Cheap And Free Decorations For Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is the pinnacle of fall celebrations. It brings together families and also celebrates all the best of the season’s flavors. The holiday is known for the colors of foliage, burnt oranges and rich golden browns that reflect the changing leaves and seasonal produce available during this time of year.
Thanksgiving is a huge feast, and if you are hosting it, the bills can quickly add up. So, when it comes to decorating your home for Thanksgiving, you will want to find as many cheap and free decorations as possible. This way, you can focus most of your budget on the food.
Some Thanksgiving decorations exist in nature and are easy to find, including acorns, fallen branches, and pine cones. Incorporate inexpensive materials like mason jars, burlap, and twine. Decorative corn, pumpkins, and gourds are plentiful and inexpensive if you shop around. Use leftover fresh herbs to make herb bouquets, and don’t forget to visit your local thrift store before and after the holiday for great deals on Thanksgiving decor.
Hosting a Thanksgiving celebration can take lots of planning, and is often a costly endeavor. This is especially true if you want to impress your guests and make the spread and your home look immaculate. The good news is that there are several ways to save money, especially when it comes to Thanksgiving decor. Keep reading to learn about these festive and often free ways to decorate your home for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Ten Cheap And Free Thanksgiving Decoration Ideas
1. Pumpkins And Gourds
Fall squashes, like pumpkins, as well as decorative gourds, are one of the most popular Thanksgiving and fall decorations. You can find all sorts of different colored and shaped pumpkins and gourds to fit your decorative needs. The key is locating great-looking pumpkins at a cheap price.
Remember that well-maintained gourds and even pumpkins can last more than one month, especially if kept in cool and dry conditions away from animals. You can find them at places like Walmart, or even wholesale clubs. Keep your eye out starting around Halloween, and grab them when they go on sale.
2. Decorative Corn
Ornamental and decorative corn is another inexpensive and natural item to consider for your Thanksgiving decor. It has a real farm look to it and is reminiscent of the first Thanksgiving. It is also very long-lasting. In fact, if you properly store decorative corn, it can last six months or longer.
This means you can start keeping an eye out for corn in stores and online in the summer. With so much time to search for a good deal, you should be able to get some colorful ornamental corn for very cheap.
3. Incorporate Burlap And Twine
Another way to cheaply incorporate a rustic country vibe into your Thanksgiving celebration is by using burlap and twine. Twine is a great substitute for ribbon on this holiday. You can use it to tie bows on your napkin-wrapped silverware. You can also tie it around vases to give the glass a more autumn feel.
Burlap is a great material to use as a placemat. You can buy an inexpensive burlap runner at nearly any craft store, and you can use it to protect surfaces when you use them to to place hot food. Both burlap and twine are very cheap, and go a long way to transform your home into an autumn wonderland.
4. Make Herb Bouquets With Leftover Herbs
If you are doing lots of cooking from scratch this Thanksgiving, then the odds are you will have a refrigerator filled with lots of items you won’t have much future use for. Many holiday recipes call for fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, and others.
These fresh herbs are great at bringing nuanced and refreshing flavor to your dishes. They are also great to smell and nice to look at. Consider using the leftover herbs as decoration. You can take a thin vase or two and add these fresh herbs to create small herb bouquets. This is a very chic farm-to-table decoration that will look great, smell better, and be sure to impress your guests.
5. Incorporate Foliage Into Bouquets
If you live somewhere where the leaves are changing or have fallen just around the Thanksgiving holiday, consider trimming a few branches. You can use bare branches, or branches with some colorful leaves as decor. This works well with larger vases off to the side of the table. It is a great way to create subtle decor in the background. Best of all, branches are free. Just make sure you use clippers to not damage the tree.
6. Use Dried Flowers
If you can think ahead a bit, remember that the fall is a great time to showcase dried flowers. This means you can spend the end of summer and early fall drying out some flowers to later be incorporated in dried fall bouquets.
Dark reds, yellows, and oranges are all ideal. But the good news is nearly every type of dried flower lends itself to a country and rustic aesthetic. If you plan, these bouquets are free. Even if you don’t plan in advance, many fall farmers' markets feature dried floral bouquets for cheap as the temperatures begin to dip and the days shorten.
7. Wooden Bowls With Fall Produce
If you have some nice wooden bowls in your home, then Thanksgiving is a great time to display them. Natural and dark woods add a level of nature and authenticity to your decor. If you fill these bowls with fall produce, then you can enhance the look even more. Consider filling the bowls with things like apples, and even some cinnamon to give it a nice scent.
8. Buy Your Holiday Wreath Early
Holiday wreaths are great ways to incorporate that lovely pine smell into your home. While considered more of a winter and Christmas decoration, a basic wreath with pine cones is something you can use for Thanksgiving decor as well. Add an autumn-inspired or burlap ribbon to the wreath to tie it to the rest of your decor. Best of all, if well-maintained, your wreath should last 4 to 6 weeks, which means you can swap out of the bow for a red one and use it for Christmas as well.
9. Search Thrift Stores Before (And After) The Holiday
Thrift shops are an amazing place for holiday decorations. It is also great when hosting Thanksgiving on a budget. The key is to scope out thrift stores just before and after Halloween. Typically, thrift stores highlight the holiday that is up next. So, get to the thrift stores at the start of November for the best selection. If you are a planner, consider heading to the thrift store (or a decoration store) right after Thanksgiving for some very deep discounts.
10. Collect Acorns And Pine Cones In Mason Jars
Believe it or not, there are even Thanksgiving decorations that fall right out of the sky. Pine cones and acorns are great accents to add to your home for the Thanksgiving holiday. Larger pine cones can go in one of your wooden bowls, while smaller pine cones and acorns can go in vases or b all mason jars. Just make sure you give these items a thorough soak in soapy water and allow them to dry. You don’t want to have any bugs walking around your Thanksgiving feast.
Concluding Notes On Free And Cheap Thanksgiving Decorations
Decorating for Thanksgiving is all about bringing the rustic country aesthetic and the beauty of fall colors into your home. While decorating your home is often costly, Thanksgiving decor can often be cheap and even free. Use free items from the outdoors like fall branches, acorns, and pine cones. You can also purchase some cheap pumpkins, gourds, ornamental corn, or even a holiday wreath. Instead of buying expensive ribbons and materials, opt for twine and burlap. Remember, you can use your wooden bowls, fall fruit, and even leftover herbs as decorations throughout your home for the holiday.
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Tom Gaffey is an expert writer who currently resides in Washington D.C. Tom has a passion for real estate and home improvement writing, as well as travel and lifestyle writing. He lived the last twelve years in Hawaii where he worked closely with luxury resorts and event planners, mastering his knowledge of aesthetics and luxury products. This is where he found his passion for home improvement and a keen interest in DIY projects. Currently, Tom resides in Washington D.C, and also working on his debut fiction novel.
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