small scraps of wool and felt were attached to a rough fabric such as burlap or felt using a blanket stitch to make a table runner or mat; they were too delicate to actually use as rugs. Continue reading →