Today, I’m continuing with another Dollar Tree arrangement plus a simple way to integrate a couple of other inexpensive items into your fall decor. If you’ve been following along, you know that I challenged myself to create several fall vignettes for our home, using mainly purchases from the Dollar Tree. Altogether, I spent a total of less than $40, and so far, I’ve shared a simple candle upgrade and a fall banner for our fireplace mantel, which you can see below and read about here: Fall Decor on the cheap… and here: Fall Garland…
The DIY I’m doing today can be completed in just a few minutes and will add a splash of fall color to any room you choose. For this project, I used my dough bowl. Since I purchased it, this dough bowl has been a permanent fixture on our countertop above our beverage fridge. I rotate the arrangements, based on season, and it has held everything from pinecones to artificial pears to today’s fall display. For other fun ideas, you can see my original dough bowl post here: Five ways to style a dough bowl…
First, I filled the bottom of the bowl with some shredded brown paper, also from the Dollar Tree. This step is optional and could also be accomplished by using tissue paper. The main purpose of using a filler is to give the arrangement a good base to work from and raise the level up, requiring less decorative items to make the bowl look full.
Next, I added the largest pieces, which were the artificial pumpkins with the flower, gourd and berries already attached. Talk about a good value for $1.25! Next came three of the artificial succulents. May I just take a moment here and say that these Dollar Tree succulents are really nice and rival those that I’ve paid two or three times more for in the past. You have to pick through their selection, but some of them are lovely, with varying colors that make them look very realistic. Well, as realistic as succulents floating in a dough bowl filled with fake pumpkins can look:)
It was time to fill in all of the gaps with more of the cute fabric pumpkins that came three to a package in shades of green, orange and natural. These are the same ones I used for the banner and come with clips attached. Since I did not need the clips for the dough bowl, I just turned them clip side down and they worked great.
The last thing I did was collect a few small pinecones from our yard and inserted them in between the other items. They really don’t show but come in handy for hiding stems and the brown shredded paper. And ta-da…a fall dough bowl arrangement for less than $8.00!
If you don’t have a dough bowl, any vessel would work. This idea would look great in a shallow glass bowl, a fall-colored ceramic platter, or even a woven tray. I just know you have something that will work!
The next decor item for fall was making use of a small votive holder and matching bud vase. As soon as I saw these at the Dollar Tree, I thought a) they were in perfect fall colors, and b) I could turn the vase into a matchstick holder. So, I put an orange tealight in the candle holder, and then took some self-adhesive striker paper and attached it to the bottom of the vase. All that was left to do was insert some white tipped matches into the vase opening, and this little project was done.
Doesn’t this set look so cute in front of the dough bowl? Furthermore, it is so much fun to take a simple vase and use it for something other than what it was intended for. Matchstick cloches and containers are all the rage right now, and some of them are very expensive. I had the tealight, matches and striker paper, so this fall accessory cost me $2.50. If you don’t have matches or striker paper, they can be ordered very cheaply on Amazon.
You are probably getting tired of hearing me say this, but it doesn’t need to take a lot of money to give your home a splash of fall color. In the end, it’s more about creating a mood that evokes the warmth and coziness of fall. I have one last post coming that will use all of the remaining Dollar Tree purchases, so stay tuned!
Good tidings,
Diane
