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Thrifty-Autumn-Decorating
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The colors of the season where I live in Ontario can appear overnight. The leaves begin to turn quickly, and suddenly the oranges, reds and yellows, which are the Fall colors are everywhere. The chill in the air signifies that winter will be here soon enough.
I love this time of year. There is a certain "coziness" to it. I find
it hard to put my finger on exactly why I like it, I can only relate it
to that "cozy" feeling.
I do like to have a little bit of seasonal-decorations outside. They are
certainly nothing fancy or elaborate, just a few little thrifty-autumn-decorating items that
signifies the changing of the season, and the fact that Thanksgiving
and Halloween are coming.
The great thing is, all of these items cover the whole thing, as far as I'm concerned. Now granted, I don't have witches or Jack-o-lanterns "showing" yet. Not quite time for those, but the rest of it is out there.
My mother laughs at me, because I do in fact have one pumpkin outside at the moment (not real) that sits on a bench with some mums. It faces a certain way. Once we are past Thanksgiving, I flip it around, and it actually has a jack-o-lantern face on the other side. So in fact, one minute it's "fall and thanksgiving" and in the next second it becomes an instant Halloween decoration. Got two of these pumpkins at a garage sale by the way. They are great because the orange is a very vivid color, and they are made of a hard yet soft rubbery material. I will have some real ones, but for now, they are quite appropriate, even in early September.
The garage sales over the summer are the best places to get different
types of decorations for all holidays.
Who doesn't think of the pumpkin as the main Halloween decoration
carved out as a jack-o-lantern, or just sitting in a group by
your front door not carved out at all? It's the perfect autumn
color of "orange" as well.
The smallest ones are great mixed in with gourds as a centre-piece
on a dining room table, as a decoration on your kitchen island or
counter-top, and eventually carved and in your window at Halloween
with a candle or battery-operated light inside.
If you choose to not carve them out, and they are kept in a fairly
cool dry place and don't freeze, you have a good chance of making
good use of them beyond the purposes of decorating. You can make
snacks from the seeds, and of course, some delicious pumpkin
deserts. The idea is to keep them whole as long as possible.
Here is a thrifty-autumn-decorating idea. How about a
pumpkin center-piece?
Small pumpkins mixed with small gourds are pretty piled in window-boxes
as a decoration too.
Typical decorating at this time of year wouldn't be decorating without autumn leaves.
The oranges and the reds and the ambers, or yellows, can be placed still on their branches in large urns or flower pots. The cold air at night will help to anchor them well in the dirt. A few leaves on a dining room table against a white tablecloth around a centre-piece looks lovely.
Autumn leaves on branches with berries can make a beautiful
centerpiece on your kitchen table or buffet. They can be
strung together to form a garland for around doors, or laid
across a mantle-piece. An absolutely free thrifty-autumn-decorating idea that is a must!
Take a walk through the bush, and you are sure to come home with enough to fill a pot or two. Sumac, with the large red "cones" on the end mixes in well. The season is relatively short, so if the leaves die off, you can get more and replace them.
Another great idea for lots of leaves, if you have alot to rake, is to make "people" sitting on the lawn. I used to make either one or two people sitting in small lawn chairs. Just use a plaid shirt and track pants; old boots, gloves or straw for hands. I used plastic pumpkin pails (with faces) for heads, and put my husbands hats on the top. They actually looked pretty lifelike. It was a great conversation piece for the whole month of October. Wish I had taken pictures of those.
The point is, it was free to do, it was fun to do, and it made
alot of people stop and look. The leaves and straw were composted,
and the old clothes went to the rag bag. Nothing was wasted.
Outdoor Picture Frame
with Dollar Store Autumn Piks
Mums are everywhere right now. Just about everyone has at least
one on their doorstep. They come in so many colors, the most
popular being the orange, yellow, and reds. The purple ones
are very popular, and some will come back if replanted just
before freeze-up. Mums are fairly cheap to purchase; they grow
quite a bit if kept watered, which makes your decoration that much
fuller and bigger. It's a great return on a small investment if they come back the following year. This thrifty-autumn-decorating find is one of the most popular ways to spruce up
your porch or entrance.
Bunches or bouquets of sunflowers indoors or outside are quite popular at this time also. Stand them in a black urn just outside your front door. This type of arrangement is a favorite thrifty-autumn-decorating among many people.
Corn husks look great decorating front doors as do the tall stalks against a corner doorway.
This wreath certainly covers all aspects of the autumn season.
How about lighting up your yard in some lovely orange or clear lights?
You can save alot by using LED orange lights. They burn brighter than other lights, are cool to the touch, and are much more efficient energy- wise than other types of lights. These lights are a great contribution to thrifty-autumn-decorating ideas.
They last alot longer than incandescent lighting. You will not be throwing these lights out anytime soon.
Clear twinkling lights mixed in with any planter arrangements look
lovely, and solar lights along your pathway or in your garden add
alot to lighting up any focal point of whatever display you make.
The greatest thing about so many of these kinds of these seasonal-decorations, is
that many of them can be found first of all simply by taking a
walk in your backyard, or in the woods.
They will last a fair amount of time. They all inter-mix well with each-other whether it's September, Thanksgiving or Halloween night. They have quite a bit of flexibility. Nothing looks out of place at any given time.
You can get lots of mileage from your pumpkins, in the way of cooking. At least they can be composted along with squash, gourds and any natural leaf and flower arrangements.
The little strawmen are so inexpensive to buy at dollar stores, if you don't make them yourself. They last forever too.
We used to use a bale of straw with pumpkins on top for decoration;
still do sometimes. When the "season" was over, some of the straw
was placed over top of my flower garden, and the rest went to a dog-house. A bale of straw is another "staple" it seems for many as part of thrifty-autumn-decorating must-haves.
People do such amazing things with these mostly inexpensive-natural-decorations, and the imagination really has no limit.
What's the best thing about thrifty-autumn-decorating? It's that it is just so easy to do.
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