Guide to: My (Thrifty) Thanksgiving/Holiday Table Setting

As I was writing this post, I surprised by a loud popping noise.  It was my laptop charger and one of the wires had almost completely severed.  Oops.  Lucky for me B could fix it, but I was still computer-less for a few days.  So, here is my much delayed Thanksgiving post...

Thanksgiving was at my house this year.  Cooking isn't really my strong suit, so lucky for me, my parents brought most of the food and B made a pie, so all I really had to do was clean the house and try to make it home from work.  For my contribution, I really wanted to try to make the table look nice.  My house is (really) small, so the only place large enough for all of us to eat is in the living room.  We cleared the coffee table out of the way and I set up one of B's long sewing tables in its place.  Of course, I looked on Pinterest to try to get some decorating ideas.

jennysteffens.com

I have a glass pumpkin cookie jar thing and I liked the idea of using it as a vase for a few flowers like the Pinterest image above.   I was on a super tight budget and ended up just buying 3 silk roses at $3.99 a piece at Joann Fabrics (why are silk flowers so expensive???) and added some sparkly metallic filler that I already had (about 40¢ a piece at after Christmas sales last year, also from Joann's).  Since the glass pumpkin is clear, it looked a little empty.  I wanted something similar to those glass floral pebble things, but not as cheesy.  I got the idea to use old buttons since I have a Mason jar full.  I took all of the ones that were a neutral color and dumped them into the bottom of the pumpkin.  Cheap and easy.

thebudgetdecorator.com

I liked the idea of burlap place mats and I realized that I already had some of the gold dot burlap shown in the upper right corner.  All that I did was cut it into place mat-sized pieces.  If your burlap has been folded, you'll probably need to iron it.  If you have the printed kind like I used, I'd recommend ironing it on the opposite side.

emformarvelous.com

I wish I could have found something like this pretty ribbon in the photo on my last minute run to the craft store, but alas, I could not.  I have a ton of ribbon in my stock though, so I just used a dark brown grosgrain.  

And here's how it turned out...

Better late than never, right?  This may be too late for Thanksgiving, but perhaps it will provide some help and inspiration for setting up a thrifty but appealing holiday table for Christmas or Hanukkah!  As we kick off the holidays, I hope that you have a blessed season!

-Robin