Frugalista Thanksgiving

The holiday season is officially here with Thanksgiving only a few days away! Your frugalistas at Frugalista Life will be pouring tons of creative, frugal tips and ideas to have a gorgeous holiday of food and decorations. These Thanksgiving ideas will not only help you save money during this season but also throughout the year!

Linens, such as napkins or tablecloths, can run on the pricey side, but you can definitely get away with cheaper options for this annual event. Many dollar stores offer attractive tablecloths that would be perfectly acceptable by your loved ones (they love you no matter what, anyway). And, not only does it make the dinner table more elegant, but using non-paper plates and napkins will save you money in the long run and help reduce waste.

Decorate from nature! Instead of wasting your hard-earned dollar on cartoonish, plastic decorations, scatter colorful (clean) leaves on the table. Add twigs and berries to an assortment of fall flowers for a centerpiece. Decorate the whole house with little pumpkins and gourds. Christmas ornaments (especially glass balls) look lovely when delicately placed in a pretty bowl. Candles, table runners and other artistic, holiday-themed objects are easily found at second-hand shops.

Here are some great crafts for the kids: You can go a far way with construction paper year-round, and I remember having so much fun doing this project. Create a turkey by tracing a hand and cutting it out of brown construction paper (or pink or blue, whatever you’d like). Your thumb is the turkey’s head and the rest of your fingers are its feathers! (Here's an example of a Hand Turkey) Or, you could be a little more elaborate and cut out several “hands” to become an array of feathers on a separate turkey’s body. Decorate with markers, glitter, anything your little one desires! (Look at this cute Festive Turkey Basket)

Older children can create fall-colored placemats: first, fold a piece of paper in half. Cut a series of lines from the fold to the edge, but leave a “1 border. Unfold it. Out of other colorful pieces of paper, cut several “1 wide long strips. Weave the strips into the first piece of paper, making sure that each piece is pushed up next to the previously woven piece. Secure the ends with glue or tape. Walla! An adorable placemat ready for the festivities.

Pine cones are also great to use during the holiday season! Decorating them with glitter can be very pretty; hang the cones up with a piece of yarn or string. Other craft items found around the house can be made useful, such as colorful pipe cleaners, pom poms, markers, paper rolls, and feathers to make little animals! Click here to look at this little guy, he’s so cute!

A beautiful Thanksgiving home isn’t essential to enjoy the delicious food and company, but it does add something a little more special in honor of the holidays. With a little imagination, you can garnish your home fabulously and still have plenty of money to spend on dinner.