Thanksgiving Decorations for Less

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

12 Oct 2009 12:40 PM

I just read an article that was sitting in my news feed. It was all about how much we generally spend during the holidays. There is no doubt that spending tends to increase quite a bit around the holidays. After all, there is all of the gifts, all of the food and all of the clothes. One thing that struck me out though, is how much people spend on decorations, from flowers to paper, from ornaments to lawn signs.

Of course we want our homes to look good for the holidays, especially if we happen to be the ones who are hosting the parties and family get gatherings. It is important to be warm and festive and have our home be welcoming. These are the things that memories are made of, and I want my children to be able to look back and remember fond times.

Like everyone, I don't want to go bankrupt or have to find new ways to work extra hours just to pay for things, such as decorations that may be thrown away the day after the Thanksgiving meal, so the kids and I did some brainstorming about things that we can do to decorate. We took some of the basic ideas that we already had and then expanded and added to them. Here is my list.

Paper crafts. I already got my kids started on this one. Construction paper, glue and crayons, markers or colored pencils are all relatively inexpensive (especially if you stocked up during the back to school sales). Get them making hand turkeys, pumpkins, cornucopias, paper chains and anything else that they are willing to craft. You can use them for the kids table or artfully place them under glass for a really festive serving table.

Food crafts. Why not kill two birds, uh, turkeys with one stone, so to speak. Create food that can be presented as decoration as well. For example, you could incorporate oranges into your meal and then use the hollowed out cups to hold treats. I'm going to be writing for the Food Blog starting this month, so look for all sorts of holiday meal ideas that are also festive for the holidays.

You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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