Do you want to throw a family Halloween party this fall that looks like you spent a fortune but was actually easy on your time and budget? You can! And you don’t have to be a craft wizard or spend hours in the kitchen learning how to origami-slice a pumpkin into a dragon to do it. Forget about buying expensive store-bought decorations or having professional help with the catering; get your family involved in the party preparations and it will be more fun for everyone.

The Food

One of the best ways to save money and still host a great get together is to narrow the food choices. Don’t skimp on the amounts, especially at a party during fall, the season of abundance. But instead of preparing six different savory dishes and three or four sweet ones, select no more than four savory items and two sweet ones. As long as the food is delicious, bountiful and fun, your guests will still have a wonderful time.

Here are a few healthy and creative food ideas that won’t break the bank:

Spider Eggs
Make your favorite deviled egg recipe; estimate at least one whole egg per person. Slice a whole, pitted black olive in half. Place the olive, cut side down, on the center of the yolk. Slice a second olive in half and then slice each half into fourths. Arrange the eight “legs” around the first olive and you have a surprisingly realistic looking black spider perched on top of a deviled egg.

‘Dem Bones
With nothing more than a tube of refrigerated breadstick dough and a sprinkle of coarse salt you can make delicious homemade “bones.” Simply separate the rectangular pieces of dough and give each end a 1 ½-inch slice with a sharp knife. Shape the two end flaps into the round knobs of a bone. Place the bones on a baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake as directed. Serve them with a trio of dips such as marinara sauce (blood), hummus (marrow) and guacamole (green slime).

Witch Fingers
Kids love eating these and adults appreciate the healthy snack. Place baby carrots on a paper towel and dry them well. Dab a small amount of cream cheese on one end (the cheese won’t stick if the carrot is too moist) and press a slivered almond on top of the cheese to look like a fingernail.

Witch Hats
Use store-bought fudge-covered graham crackers, chocolate kisses and chocolate frosting to create a no-bake dessert that looks like you spent hours crafting it! Place the cookies fudge-side up and pipe a small dab of chocolate frosting in the center. Unwrap the kiss and press in into the frosting. Voila! A chocolate witch’s hat.

Mad Scientist Brew
The key ingredient in this drink is a clear plastic glass – seeing it is half the fun. Fill several ice cube trays with different kinds of juice. Use a variety of colors like grape juice, orange, pomegranate and even tomato. Serve glasses of clear soda like Sprite with the colorful ice cubes. As the ice melts the soda changes colors and flavors.

The Décor

For décor stay as natural as possible. Use large bowls of fruit or nuts as centerpieces and to help make your serving table look more abundant and, of course, to eat! Go into your yard and garden and see what might be available. Clip small branches of herbs, leaves, and twigs and bundle them together. Twist floral wire or a pipe cleaner around one end to secure. Tuck the floral accents around serving platters, candles or other autumnal decorations you already have.

Make a one-of-a-kind table runner by cutting open a brown paper bag (discard the ends) and trimming the edges to make it even. Let the kids color leaves, scarecrows or other fall themes and use it to enhance your table décor.

And don’t forget about pumpkins! Empty out a tall pumpkin and place a vast of flowers inside, or fill a fat one with ice to keep beverages cold. Use small pumpkins to decorate a mantel or occasional table, or hollow them out and use them as votive holders.

Don’t let a lack of time or tight catering budget keep you from the fun of hosting a great fall party. Stick with simple and delicious food ideas and natural decorative items and your party will be the “spooktacular” blast that kicks off the holiday season.

Photographs are timeless treasures. With digital photography, photos often make their way onto the home computer hard drive, but less often make their way into plain view. Photos are meant to be enjoyed daily. They are a perfect reminder of happy times.

Canvas

Photos printed on canvas look classy on any wall. You can order your customized canvas prints in many sizes. Many companies also offer various canvas effects, such as an oil painting or hand sketching effect. Life-like canvas prints are stunning and artistic. You may choose to hang a floating look canvas, or to decorate with a framed canvas print. Photo canvases can be framed in various solid wood frames. They may also be customized by adding colorful designs onto the canvas itself. Canvases also help to create a frameless picture frames look that is beautiful and simple.

Grouping
Memories from a special trip, holiday, or even every day memory can be sleekly displayed on a table top or wall panel. You may choose to focus on one key photo, or to opt for a collage display. These panels often feature scratch free coatings, making them not only beautiful, but also practical and family friendly. Some companies customize photo panels with words and dates as well, making them a versatile photo art option.

It is often hard to limit your photo choices to just a few. A popular decorating option for photos and other household items is to group like items in a cohesive manner. For photos, this may mean grouping a small or large number of photos in similarly colored or shaped frames. This way of wall detailing allows you to hang a maximum amount of photos while still maintaining an artistic and pulled together appearance. Guests in your home will appreciate the wonderful collection of images.
Printing Material
You may even chose to use photos to create wall tapestries or photo pillows and throws. Photo-weaving creates unique and artistic products. Custom tapestries can be tastefully hung from decorative rods that match the rest of your interior decorating style. Photo tapestries are durable decorations that come in a variety of sizes.

Photos printed onto coffee mugs allow photos to decorate your kitchenware. You can also enjoy photos as a simple and heartwarming decoration on your coffee table. Many glass topped coffee tables allow for personal photo customizations. There are many coaster sets that also come with photograph customization options.

Inject vitality into your home decorating. avoid complications, and keep decorating simple by using favorite photos. Using photos in your decorating style quickly adds life, love, and art all around your home.

Karlee Wiggins enjoys blogging about design and decorating a home.  In her spare time she enjoys playing the piano and taking pictures.

Top 5 Frugal Accessories for a Luxurious Home Décor


About the author:
Wagner Meters is a world leader in moisture measurement products, with an expanded line of hand-held wood moisture meters that set the worldwide standard for accuracy and reliability to help you avoid problems with your important wood projects.

Our homes show our style and sophistication and really convey who we are to those around us. They offer a comforting feel and warmth. We all love that luxurious look of class and style, and adding a few simple touches can really throw any room of your home from sleek and sophisticated to full on luxurious and desirable. When wanting to add that touch of high class, there are a few things that you can do to get that. You can add a few simple accessories here and there to really make a room pop.

  • Curtains

The windows bring the eye in focus. They are the opening and focal point to any room. When you dress them properly it can transform an entire room. Think thick tapestries and prints. These can add class and yet be a simple addition to any room.
Heavy drapery that really opens up the room draws in the eyes and you can really see the beauty of the place. Think of the overall look of the room, you can either add curtains that are a similar shade to the paint color, or they can be the simple pop of color that brightens to room.
How to make this a frugal, yet luxurious-looking treatment? Try the DYI curtains from bed sheets - and guess what? it’s an activity for the whole family.

  • Furniture

When wanting a luxurious look to your home, it all begins with the furniture. You not only want stylish and comfortable, but has a look that collides with the rest of the house. Not the most frugal thing in the world you might think.
But with a little bit of thrifty thinking and a good plan, exquisite little additions to your luxurious home are not far away. Think flea markets and garage sale, faux antiques and DYI milk paint, refinishing and deep-color diluted latex paints. That will be able to help you set the tone for that luxurious feel you desire to achieve.

  • Rugs

With these you can really get frugal and creative. Rugs from rags can be incredibly beautiful, as the finishing touches count. A throw rug can be added under a couch, chair end or coffee table and bring texture and dimension. Adding a throw rug that is a fur or bold design can add flair to a room and leave you wanting to sink your toes into it.

  • Light Fixtures

These are easy accent to change out, but can instantly add class and style. With these you have free reign to transform any room with a simple twist of a wrist. There are so many options when it comes to light fixtures and frugal living. They are an inexpensive transformation and can be done in no time with so many DYI projects flying around for free in the online space. You can really find something that sets to mood of a room.

  • Throw Pillows

These accents are simple, easy and completely transform a room in an instant. With a few extra pillows, you can add texture, design and color. These add an instant luxurious feel to any couch or chair. You can add pillows with awesome colors and fabrics that are not only easy on the eyes and visually appealing, but soft, comforting and plush. And just like with the light fixtures, a DIY pillow case can do wonders for a luxurious feel of the entire room.

When wanting to achieve that luxurious look that you will love to show off and others will envy, use these simple, frugal tips to get that feel. They can instantly add the sophistication you are looking for and be the class you wish to add. Get that exquisite feel with a little work and smart, yet frugal investments and love the end result.
Interior design trends come and go with the seasons, but it’s still great fun to be a part of them or to at least be able to choose your favourite one and stick with it. However, the cost of recreating these design trends at home can be overwhelming. Yet, there is a way round it, and that’s by choosing the frugalful design trends.


Vintage Furniture
If you’re a big fan of the vintage trend, you’ll know that creating a vintage design of your own is expensive. Following the frugal path is inexpensive but therefore time-consuming, but that is part of the vintage fun. Combing flea markets for great bargains on large and vintage style furniture is one way to go about it, as great bargains can be spruced up to better fit the trend with a very thin lack of paint in a pale color such as white or pastel blue. Another option to recreate this trend is by using the art of upcycling. Within upcycling, everyday objects are crafted into trendy and new items for your home. You can craft some wooden shutters into a vintage style bedside cabinet by using some wood glue and again sprucing the finished product up with some paint. 

Accessories
It’s the little added touches that make the difference between a nice design and a great design, and while accent cushions are pretty their price is pretty steep, too. Try buying some plain pillows and cushions which are on sale and have a go at making the trendy covers for these cushions by using old curtains, preferably ones with really funky patterns. Alternatively, you could buy some patterned material and even ask a friend who’s skilled with the sewing machine to help you out. 

Chic bowls are another popular design accessory, which can be recreated with some cheap plastic toys. You can carefully (very carefully, preferably outside and after doing some intense research) melt some barrel monkeys so that they stick together but are still recognisable as monkeys and then shape them into a bowl by pressing the linked monkeys between two cereal bowls. After the plastic has dried you have a very trendy fruit bowl to act as an interesting feature. 

Creative storage solutions are another trending design feature, and this can be easily and frugally recreated. Simply keep hold of jam jars and pasta sauce jars. These can be washed out and colored either with paint or by gluing colored crepe paper inside them, and then be used to keep spices, pasta bows or twirls, sweets or even Satsuma oranges and new potatoes if you use large, square jars, in them. Alternatively, these colorful jars can be used to substitute elaborate candle sticks by being chic tea light holders.

There are many ways in which you can mimic design in a more frugal manner. Often buying the cheap alternative or crafting the item yourself to then add your own personal touch to the design (lack of paint does wonders), is all you need to keep up with the ever changing world of interior design.
This article was written by Sarah Oxley on behalf of Shutters Direct, providers of quality wooden shutters. You can visit their site here. Sarah is an interior design enthusiast, but who likes the designs to be personal so she enjoys recreating design trends in a crafty and frugal manner.
Fall décor is rich in color and tones. Golds, browns, yellows, blacks, grays, dark reds and more give the room an opulent look while not appearing oppressive or dreary. Think of the two-thirds rule. Two-thirds of a pattern balances with one-third of a solid color. Two-thirds of one sized decoration (such as a pillow), balances with one-third of a different size. Here is a list of the top eight must haves for the fall décor season.

Blankets are back, and as strong as ever. Choose washable fabrics for easy cleaning. Microfiber, polyester, cotton and other fabrics are warm and inviting. Choose plain, patterned, woven or knit blankets and use as throws or wall decorations.

Natural decorations such as pumpkins, gourds, branches, leaves and dried flowersare always in fall style. Find many items in the back yard, at farmer's markets or from friends. Plastic fruits find an inviting place among the natural items. Cover them with glitter, beads or sequins for more interest. Corn and corn stalks, dried grasses, dried flowers and leaves adorn walls, mantle pieces or become interesting centerpieces.

Never forget scented candles to announce the fall season. Have several in different widths, heights and scents. Choose apple pie scent for a special intimate evening. Light a pumpkin pie candle for a dinner party. Vanilla, bearberry and other fall scents are available to make the evening special.

Use traditional and non-traditional containers for interest. Natural baskets, wooden chests, glass vases, old canning jars with wire locked lids all provide a fall look with natural colors. Fill the jars with pebbles, glass beads or small ornaments to highlight the room.

Purchase bedding, linens and towels in fall colors to carry the theme throughout the house. In bathrooms, linens and rugs sport fall colors and patterns. Curtains need not be changed unless they are brightly colored and do not fit the scheme. Inexpensive, washable curtains are available, often at discount prices. Since they will be hung for only a season, they need not be expensive or heavy. Separate thermal or light-blocking liners can provide insulation.

Floor mats, rugs and area rugs change the entire look of the room. Lay an area rug on top of existing carpet and place furniture strategically to keep it from moving. At the end of the season, these roll up for storage or can be sold or given away. Hang an interesting area rug on the wall as a removable mural.

Cover furniture that has seen better days with slipcovers in fall colors. Blankets work well for this too. Tucked in at strategic points, attached with safety pins or upholstery pins, they bring tired furniture into the season. Cover dining room chairs with covers and tie with contrasting ribbons.

Tablecloths, runners and napkins in complimenting colors to the décor make the table a focal point, especially for dinner parties and regular meals. Carry the other elements to the table, kitchen and dining room. Inexpensive dishes in complimentary colors or patterns bring style to the décor.

Fall decorating need not be expensive, or a headache. Purchase different items throughout the year at garage sales, flea markets and at clearance bins. Many items can be dyed, spray painted or embellished with glitter, beads, and so forth. With minimal effort, the house will look spectacular and warmly inviting.
Nicole Rodgers has been blogging in the design, fitness, and eco friendly industries for three years. Last year Nicole decided in order to save money and be prepared to this fall she bought all her fall decorations at an after christmas sale. This year Nicole also made sure to find more modern decorations to go with her the decorations her bought last year. Nicole made it a priority to check her local daily deals section in the newspaper to find everything she wanted.
In times of economic hardship it is difficult to spend money making sure that your home is pleasant and up to date with decorative trends. For many of us, splashing out on a new lamp of artwork simply isn’t an option, but there is no reason that the look of your house should suffer. If you want to redecorate, you just need to be a little creative, and work with what you’ve got. In no time you can transform your home, for minimal cost. Just remember these three ideas:
  • Recycle
  • Rearrange
  • Create
One of the easiest ways in which to decorate your home without making a dent in your budget is to rejuvenate existing items. In a lot of cases, older, boring pieces can be recycled to create something completely new and exciting. For example, an old table just needs to be sanded down and varnished or painted in order to create a wonderful new conversation piece that will change the entire feel of a room. And old chairs can be given a new lease on life by creating new cushions on them, which is as easy as one two three. If you have any old photographs lying around, why not make a collage that can function as personalized art? Using what you have is a great way to save money and freshen up your home.

Another great decorating idea is just to rearrange the layout of your rooms. Over time, you are bound to become bored with the way things are laid out, so shake things up. Do a little bit of research on topics like Feng Shui, or simply change things as you see fit. Larger rooms, such as dining rooms and lounges, can be instantly transformed by shifting the furniture. This type of cleansing exercise might also unearth pieces for recycling (see above) or possibly even sale.

The last guiding principle when you are decorating on a tight budget is to be creative and make things yourself. The greatest advantage of taking on decorating projects like this is that you can engage the whole family. Design projects like this will often lead to the creation of a sentimental, personal piece that will really make your home a home. Why not get the whole family to choose their favourite photograph and then create a piece of sequence art for your lounge. You can even make the frames yourself.

Be creative, try new things and look around at home - you will be able to decorate your house in a homely, personal way that won’t break the bank. Keep an eye out for useful magazines and TV shows if you’re not sure where to start.
 Victoria is a freelance writer that is very fond of art.