Seasonal Decorating (On the Cheap!)

Our path to financial freedom has brought many blessings to our life. For me one of them has been discovering the world of frugality. Cutting out unnecessary and unplanned spending has really challenged my sense of creativity! It's easy to go out and buy something that looks all perfect and Martha Stewart-like. But it's much more fun (and budget friendly!) to craft something on your own using what you already have. The sense of accomplishment when it actually looks good - priceless! And then you can post it on your blog and brag about it like I'm about to do now!


For Thanksgiving, I wanted to create a nice, seasonal centerpiece. So the kids & I gathered leaves, pine cones and berries from our yard. I dug out a plate candle holder and polished rocks from my Asian design phase. Added a large vanilla candle and raffia (on clearance for .62 a bag!) from Big Lots and viola!

I took some of the extra leaves and raffia and made chair swags.

And now that the Christmas season is upon us, I replaced the leaves with extra Christmas bulbs, added my "no tag, name your price" reindeer from last year's Target after Christmas clearance sale and my centerpiece has been transformed from Autumn to Winter!