Sunday, December 8, 2013

Thanksgiving, Dollar Tree and Cost Effective Decorations



I have pinned so many things for decorating for Thanksgiving. I am a bit obsessed with Pinterest, and I am sure some of you know what I mean.  I shop thrift stores year round for different items. All the candle globes came from the Goodwill, Salvation Army and Dollar Tree. I paid less than $1.00 each for them.

Happy Thanksgiving Banner


Material List

Twine
Scissors
Hot Glue
Burlap or Linen
Letters
Leaves
Safety Pins



I picked up the leaves and paper letters from the Dollar Store, I've had the twine on hand for a couple of years.



Paper Letters. There are 3 of each letter so I had enough to do one Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.







I'm a lucky girl, the town I live in has a fabric ware house called Phoenix Fabrics, they are open once a month to the public. It is an amazing warehouse full of every possible fabric. I picked up a scrap of linen several months ago for less than $3.00. I was thinking of making a runner for the dining room table, but that project never happened. LOL!

Disclaimer: I didn't take photos of each step, but it really is pretty simple.

First, I made the streamer to hold the linen flags. I made it long enough with little swag. I made 2 of these on for Happy and the other Thanksgiving.

I didn't measure out how far apart the leaves were, I just randomly hot glued them to the twine.



Flags

I made a template from a brown paper bag, laid it on the linen and then cut out my flags. They are roughly 4" wide at the top. They are not perfectly straight (this was a little difficult for my OCD to swallow) But my creative side, "ohhh that looks so good!" LOL 


I hot glued my letters simply because I was out of Tacky Glue. It worked very well.

There are times my OCD has full control and making sure the banner was centered to the fireplace opening was non-negotiable. FYI, the fireplace is non-working (no chimney).

First, I hung the twine for Happy. The first P was the middle letter so I centered it with the opening. I used the safety pins and attached each side to the twine. I did the same thing for Thanksgiving.


This took about and hour to finish give or take 15 minutes.

The Windows

I didn't take photos of the process, but it is sooooo simple and really added to the feel of the room.

I went across the street and pick up pine cones and hot clued them to twine. I then tied them to the tension rod.  The larger windows I added leaves too and again tied it to the rod.



The Candles


I 5 of these candle at the Dollar Tree, wrapped them in twine and tied a bow in front.

Before

After


I bought pinto and Lima beans and orange split peas and filled the globes and mason jars. I tied twine around the candles in the jars and on the outside of the mason jars.



I set some of these in the fireplace, some on the mantle, and others on the dinner table.

At the back of the fireplace I placed a mirror to reflect the light. I wish the mirror was large, but this was all I had on hand and it was a last minute idea.


Basket of flowers


On top of the mantle I placed of basket of flowers I've collected over the past year or so. I use them for wreaths. It worked out really well they happened to be fall colors, deep oranges, reds, purples.

 

Simple, cheap and fun to make, it doesn't get any better than that!

Would love to see your Turkey Day decor :)

Mel :D