Frugal Foodie Mama: cheap fall decorating ideas

Friday, November 9, 2012

Setting a Gorgeous Thanksgiving Table on the Cheap

Good morning, all!  Today I am so thrilled to have Jodi from Blue Skies and Apple Pies over here at the blog giving us some fabulous tips on how to deck out our Thanksgiving tables on a budget.  I am loving these ideas!  I see a trip to the dollar store in my future this weekend. ;) How about you?

Hi!  My name is Jodi and I blog over at Blue Skies and Apple Pies.  I am super excited to be sponsoring Frugal Foodie Mama this month and even more excited to be guest posting today!  If you head on over to my blog it will be super easy for you to see that two of my most favorite things are decorating and entertaining.  When you combine the two I am pretty much in Heaven!

So today I thought we could have a little chat about holiday centerpieces thrifty style.  The one thing that I don't love is spending a ton of money on something that you are only going to use for a little bit so I've become a self-proclaimed expert on scoping out deals, and you better believe that I've been thinking about my centerpiece since the day after Thanksgiving.

I put together two different table settings using items that were found for very inexpensive.  Most of the items came from The Dollar Tree {plates, napkins, jars}.  The first table setting used a lot of items that were free because they came from my yard!


I found small branches and twigs that I added to Dollar Tree Mason jars and I also scattered pine cones that I've collected to the setting.  To add a special Thanksgiving touch, have family write what they are thankful for on small paper tags and attach them with twine to the branches.  I used a brown grocery sack and hole punch to make my tags.  It worked perfectly and guess what?  It was free!


Other items such as the table cloth and wooden box were picked up at yard sales.

My only issue with the previous setting is that it lacked color.  I always pick up little pumpkins at the grocery store each year and there are so many cute ways that you can use these to decorate.  This next setting is definitely my favorite and probably the one that I will use this year for Thanksgiving dinner.


Similar to the previous setting I used paper bags and a hole punch to create tags with guests names.


In this setting I chose to use the Mason jars for drinking glasses.


And the best part is that most of these items came from The Dollar Tree!  There are so many inexpensive options out there and often it is easy to duplicate those amazing place setting you see on Pinterest for such a small cost.  The key is to know where to look and get a little bit creative!



If you'd like to see more decorating ideas on the cheap stop by Blue Skies and Apple Pies.  I would love to have you!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

A Little Sunday Potluck- 9~30~12

Good Sunday morning, all!  And welcome to this week's A Little Sunday Potluck spread... :)

Who doesn't love a good potluck, right?  A little of this, a little of that, and a whole lot of awesomeness!  And that is exactly what you will find in my weekly A Little Sunday Potluck posts.  
Each Sunday I will post my top 5 blog finds for the week.  These could be a recipe, a great DIY project, a piece or two on natural parenting, some great blogging advice, a terrific money saving tip... whatever pops out at me during the week before.

So, grab your compartmentalized plate & your plastic spork and enjoy a little Sunday Potluck from me to you... ;)

Raspberry Cheesecake Shortbread Bars from Dimples and Delights
Raspberries?  Cheesecake? Shortbread?  In one bite?  Need I REALLY say more, friends? ;)

GOTCHA! from Midwestern Bite
If you need a good laugh, then reading this blog post needs to happen for you this morning.  Seriously.  Click on over and thank me in a few. :D

Thrifty Decorating With a Fall Flair from The Chronicles of Chaos via a Guest Post from Blue Skies and Apple Pies
I loved these fall decorating ideas on the cheap!  See what fabulous idea this post gave me that includes scrapbook paper.  Go on.  You know you want to. 

Chicken Imperial from Whites Lights on Wednesdays
This recipe is going on my must try ASAP list.  Yep, on my menu planning short list for sure!

Great pointers on how to bring back the long forgotten skills of bartering and trading.  This is something I have been wanting to try to do more in my own life! :)

30+ Halloween Candy Treats from {Semi} Homemade Mom
Yeah, I know this is #6.  I didn't want you guys to think that I had forgotten how to count. ;)  But, I had to include this bonus blog post.  I had to!  There are over 30 recipe ideas for all that trick or treat candy most of us will have in our houses by the end of October.  (And even if you don't have trick or treaters in your house, you may just run out to the store to but some candy just to make a few of these! ;) )

Is that one of your blog posts featured above? Awesome!  Please grab my A Little Sunday Potluck featured button below and feel free to slap it on your sidebar or wherever you keep all your nifty feature buttons on your blog. ;)

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To see my past A Little Sunday Potluck posts, CLICK HERE.

What blog posts stood out to you this week?  What would YOU bring to my Sunday Potluck? ;)