Fall Table Decor

Cost Effective

I feel as though I am about to give you a peak behind the curtain. I may take away some of the magic, but really these little tricks are too good not to share! While this fall table setting may look glamorous, would you believe that each setting costs LESS than $6.00!? That’s right $6.00 and that includes flatware, plate, stemware, napkins, chargers etc..

Cutlery

How did I do it? It’s simple. It’s all plastic my friend. It all started a few years ago when I was working on my 2018 Fall Table setting. It was at that time that gold flatware was just coming in and it was all the rage. All the social media designers were using them, and I loved them… but I was not about to spend $$$ just to take a handful of pictures. So I started to look at other options. I honestly considered spray painting old utensils just so I could take some pictures. Then I found gold plastic utensils! I figured it was worth a shot, brought them home, took some photos and no one was the wiser. (Obviously if you look closely and handle them it is clearly plastic but that doesn’t bother me one bit.) Honestly, when I am entertaining for the Holiday’s I love being able to toss my utensils.

Stemware

After I had discovered plastic flatware, I started to wonder where else I could trim the budget when creating table settings.

Over the years I have found that I can find glassware moderately priced. The green glasses featured in this years setting were found in the Dollar Spot at Target (Sorry, I don’t have a link for you.) However, in years past I have found awesome glasses at the Dollar Tree! In the image above (Fall 2018) the glasses pictured are from the Dollar Tree!

Plates

Last year I hosted our Family Reunion/Thanksgiving and I didn’t want everyone to have to use paper plates… It was then that I found $.50 Matte Plastic Plates at Target!

Chargers

Chargers are another inexpensive item I love to incorporate into table settings. For a small price they make a big impact. Every year Micahels’ runs sales on their chargers that come in assorted colors. I can usually pick them up for about $1.00 when they are on sale.

Napkins

Lastly, napkins. I strongly believe that using cloth napkins makes a table setting look sophisticated. Sure we might be using plastic forks, but once you pick up a cloth napkin and place it in your lap, you forget all about the plastic cutlery.

If you break down the pricing, it comes to roughly $6.00 for each setting!

I still use my black plates on a daily basis and the cups are still used for everyday use. The chargers I typically reuse for Christmas and the napkins are cloth and will be cleaned and stored for another time. All in all, I don’t feel like any $$ is wasted on this Fall Table Setting that might otherwise appear unpractical. That my friend is what we call “Form Meeting Function” and I am HERE for it!

Sources

 Table Setting

• Plastic Black Plates
• Clay Cloth Napkins
• Rust Red Throw Pillows
• Gold Chargers
• Gold Plastic Utensils
• Green Goblets (Target Dollar Spot Fall 2021)
• Ashland Huckleberry Greenery
• Seed Pods

Furniture Sources

• Black Outdoor Chairs (Target 2019) Here is something similar.
• Dining Table
• Chair Slip Covers
• Curio Cabinet (Craigslist Makeover)

Room Sources

• Loloi Olive and Charcoal Rug
• Brick Wall Tutorial
• Light Fixture Tutorial
• Wall Color “Agreeable Gray”  Sherwin Williams
• Artwork (Frames: Hobby Lobby,  ArtWork: Etsy)

 If you are looking for even more Fall Table Setting ideas,   here are a few throwbacks to years past.

In 2017  I was heavy into the apple orchard vibe. You can read more about my “2017 Fall  Home Tour” here.

 Thanks so much for reading along  and learning more about how you can create a Cheap Fall Table Setting.

 Take Luck ,
Corey

The post Fall Table Setting appeared first on Sawdust 2 Stitches.

I have been on the hunt for an affordable over the garage trellis option. After searching high and low I ultimately decided a budget friendly garage trellis did not exist. Instead of wasting more time searching I put on my thinking cap and designed and built my own affordable and aesthetically pleasing over the garage trellis!

Cut Boards for Corbels

Cut all necessary boards. (Determined by the desired number of corbel/brackets.) In my case I utilized a total of three brackets to span over a 2-car garage entry.  I used to “Large” corbels for the sides, and one “Small” corbel as a center support. 

Drill Holes

I found that it was very helpful using a speed square accurately mark the hole placement.  Word to the wise, mark the placement for all the corbels at the same time.  This will ensure that the holes will all line up when ultimately run the poles through the corbels. 

*Something to consider:  Before drilling determine the best size bit for your rods.  I used inexpensive IKEA curtain rods.  These rods worked best when I used a 7/8” paddle bit to dill out the hole. 

 I opted to use a drill press; this required a lot of resituating the depth of the drill as I drilled through the board.  While it required a little work, I highly recommend using a drill press. 

If using a drill press is not possible, a drill is still an option. It will just require a very level and steady hand. 

Another Option:  Drilling straight holes through the entirety of the 5.5” board is definitely the trickiest part of this build, there are a few ways to adjust the skill level.  Using a 2×4” board as opposed to a 2×6” board will make the step easier.  It will change the overall aesthetics, but it is an option. 

Cut Chamfered Edge on Corbel Board (Optional)

 I opted to add a chamfered edge to the ends of my boards.  This is not a necessary step, I simply wanted to jazz up my corbels. You can achieve this look. By either using a router or a table saw. 

In order to create a chamfer edge, I set my table saw blade on a 45 degree angle. In order to prevent cutting my rip fence I used clamps to secure a scrap board to the fence. 

Sand and Seal Corbel Boards

Before assembling I sanded all my boards and then treated them with and exterior stain and sealer. 

I used Olympic Elite exterior Stain and Sealant in the color “American Chesnut” I used this same stain when I created my “Vertical Planter” and I loved it so I used it again.

Construct Corbels

Using 4” exterior use screws secure the horizontal board to the (soon to be wall mounted) vertical board.  Reference the PDF Plan(s) to see the designated measurements. 

Secure Corbels to Wall

 In my case I will be attaching my trellis brackets to our stucco/block home.  Seeing as I will be drilling into concrete, I’ll need to take a few extra steps. In order to secure it into masonry I will need to use a sleeve anchor.  They are basically a mollie for concrete. I am using a 4” long by 1/2” diameter sleeve anchor. 

To use these anchors, I need to drill a ½” hole to accommodate the sleeve. I drilled a hole at both the top and the bottom center of my brackets. 

BEFORE YOU GET DRILL HAPPY…  take the time to check, double-check, and triple-check the placement of the corbels.  They will need to be perfectly level in order to accommodate the poles that will run through them.  I began by installing my center bracket first and then took careful measurements to figure out the positions of the side corbels. 

Once the holes were drilled in the bracket, I positioned the bracket in the desired location.  While holding the bracket in place I used the holes pre-drilled as a template for drilling holes in the masonry. 

Drilling holes in masonry is not as scary as it sounds, so long as you use the right tools. I suggest a ½” masonry bit and a “hammer drill”.  (Pictured below is a “Rotary Hammer Drill”.) 

 I drilled a hole approximately 3” deep into the masonry. This measurement considers the length of the anchor and the depth of the bracket board

After hole is drilled into masonry, insert the anchor sleeve through the wooden bracket and into the hole drilled in the masonry.  It should be a snug fit but should slide in without the use of tools. (If necessary. use a rubber mallet to tap into place.)

Once the anchor is in place use a wrench to tighten the anchor.  The anchor will expand as you tighten the bolt ensuring that the bracket is securely attached to the wall.   

    I knew I wanted the hardware to all be black, however I also knew that painting them before tightening the bolts would scratch up the paint job. Instead, I installed all the hardware and then cut a 1” hole in a scrap piece of paneling and used it to mask off the rest of the corbel and expose the unpainted nut. I used a satin black paint and primer and it worked like a charm. 

Almost done!  In order to complete the over the garage trellis we needed to connect our  corbels. To do this I used inexpensive  curtain rods from Ikea.  I found that they worked excellent and the fact that the could extend made it a great option.  

Another great option would be using ½” electrical conduit.  I liked using the curtain rods because they came with everything I needed to add finials (end caps),  but fear not I have a tutorial  how-to add finials to electrical conduit curtain rod here. 

 Once all the rods are in place, add finials (if desired) and add a vining variety plant. I opted for Bougainvillea that I purchased a few month prior to building my over the garage trellis.   In order to help it reach the new corbels I did build a small trellis that would bridge distance between the corbels and the ground. 

 That just about wraps up yet another homerun DIY project.  I had looked into over the garage trellis options for years and never found anything affordable.  I’d like to think that I knocked this inexpensive DIY out of the park. 

 Thanks for following along. 

Take Luck, 

Corey

Make it easy to organize your projects by Pinning it !

The post Add Character by Adding a Gorgeous DIY Garage Trellis appeared first on Sawdust 2 Stitches.

 This year, I was torn over the look I wanted to create.  I always LOVE traditional red,  but it got me thinking…  green and golds are also very traditional.  So, I decided to try a traditional route that wasn’t too… traditional?    I love the dark hunter green coupled with the bright brass. Whilst decorating I did get a bit of a wild hair and threw in  a touch of deep blue.  I know,  I know, I went totally  nuts,  but I love it and  I stand by my  devil may care attitude towards my “traditional tree”.  It’s pretty and I like it.
So, without further ado,  allow me to present you with my 2018 Christmas Holiday Home Tour!

 It really was a go with the flow theme,  I didn’t have a firm game plan, but I just started adding things, and it seemed to pan out alright.  I used the navy from last years tree. (If you are looking for more ideas, I strongly suggest you check out last year’s tree!)  The modern wreaths that I made were really  a source of inspiration when it came to decorating the tree.  The brass was such a delicate look, that packed a punch, so I tried to pull in the look without it being overpowering. Funny story, I actually picked up all the french horns at a garage sale about 8 years ago! #winning Last year, I picked up these large bells at the Michael’s end of season sale for cheap!  So when I pulled them out I knew just what to do with them.   I grabbed a can of spray paint and lightly dusted them with gold spray paint to give them a matte brass look. (They were originally a galvanized metal.) Now this might be my favorite part…  last year I made a beautiful piece of wall art that I displayed ornaments in/on. (Check it out here.)  This year I decided to use the modern wreaths as my wall decor, leaving me with a very large unused piece of wall decor. What is a girl to do?  I temporarily re-purposed and made it into an over-sized chalkboard and added some swag.  For the cost of a piece of paneling I had a major statement piece, and I LOVE IT! Another staple piece when it comes to seasonal decor is my carboy jug crate. (You can get the build plans here.)  I just switch out the stems every season and it gives the room an updated look for cheap! Last stop.  The dining room.  I love a beautiful, albeit impractical tablescape. I pulled the brass and green theme into the kitchen and called it good.  Over time I have noticed a theme to my tablescapes… whatever the focal piece is, I tend to buy about 3 x’s more than what I originally  plan for, and THEN it comes together.   I don’t know why that is, for some reason when it comes to my table decor,  more is always better! Impractical yes,  but oh-so pretty! 

Well, there you have it, my 2018 Christmas Holiday Home Tour. I hope you enjoyed it! Now, before you check out, might I suggest you head over to “The DIY Mommy” next?  From there she will direct you to another fabulous home tour.  If you continue the pattern you will eventually end up right back here,  but you will have seen so many beautiful homes and your head will be bursting with brilliant ideas!   Have fun and enjoy.

 Take Luck,

Corey

Today I’m joined by some talented friends who are also sharing part of their Christmas home tour with you…

Friday

The Happy Housie
Home Made Lovely
Maison de Pax
Just a Girl and Her Blog
Hallstrom Home

Jamie Costiglio
Sawdust 2 Stitches
The DIY Mommy
Summer Adams
All Things With Purpose

And the sharing has been going on all week long!

Monday

The Happy Housie
House of Wood
Inspiration for Moms
Town and Country Living
In My Own Style

The Turquoise Home
Amber Tysl
Deeply Southern Home
Tauni Everett

Tuesday

Sincerely, Marie Designs
Satori Design for Living
Finding Silver Pennies
Willow Street Interiors
Confessions of a Serial DIYer

Happy Happy Nester
Life is a Party
Two Twenty One
Tatertots and Jello

Wednesday

Lemon Thistle
So Much Better With Age
Taryn Whiteaker
Love Create Celebrate
Rambling Renovators

Clean and Scentsible
House by Hoff
A Pretty Life
Modern Glam

Thursday

Rooms FOR Rent
Shabbyfufu
Stacy Risenmay
Jenna Kate at Home

Sand & Sisal
Paint Me Pink
Place of My Taste
Maison de Cinq

The post Holiday Home Tour 2018 appeared first on Sawdust 2 Stitches.

Today I’m joined by a group of my talented blogging friends who are also sharing their holiday mantel and vignettes ideas with you…

The Happy Housie // House by Hoff // Rooms FOR Rent // The Turquoise Home

Lolly Jane // Just a Girl and Her Blog / / Taryn Whiteaker Designs / / My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

So Much Better With Age // Finding Silver Pennies // Home Made Lovely // Designthusiasm

tatertots and jello // Clean and Scentsible // All Things With Purpose // Tauni Everett

Craftberry Bush // Hallstrom Home // Rambling Renovators // Deeply Southern Home

Modern Glam // Summer Adams // Happy Happy Nester // Town and Country Living

Willow Street Interiors // Sawdust to Stitches // Life is a Party

The post Modern Wreath Christmas Vignette appeared first on Sawdust 2 Stitches.

I have to admit,   I am VERY proud of myself in regards to this season’s color palette.  I  Corey Decker  used color!   It’s not even just blue and green, it has reds, and oranges, and gorgeous jewel tones.  I am so dang proud of myself!
  I even  tried out using some deep hunter green  stemware!  I loved it, but I think I gravitated back towards the clear glass by the end of the photo shoot,  but I did include a couple of the outtakes! For the actual table setting,  I kept it simple.  I used our everyday white dishes,  threw in a napkin for some color and a basic piece of brown card stock for  a name placement card.   I really just wanted to keep it as basic as possible because I felt like there was already a lot going on.  I just snagged a sprig of eucalyptus from the centerpiece and laid it delicately on the plate.  Done and done!  ( Spoiler alert:  The gold flatware are actually plastic! I use just use them for staging purposes. Winning!)
   I have never been an overly ecstatic lover of color,  but I am getting my toes wet and think I might start finding some middle ground.  Okay, now I am about to really blow your mind! Forever ago I made a table runner tray that  I use on repeat for most of my Holiday Tablescapes. Why?  Because it is so dang practical!  I love making the table look beautiful, but let’s be real.  It’s often extremely  impractical.  It’s hard to actually serve food when  your table is full of stems.  Enter in the table runner tray! Just pick it up and move it conveniently out of the way! No muss, no fuss!

Want one for your self!?  You are in luck friend,  I have  simple build plans here:

 That pretty much wraps things up!  If you want to make sure you remember this little trick for the future, make sure you pin it!

 Thanks so much, and take luck!
Corey 

The post Jewel Tone Fall Tablescape appeared first on Sawdust 2 Stitches.

Hey all!   I kid you not, I have been thinking about this simple spring centerpiece for over a year!  Last year Target started carrying cute cake plates in the Dollar Spot.  Like any normal human being I started hoarding ALL THE CAKE PLATES.  Totally normal right ?  Well,  when they are only $5, $3, and $1,  it made it a little easier to go a little crazy.  Over the course of the summer I slowly accumulated a small stash that would make Matt Paxton do a double take.

Anyways,  I may have over estimated how many of these little babies I needed… by like 23,  but who’s counting. I digress…  I had an epiphany as  I was unloading my haul from my Target bag…  I had simply unloaded  the cake plates onto the table until I could put them in their proper homes. But as I was preparing to put them away, I realized they looked beautiful AS-IS.  They were all clustered together on my table, and that’s when the “lightening struck my brain”. (10 pts. If you can name that movie.)  THIS happy accident would be my next spring centerpiece/ tablescape!

So without further ado…  I give you my completely impractical,  but totally gush-worthy spring centerpiece!

Spring Cake Plate Centerpiece

As I said,  this look simply  required repetition.  It was a very simple concept that I kept repeating.  I loved all the cake plates alone, but I wanted to add something simple that would create a little contrast…

Confession,  my hoarding issues is not limited to cake plates… I also like little ornate glass bottles,  so I pulled out my arsenal of  bottles and started staggering them through out the cake plates. All it needed was a small sprig of color and this arrangement was complete!

Once the centerpiece was complete I moved onto the actual place settings. I wanted it to also be simple,  so I AGAIN, simply  repeated elements.  I placed the same bottles, and sprigs and tied a  small homemade place setting card to it. Cost? $0.00.  Booyah.

There you have it, a beautiful tables-cape that is simple,  but based solely on repetition it gains the “Wow!” factor.

     There you have it folks, a simple design that can easily  be adapted to any season or setting! Can’t you just see it with Holly Sprigs, or sprays of wheat for fall?  Seriously,  the possibilities are endless! So make sure you pin it and save it for later!

Take Luck,

Corey

P.S. If you love this table-scape you will love what I did last spring!  You can check it out here. 

The post Simple Spring Centerpiece appeared first on Sawdust 2 Stitches.

One of my all time favorite parts of the Holidays is dressing the table for the festivities!  This year I teamed up with the great folks over at JOANN to create a tablescape that adds to the ambiance of the holidays! If you haven’t seen my  Christmas theme yet you might want to check it out here.  I wanted to continue my theme of naturals,  greens, and light colors… I don’t want to brag or anything but I think I nailed it! 

So let me walk you though how I developed the foundation for my tablescape.   I wanted to carry the use of grapevine from my tree to my table, and this is how I did it!  I purchased some grapevine garland from JOANN,  I was able to stretch it out and loosen it up to create a nice slow looping motion. 

In order to make the grapevine stay in the shape I wanted it to, I used a long strip of wood and a staple gun!  I simply tacked the grapevine to the wood to act as a stabilizer. 

I repeated the process down the length of the table.  Next up I added  a simple Pine Garland from JOANN.  It was very realistic and had pine cones, and with the holiday sales they were running I was able to pick it up for $12! Nice.  Next  I needed to add some filler.  I wasn’t entirely certain what I was going to use as a filler, but then as I was browsing JOANN it hit me… or rather I nearly  ran it over.  They had a huge display of clear ornaments!  There was something about them… I like the way they reflected light, and the simplicity of them. So I grabbed an assortment of sizes and prayed my idea would work!  Before checking our  I grabbed a handful of miniature Christmas light strands to play around with and then headed home to experiment.

*Spoiler Alert* It all pans out! 

Well those little stands of light I grabbed as an impulse buy were my saving grace. I threw a few strand in a handful of their large craft bulbs and had a CLEAR winner. (See what I did there?) I ended up adding a touch of gold spray paint to the ornament caps.  You can pick up the spray paint at JOANN and it took all of 5 minutes to do. So if you want to change up your color scheme a bit, this is a great way to do it!

Lastly,  I added a small piece of ribbon to the tops of the ornaments. It just looked like it was missing something, and apparently that “something”was a simple white satin ribbon. AGAIN,  changing out this simple ribbon could be a great way to coordinate with your other home decor. So just mull that option over. 

I also added a simple runner made from ticking available at JOANN fabric section. It tied in the rest of my chargers and flatware perfectly.  

I wanted to carry the centerpiece into my  individual place settings as well, so I fastened a small clear ornament  to a white satin ribbon, and used it in lieu of a napkin ring.  I then snipped a small clipping from my pine garland runner and tucked it in the ribbon.  These little touches cost about $5 TOTAL  to add flare to every place setting! Not too shabby! 

That just about does it! Hopefully I have sparked an idea or two!? All I know is that I now want to use lights in large clear bulbs EVERYWHERE!  I just love the look!

In order to make life less complicated here are links to most of the items I used for this tablescape:

• Battery Operated Lights
• Grapevine
• Pine Garland 
• Runner Fabric
• Ribbon 
• Large Clear Ornaments 
• Small Clear Ornaments

 Thanks so much for reading along, and for the continual  support of my sponsors. It is thanks to companies like JOANN that I can continue to bring you content at no additional cost to you.  Thanks All, and Happy Holidays!

  Take Luck,

 Corey

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of JOANN. The opinions and text are all mine.

Synchronous Tag: Non Synchronous Tag;

The post Christmas Ornament Tabelscape appeared first on Sawdust 2 Stitches.

I went with a flocked white tree this year from King of Christmas.  I went with a lot of natural elements.  I loved the grapevine I used last year so no sense reinventing the wheel with that. Want to use it on yours ?  Here is a trick I use when adding grapevine.

So my theme was lots of naturals, white, and light gray blues tones.  Lots of eucalyptus (hobby lobby), Juniper (Hobby Lobby and Michaels) The blue hue berries are actually from the spring stem collection at Michaels. AT the end of the season I CLEARED them out!  I told you I start plotting early!   I also fell in love with clear bulbs this season and filled them with lots of different natural elements. LOVE!

While  I do miss my vivid pops of red, and will probably  go back to it next year I love the soothing natural feel of this theme!

Like I said, I really  get into decorating for Christmas, so I created a piece of wall art that would compliment my tree!  I was really  digging my large clear ornaments so I went with that!  I wanted to showcase them, so I used that as my point of inspiration. Ta-Da!

I love how simple it it, yet packs a punch!

As for the rest of the living room, I went with a simplistic approach. I am loving the metal ring wreath this year, so I pickedd up a metal craft hoop and made my own using the eucalyptus and juniper. 

I also  placed a few small flocked trees through out the downstairs.  I picked mine up at Walmart for $30! 
Lastly  I added a little bit of holiday cheer to the stairs.  (Ignore the ugly carpet, that is on the “someday” list.)

Alright, that pretty,  much wraps up the living room for this Holiday Season.  Stay tuned for, my festive table setting coming up soon.

  Take Luck,

 Corey

The post Holiday Home Tour 2017 (Juniper Berry Inspired) appeared first on Sawdust 2 Stitches.