Six Fall Centerpieces for $31

In order to make the noon dining experience at the East Nashville CoOp a little more joyful and colorful, I decided that the tables needed some centerpieces.  Fall is such a beautiful time of year with so many lovely colors to choose from, so I headed to my favorite place for inexpensive, but oh so usable items, The Dollar Tree.

First I needed some containers.  Now we know that everything at Dollar Tree costs one dollar, so cost is not the issue, it is finding the very thing you want to use.  I wandered up and down the aisles just checking things out.  The thing about Dollar Tree is, you never know just what you are going to find that will make that little lightbulb go off in your head and you'll say, that's it.  That's the perfect thing.

I am walking up and down aisles, and ta da, there they were.  Just the very thing I needed.

Have any idea what these are?  They are ice cream bowls and they looked like little pumpkins to me AND they were 2 for $1.00.  Now that's my price.  They even had cute little spoons that I didn't need for the centerpieces, so I put them in the drawer because Halloween is coming and I know some grandsons who I can use these for.  I got so many useful items for $3.00 - 6 bowls and 6 spoons.  Yes!

They were putting out fall items and I spied these lovely felt fall leaves in different colors.  They are about the size of a place mat.  Six of those in different colors went in my basket.

Now, I needed some styrofoam to use for my arrangements and they had these wonderful little pieces that fit exactly inside the ice cream bowls.  I LOVE when that happens.  Score!

 (You will want to anchor the styrofoam to the bottom of your container with hot glue).

Next, I needed flowers, so I went to the rack with all the fall flower bushes and picked assorted mums, black eyed susans, and fall leaves in oranges, burgundies, yellows and browns.  I realize I am always using the term "flower bush" and you may not know what that is.  A flower bush has multiple stems of flowers attached to one main stem.

On this particular bush, there are 6 flowers for $1.00.  That is quite a bargain.  I guestimated 3 bushes per container and I even had a couple of flowers left over.  I wanted round centerpieces (or what we always called roundy moundies in the floral business), not too tall so everyone could still converse without the interference of a centerpiece.  Here is the result of this effort.

Six lovely centerpieces in a variety of colors with different felt leaves to sit on.  Now, do I have a picture of the tables at the CoOp?  Oh no.  I keep forgetting to take one, BUT they look lovely in the middle of the tables.  They add color, fall flare and ambiance - like eating at a nice restaurant which is the effect I was going for.  Everyone deserves a pleasant dining experience, don't you think?

If you have a fall event in your future and you need some inexpensive centerpieces, don't forget to check out your local Dollar Tree.  You will be amazed at the wonderful things you can find there and how much money you can save.  Just use your imagination.  Think outside the box.  Of course ice cream bowls make lovely containers for floral arrangements, or maybe some wine glasses, or fish bowls.  Look at things with new and different eyes.  Or, check out Dollar Tree Crafts.com for some great ideas!  Why spend more money than you have to?  Your project can still look terrific, even with a little economy.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

He who does not economize will have to agonize.  ~Confucius