If big family celebrations aren't your thing and you're hosting a Friendsgiving dinner instead this year for Thanksgiving, you might be looking for some fun ideas for how to decorate the dinner table. We took inspiration from Friends, one of our favorite TV shows, and created a Friends-inspired table setting that's perfect for Friendsgiving dinner or any Friends party decor.

The perfect purple tablecloth

To set the table for any Friends-themed party, there must be some lavender to match the walls in Monica and Rachel's apartment. I found the perfect lavender table cloth in an incredibly washable polyester that was also resistant to wrinkles, making it great for a big dinner party.

DIY Friends frame placemat

We could not create a Friends-inspired table setting without including a replica of the yellow frame that appears on Monica and Rachel's apartment door. We thought it would make a great placemat, and I designed a pattern to make it easy to make several that look the same.

To make your own, you can download our Friends frame pattern, print out the four pages, and tape them together to create a pattern large enough for a placemat.

With pattern in hand, I used some carbon transfer paper to trace and transfer the design onto a piece of 1/4" MDF board. If you can't find 1/4" MDF, you can use any material you have that's thin, smooth, and sturdy. I only traced the inner and outer edges of the pattern at this point... the swirls will come later.

After tracing the pattern, I used my Ryobi jigsaw to cut out the shape, and then I lightly sanded any rough edges.

I sprayed the frame with a basecoat of white paint to seal the wood and also give it a bright background that will make the final color pop.

Then I sprayed the frame with a coat of Rust-Oleum 2X Ultra Cover in Sun Yellow for a glossy and bright finish.

When the paint was dry, it was time to add the inner swirls. I started by cutting off the edges of my frame pattern, which made it easy to match it perfectly to the frame underneath.

Then I used more transfer paper to trace and transfer the swirls onto the surface of the yellow frame.

Finally, I used a liner brush and some Americana Multi-Surface in Goldenrod to paint over the lines and add the needed detail to the frame.

Friends couch napkin ring

We wanted to incorporate the Central Perk couch into the table setting somehow, and struck gold when we found this charming little Hallmark Friends Central Perk couch ornament. It was just the right size to turn into a napkin ring.

After bending the ornament hook down and out of the way, I printed little cards with the guests' names on them, and cut them to the right size to cover up the Central Perk sign exactly. Then I attached them with some double-sided tape, making them into place cards as well as napkin rings.

Then I hot glued a loop of elastic to the back of the ornament for the napkin to go through.

I fan-folded the napkin and tucked it through the loop, and voila! An easy custom napkin ring from a Christmas ornament!

By the way, those napkins are made from a custom Friends quote word art fabric pattern that we designed that's available on Spoonflower.

You can buy yardage to sew your own napkins (like we did) or you can have Spoonflower make napkins for you with this pattern. It's sheer perfection on the plate, don't you think?

Other Friends table decorations and accents

To round out the table setting, we found some fun little accents to add near the plates and down the middle of the table. Phoebe is well-represented by this little yellow taxi cab and Rachel and Ross's union is locked in with this toy "He's her lobster" lobster.

Coffee mugs are a must, and we found the perfect set of jumbo coffee mugs in colors that coordinate perfectly with the basic Friends colors.

The finished table setting

When it was all pulled together, our table had the perfect nod to Friends.

Our guests loved the setup and they could not stop reading the napkins and laughing at all the quotes during dinner!