Beautiful Fall Decor on a Shoestring
by Kim Tilley
Ah, the glorious colors of Fall! Who
doesn't love this season, with the beautiful leaves, colorful pumpkins and
funny scarecrows. Fall is my favorite season. I love to decorate for this
time of year because it's cheap and easy. With so many glorious, natural
colors around you, you can't go wrong.
Here are some simple and frugal ideas to get into the swing of the season.
I tend to enjoy craft and gardening projects that decorate my home, so many
of these suggestions are a bit "crafty".
Salt Dough
Whip up a batch of salt dough (1 cup flour, 1 cup salt, 1/2 cup water, or
enough to make a non-sticky dough) and cut into fall shapes or use a fall
cookie cutter (leaves, pumpkins, etc). Bake at 200 degrees, 30 minutes per
side, more if item is thick or large. Paint and hang in windows, on a stick
"tree"anchored in more salt dough, the sky is the limit! Shape into fall
figurines for knick knacks - such Indians, Pilgrims, animals, etc.
Paper Mache'
Combine equal portions of flour and water, soak news paper strips in them.
Drape over a form - a balloon, a bottle. Dry and add more layers, using a
paste of flour and water as "glue" if necessary. You can make pumpkins, Halloween
masks, you name it!
Tin Can Luminarias
Use large, clean cans, such as coffee cans. Fill 3/4 of the way with water
and freeze. But not for too long, or the cans will expand. Tape a "pattern"
of the hole you want to punch into the can, then punch holes with a nail
and hammer. Be careful! Let ice melt in sink, dump out, dry out and paint
can, if desired. Put sand in the bottom of the can. Add a candle, light
carefully. Arrange several on the ground, lining your walkway or driveway.
This is very attractive going up a set of stairs.
Tin Can Ghosts
Recyle and decorate! Step on a soda can (or use a smooshed one). Spray paint
it white, add facial features. Hang with string. The secret is to use the
top of the can as the "face" with the drinking hole as the mouth of the ghost.
Keep the face simple and sweet. You can add paper arms or draw arms/hands
on can.
Scrap Fabric Ghosts
Cut a white sheet into squares. Put some polyfil stuffing, balled up quilt
batting, or fabric scraps, in the center. Bring edges together, Tie up stuffed
part of fabric as "head" of ghosts. Use a marker to add eyes and mouth. Hang
from a tree outside or your house or make a "twig tree" to decorate the inside
of your house.
Paper Bags Pumpkins Have your kids color some lunch sized paper bags orange. They can color
a face or cut holes for face. Do not put candle in these. If you want to
have light coming out of them, use white Christmas lights inserted into a
hole in the bottom.
Twig Tree
Using a branch with several smaller branches on it, anchor in a flower pot
or coffee can with plaster of paris, salt dough or cement.
Wreaths
Gather acorns, tree "helicopter" seed pods, and other interesting nuts and
seeds. Hot glue onto a Styrofoam or straw wreath. Accent with a fabric bow
of fall colors (or one or those fall-leaf print fabrics). Tear the fabric
for the bow for a "primitive" country look.
Pressed Leaves
Press fall leaves under heavy books or in a flower press. Try to get lots
of different colors and shapes. Hot glue to a Styrofoam wreath. Pressed leaves
can also be framed, used to decorate a homemade card, or to decorate a table.
Table Decor
Why not make acorn napkin rings (hot glue the acorns to tied fabric strips)
and stick in a few leaves with the napkin? Or why not put a beautiful centerpiece
on a bed on freshly fallen leaves?
Gourds
Grow yourself some gourds! Or buy some! They are so much fun to paint, and
come in so many sizes. One year I mistakenly planted gourds near our house
instead of pumpkins. We had over 40! The vine was gorgeous during the summer,
it climbed up our deck. When it came time to cut off the small gourds, we
found that we had tall and short ones, smooth and bumpy. We painted the bumpy
ones as witches and Frankensteins, and painted the smooth ones as mini pumpkins
and ghosts. I kept the faces very simple and sweet. The kids loved getting
in on the act!
The Almighty Pumpkin
Ok, fall isn't fall without pumpkins, so I TRY to grow some every year and
I usually wind up with two or three. We put our uncut pumpkins on the porch
as decoration for as long as possible, then cut them for jack-o-lanterns
a day or two before Halloween. If you have a steady hand, pumpkin painting
can be fun too and you can still cook the pumpkin (make sure you wash off
the paint though!)
Mums
Mums are so easy to grow. Buy some this year and enjoy them for years to
come, both in the garden and in your house. I find them to be pretty long
lived as a cut flower. Fresh flowers are the ultimate decoration! They are
easy to propagate too - just split them into small plants, each with a little
bit of root on them. Plant them and keep damp for a week or two. Next year,
you will have more mums than you bargained
for!
About the Author:
Kim Tilley, a tightwad at heart, is a wife, a mother of three active boys. Frugal by force and later by choice, Kim cut her income by 60% to stay at home with her children and discovered that anyone can live better for less. Her work has appeared in print publications such as The Tightwad Gazette. In her free time, she entertains herself by chasing kids and finding ways to create something from nothing!
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