7 Ways to Decorate A Thanksgiving Table on a Budget!
by Kathy Wilson

Description: Creative, inexpensive ideas for decorating your Thanksgiving table.

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Thanksgiving is traditionally a day when we invite our loved ones into our home and give thanks for all we have. But with Christmas and other holidays looming just around the corner, it sometimes can be tough on the budget to put out a beautifully decorated table. No problem, The Budget Decorator is here to help you create a tablescape for your home that represents your creativity, and gives you yet another thing to be thankful for....money saved!

1. Develop a theme. A natural for this time of year, is, well...natural! Use the beauty of nature and the harvest as even our ancestors did to provide a beautiful and delicious theme for your Thanksgiving feast.

2. Provide a backdrop to your table setting. You don't need fancy tablecloths for this day. Layer simply flat sheets, old bedspreads or quilts, and pretty fabric placemats all on the same table. Keep a solid color between each pattern, and it will shine!

3. Go all out setting your table! I DON'T mean run to your nearest department store and buy the best china. Nonsense. This day is about simpler things than that. I do mean use what you have, all of it, even if it doesn't match. Set out plates and salad dishes and soup bowls. Use all your glassware. Bring out separate forks for salad and main dish. Fold pretty fabric or paper napkins and place at each setting. Go to a craft site and find a little place card you can make out of materials on hand. Here's a secret: The more generous you are with your table settings, no matter what the nature of the plates and cups and silverware, the more festive and lavish the room appears!

4. Create a shimmering centerpiece out of natural materials! Bather 2 or three ceramic bowls, and fill them with nature finds...fir cones, acorns, nuts or seeds, even old potpourri! Nestle a pillar candle in each bowl, and set in the center of the table. Add a few pressed or silk fall leaves to the table around the bowls, and viola! Simple, elegant, and except for the candles(which you may have in your cupboard already) free! Never leave the candles unattended, and always make sure they will not burn down to or be blown into anything flammable.

5. Use a small pitcher from your cupboard to bring fresh flowers or branches of fall leaves to the table. Use in the center of your candle arrangement for height and interest.

6. Display pumpkins and gourds in the corners of the room, piled as they would in a barn. Add a few baskets to hold apples and pears, or smaller gourds and corn.

7. Invest in one roll of fall hue ribbon for your tablescape. Tie a bow to the back of each chair, wind ribbon over the table through the centerpieces. Even use it as tiebacks for the curtains!

Use what you have, bring in the bounty of harvest, and enjoy your loved ones without stealing from that holiday fund!

Kathy Wilson is a home and garden writer, author and consultant and is the home decorating expert for LifetimeTV.com. Visit her for more home and garden ideas at http://www.TheBudgetDecorator.com and http://www.TheGardenGlove.com. Also visit her at http://www.Women-on-the-Net.com where any woman can learn to make money on the internet!

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