Decorating for the Holidays

After my wish list post last week, I went on a bit of a shopping spree (a cheap one, but a spree no less!) to decorate our dining room for Thanksgiving and later, Christmas.

First, I picked up this solid white runner with white velvet trim at Target for 14.00 bucks.  I chose white over the silver or gold varieties because it is more versatile and is something I could use to dress up our table all year round.

Next, I found some gold and silver metallic votives at Target for 99 cents each.  At that price, I grabbed four of them, two of each color. 

I then went to World Market to see what treasures I could find there.  This is an easy task in my neck of the woods because Target, World Market and Bed, Bath and Beyond all share the same parking lot.  Hurray for visiting multiple stores without having to drive extra miles to get there!

I knew I wanted chargers for the table setting.  My mom always puts out gold chargers for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years every year.  To me, they are an essential part of any holiday decor.

I eyed these at Target, but ultimately decided against them because I really need two of them (our dining room table is small and any more than two would look very crowded) and they only came in packages of four.

I'm glad I waited because I found these square beauties instead.  They are perfect because, as you can see from the photo, we have square plates.  The square chargers came in silver and gold, and after stacking square plates and the two chargers side by side in an aisle of World Market, I decided to go with the silver chargers.  For 2.99 each, I was sold!

While searching the store for treasures, I found a bag of twenty lightly scented tea light candles for 3.99 a bag, which I placed immediately into my basket to go with my votives from Target.

Next, I turned to cloth napkins.  After all, that was over half of my wish list post!  I found several at World Market that I liked, but ultimately settled on these lovelies (the napkins, not the napkin ring that is being sold in the link).  They have a bit of a brownish, gold color to the pattern and were 1.89 a piece after my World Market Explorers discount.  I bought four of them since they are subtle and neutral enough to work for any dinner party, not just the holidays.

Later that night, I stopped by Crate and Barrel with a friend so she could pick up a wine aerator.  While we were there, I spied the perfect napkin rings for my table setting, complete with silver, gold and white accents!  For 4.50 a piece, they are something I will likely use year after year.

When I got home, I could hardly wait to pull it all together.  When I laid down the runner (and folded and tucked part of it because of its length), Woods immediately jumped on the table to "help."  Once he discovered the runner was a soft material, he proceeded to make it his bed.  Woods is not allowed on our table at all, so this was a fun teaching moment with us, complete with squirt bottle (the only thing he responds to...most of the time).

I placed two large candle sticks that we had received as an engagement gift in the center of the table and placed two small pillar candles I had already.  They are a bit used and burned down, and perhaps I will replace them soon with taller, unburned ones.  For now, they will do as they were free.

My table was still missing a little something, preferably something gold to tie in that metallic color a bit more into the setting.  That's when I remembered my little pile of picture frames in my closet from a failed project involving spoon hooks last year.  They would look great on our table!

I grabbed two of them and some scrap paper and got to work.  In a few more minutes, I had two frames to remind us to be grateful this season.  One says Give Thanks and the other is a list with some of the things we are thankful for this year.  There are a lot more, but that is all that would fit on the list :)

Final total: under forty bucks.  Not bad considering I will use many of these items year after year, not just for the holidays, but any time I want to add a little something to our meal!

So there you have it, our Thanksgiving table setting.  I have to admit, sometimes in the mornings I catch myself wandering into our dining room , flicking on the light and staring at the table.  The metallics and whites just make me so happy!

What's your favorite part?  Have you decorated for the holidays yet?  Let's talk...

Psst...I already have an idea for how to transform this setting into a Christmas setting without spending any additional money...stay tuned for details!