Fall has arrived, and with it, the spooky decor of Halloween and the heartwarming bounty of Thanksgiving.
It’s the time of the year when stores fill up with cheap plastic trinkets, and heading to your local Dollar Store for tacky (yet effective) fall decor becomes more and more tempting. Yet, why not keep your money in your pocket and take advantage of nature’s warm ambiance?
If, like many of us, you’re watching your spending, you can use anything from leaves to acorns and dried flowers to cozy up your home for fall with minimal effort and beautiful results.
Use the Great Outdoors for Your Fall Decor Inspiration
The cheapest way to decorate your home, no matter the season, is to fall back on what you can find outside for free.
Autumn is all about colors and leaves. So, why not bring colorful leaves into your home? Press them with an iron or dip them in wax to make them last and create beautiful garlands on a simple string for your windows or mantel.
Likewise, collect pinecones and acorns for a beautiful table centerpiece. To clean them thoroughly, put them in the oven on a low setting. If you’re into crafts and have paint on hand, you can paint them in gold, earthy brown, or orange tones. Finally, place them in a glass bowl or platter for your free, festive Thanksgiving centerpiece.
Flowers aren’t often evocative of fall, yet dried flowers like hydrangeas or chrysanthemums can offer a beautiful summer memory in your home throughout this season. Add the dried blooms to garlands, put them in vases, or mix them with pinecones and acorns to elevate your centerpiece.
Finally, you can create a beautiful wreath with dried fruit slices, flowers, and leaves if you have a circular frame stashed around somewhere. Once the season ends, you’ll be able to repurpose this wreath for Christmas and other holidays.
Go Thrifting
While thrifting isn’t free, it’s much less expensive than heading out to the store for your fall decor needs. Besides, thrift stores often offer one-of-a-kind pieces and vintage decorations that are as eye-catching as they are cheap.
Examples of what you can thrift include glass pumpkins, bowls, table runners, and felt decorations like mushrooms or acorns. Either blend these elements with your plants and leaves or use them as statement pieces on a coffee or side table.
Likewise, you can hang felt decorations on a “fall tree” with dried, colorful leaves shaped like a Christmas tree. Alternatively, use long branches to hang the decorations and glue some leaves or acorns onto them.
Antique cigar boxes and wood frames are also a great find if you’re looking to create fall nature frames. Use the boxes as you would a bowl to display your ironed or waxed leaves alongside pine cones, acorns, or colorful beads or stones. Similarly, adorn birch frames with pressed leaves, preferably colorful ones.
The whole purpose of thrifting is to enhance what you already have, so only buy pieces and decor that work with existing decorations rather than starting from scratch.
Repurpose Fall Produce as Tasty Fall Decor
Fall produce like squash and pumpkins make for seasonal decor without having to buy inedible gourds to achieve a festive look.
Use acorn squash surrounded by a leaf garland as a centerpiece to take advantage of its vibrant color before turning it into a delicious soup or pasta sauce. Likewise, stack some pumpkins by your door before pureing them for a tasty snack for your puppy.
You can also slice oranges and squash and dry them in the oven to make adorable DIY “flowers” by gluing them together and adding them to your homemade wreath.
Cutting orange peels into thin ribbons and dyeing them in shades of red, orange, and yellow is another way to include them in your garlands and decorative fall bowls.
Another idea is cutting oranges or grapefruits in half and drying them in the oven before gluing them to the small twigs you gathered on your walk outside. Painted or not, they will look like cute mushrooms that can adorn your dinner table centerpiece for a rustic take on fall decor.
Make the Most of Longer Nights with DIY Candles and Lanterns
With the arrival of the fall equinox around September 23rd, long days are a thing of the past, and darkness falls earlier and earlier each night. Fall is about nesting and staying cozy indoors, so candles and lanterns are a great way to give your home a festive feel with muted lights that mimic the glow of embers.
If you have white candles, you can use them for moody, soft lighting in your dining room. To add the scent of fall to these subtle lights, wrap cinnamon sticks around each candle and secure them with rubber bands. You can disguise the rubber bands with twine for a rustic finish.
Alternatively, you can forgo the candles and decorate your lanterns or hurricane lights with dried, colorful leaves for Halloween. Use glue to affix the leaves to your lantern, and avoid candles, which can start a fire. Instead, use fairy lights in soft yellow colors or battery-operated candles to create a gentle glow.
With these ideas, you’ll enjoy beautiful decorations at a low cost every year without amassing cheaply made, soulless trinkets. To boot, you can unleash your creative streak and experiment to your heart’s content. After all, there’s always more where most of these things came from — and it’s free.
