Use this thread to enter your Frugal Decorating and Decor ideas for fall holidays and fun!

How do you decorate your home? your front door? Your porch? What are some frugal tips you can share?

Don't forget to include with each entry:

• Your budget
• The resources you used
• The time it took to create
• A picture of the finished product.


Have fun and Good luck!

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Come Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping With Me In ONLINE BARGAINS

This is my idea for "Double Duty Decor" because everything can be used twice! First, you can use it as an outdoor display for about a month or so, then it can be disassembled and used in other areas of your home!

Budget: $17-20 (from local farmer's market!)
-1 small bale of hay - $3
-1 medium mum (I prefer the dark red with the yellow centers =) - $4
-2 medium pumpkins - $7
-1 butternut squash - $1
-2 acorn squash - $2
-4 small mini-gourds - $1

Basically, this takes as much time to make as a trip to a local farmer's market. If you don't have one, you can check out your local nursery for the pumpkins and the hay bale. The squash and gourds should be easy to find at the grocery store (though it may cost a bit more to shop there).

You pretty much just gather everything together, and arrange it on your front porch, next to the door. First, you would probably want to place the small bale of hay, then the mums in front, but off to the side, maybe a pumpkin beside that. The possibly a pumpkin on top of the hay, then arrange the squash and gourds however you choose. It seriously won't take more than 10 minutes!

The "Double Duty" Part:
-Bale of Hay - spread over garden to help winterize it and add some nice nutrients for next year.
-Mums - Bring inside and use on your Thanksgiving table or as a hostess gift (if you go somewhere else).
-Pumpkins - assuming your children have already carved their own, these can be used as a decoration as well. Clean and carve the pumpkin out and place the pot of mums inside the pumpkin (to use as a pot). You can also use the other pumpkin for pie! Cut, in quarters, bake, etc.
-Butternut Squash - cut, it up and use as a side dish, in a stew, or make "butternut squash soup" for Thanksgiving!
-Acorn Squash - quick and easy side dish!! Halve the squash (from the stem, down). Clean out the seeds, then place butter and brown sugar in the center. Bake at 375 for about an hour. The squash should be really tender and will taste alot like pumpkin! Yummy!!!
-Gourds - use these are part of your Thanksgiving table display as well!!

This is great because not only will you have a great display to greet fall guests, but at the end of the fall season, you will be able to use everything again! Thus, saving you money in the future, and alleviating any guilt you may about about spending that extra money on decorations!

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Bekah
Co-founder and CEO of the NOVITZKE FAMILY INC.

I love the smells of the holidays and always associate Halloween- Christmas with the smell of cinnamon filling the house. Rather than buying expensive pre-made displays I have found that if I buy a small bottle of cinnamon oil I can make my own.

Budget: about $8 (or less)
Supplies: cinnamon essential oil
pinecones (I pick them up outside, kinda brush them off and then put in an old Tupperware container for a few days to make sure no buggies are on them)

cinnamon sticks, berries, ribbons as desired

Put a few drops of oil on each pinecone, depending on how strong you like the scent. Then place in airtight container for a few days so the oil soaks in. Can leave cloves or cinnamon sticks in too if you like that combo.

remove pinecones and place in decorative bowl. Garnish with berries/ribbon, etc as desired, but I just do plain old cones. If aroma fades, just repeat. A bottle of oil will last for many applications- much cheaper than storebought and adds a nice touch to the smell and look of a room

great ideas ladies! Don't forget we'd love to see some photos too!

If you need help posting photos, please refer to this thread How to: Post Pictures in the Gallery

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Come Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping With Me In ONLINE BARGAINS

One of the things my mother taught me is ALWAYS buy your holiday decorations after the holiday! Places like Kmart are especially known for slashing prices to 50 to 75% off halloween items after halloween! My mother will buy them for rediculous prices and then stores them in a plastic tub. She has a tub for every holiday. Not only is it going to save you money, but time as well!

I've also seen some cinnomon bouquets at Dollar General every year for $5 and they fill up the whole house with the smell of cinnamon!

Here is a pic of our dining room table. I shared it on another thread, but I'll share it here too!

Budget: $3
*dishes - free - just use whatever you have. These have a fall theme, but you can use any
*straw pumpkins - 4/$1 at the dollar store
*leaves - free from your yard
*dried flowers - free from your yard
*mini squash, pumpkins, etc. - $3/bag
Resources:
*dishes, dried leaves and flowers, pumpkins, squash
Time:
30 minutes
Picture:

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I didn't use this on my home, but for a brunch at work. Sorry...forgot to take a picture!

Green table cloth -- already had
Platters with leaf patterns -- already had
Leaves -- free -- picked out really bright and pretty ones
Gourds -- given as a gift
Branches, dried flowers, etc -- from outside into a vase
Basket -- filled with apples

I arranged the leaves as "doilies" for plates that had no designs. The colors stood out on the green really nicely.

For the brunch, I made apple crisp, brought in nuts, crackers, cheese, etc. and had apple cider for drinks.

It looked great!

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This Contest Is Over. Thank you!

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Come Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping With Me In ONLINE BARGAINS