I’m so excited you’re here! I know you’re gonna love this challenge. A few of my blogging friends and I got together and came up with a really fun challenge. We decided we would each go out and spend no more than $15 on some decor items, all of which HAD to be on clearance, and then we would show you how we styled them into something perfect for fall! Are you ready? Once you’ve checked out what items I found and what I did with them, you are definitely going to want to go check out what my friends found and how they styled those items too! Here are their links:
Okay! Here we go!
Here are the items I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby for my challenge. As you can see in the picture, the little pink metal flower was $1.99, the little round ceramic bowl with the lid was $4.49, the metal “Faith” sign was $2.99, $2.49 for the glass bottle. So altogether I spent $12. Not even the whole $15.
Now I’m pretty sure I know what you’re thinking….you think I’m gonna make this complicated and change all these things and make them into something else and you can’t do that….WRONG! I purposely decided that for this challenge I wouldn’t do something like that. I would just style the items and anybody can do that!
I started by putting in my tall pieces at either end. I decided the sign needed a little more height so I set it up on top of a piece of wood. You can’t see it anyways with the greenery. For the other end I decided to use a riser I made. I’ll show you how some other time but it’s super easy and it hardly cost me anything….okay back to styling! I get distracted easily when it comes to DIY’s. 😉
Where was I? Oh yes! Originally I didn’t set anything on the riser, just set it in place and put the glass jar which I’m using as a vase, next to it. I needed to get the other pieces in place first so I could see what size and weight I might want on the riser.
Next comes the greenery. I would have used eucalyptus if I had some but I don’t currently so I used what I had on hand which was faux ivy. I needed something that was linear and this did the trick. You can make anything seasonal decor if you put the right pieces together. It doesn’t need to look like fall threw up in my dining room, just the overall feeling of fall.
After putting the ivy in place I started adding the lambs ear. I tucked the pieces in here and there in the same direction as my ivy was going to that it looks natural. You don’t want to place clumps straight in.
The next thing I added was the ceramic bowl. I decided I wanted to have something inside of it but I really like the decorative lid so I propped it open so it was still part of the vignette. I filled it with my faux acorns.
Pumpkins came next. Maybe the most important part. I love pumpkins. Especially the white and greenish ones. Can you tell? 😉 I spaced out the different colors and styles and nestled them into the greenery.
Okay time for a confession! Remember the pink metal flower? It’s actually for hanging on a wall but since when do I use things the way they were originally intended to be used? Yeah not often. I never planned to leave it pink from the moment I set eyes on it. I always pictured it white. And maybe a little shabby. I will think that over. For the moment I just used a little white spray paint in a matte finish to spray it white really quickly. Oh come on! That’s easy! Anyone can do that including all my kids!
After placing the flower and putting a few fall sprigs into the glass jar, I started placing different items onto the riser. Just play around. Grab something and put it in place. Stand back and take a look. Not great? Try something else. Eventually you will find the perfect thing and I did! Books!!!! Is there any place that books don’t look great in decor? I haven’t found it yet if it exists! 😀 The books looked good but they weren’t tall enough. I wanted different heights not all the same height for the taller items. No worries, I grabbed my rusty old birdcage and set it up on the books. Pretty good but not great. BEADS! Wooden beads are like books. They work anywhere and always make everything look better. I’m serious! Try it sometime and if you want to make your own strands of wooden beads like I did, click here for a tutorial.
Done! Perfect! Nope. Not quite. I could have left it there and I almost did but decided to tuck in just a few of these gorgeous little rusty colored berries. They sort of look like really big rosehips! I love them. Okay now I’m done for real.
So how did I do? This entire thing cost me all of $12 on clearance from Hobby Lobby. All of the other things I already had including spray paint for the metal flower.
Want a tip for styling seasonal decor on a budget? Here goes. Buy feature pieces that are NOT a specific season so that you can use them over and over. All of the pieces that I purchased for this challenge can be used anywhere, any time of the year. What makes this look fall then? The little accent bits that I added. The pumpkins (reusable and $.98 each at Walmart) and the acorns ($1.00 per bag from Dollar Tree) and little things like that which can be used year after year and don’t take up a whole lot of storage space the rest of the year either! Maybe I will use the same pieces at Christmas and show you how easily you can style them for a whole new look! Hmmmm……I sense a new blog post in the offing!
Remember to hop over to my friend’s websites and check out what they bought for $15 or less and how they styled it for fall. You can also join us on Instagram (look for my post showing this fall vignette for details) for a chance to win a gorgeous hand-made fall wreath by Emily from Le Cultivateur!
Enjoy your day!
(P.S. Did you even notice that the sideboard this is sitting on looks entirely different than the last time I posted a pic of it? 😉 I’ll share that transformation soon!)
What a great display! I am loving your chest of drawers. The items you found for this challenge is spot on! Love how you arranged your items in this Fall setting. I love it Tara! Was so fun working with you on any project but this was the best!
~Terrie
It was a lot of fun, wasn’t it? Thanks, Terrie
This is so gorgeously styled!!! Loved all of your fabulous tips!!! ? great job!
Thanks so much, NJ. It’s been so fun working on this with you
Oh my gosh Tara, you amaze me! Everything is so cute and I love all of your tips too! Now I can’t wait until you show us how you transformed that side table!
XO Jerri
Haha thanks Jerri. I can’t wait to show you. Just looking for the perfect hardware before I can reveal
Tara, I love all the green elements that you added to your items, and of course, those pumpkins are perfect. I love your styling tips. Great job!
Laura
Thanks, Laura. I’m partial to the whole white and green thing too. Especially when it comes to pumpkins
I LOVED YOUR CHALLENGE TARA! I looked at everyone’s, so much creativity! Of course, yours is my favorite!
Awwww you’re too sweet, Sandy! Thanks so much, lovely friend
I did notice your PS: your dresser looks completely different! I also loved your tips on buying something non-seasonal that you can use every year. Your styled dresser looks a-mazing! I’m checking out your beads tip now!
Thanks! Yes it’s a totally different look for sure and much better than the orange wood. I’ll be revealing it soon once I find hardware for it
Tara, this is beautiful!! I love that you styled things the way you bought them. I have such a horrible habit of changing almost everything that I buy!!
~Emily
So do I which is why I decided to try something different and leave the stuff alone….mostly!
Buying items that are not specific to a season but just give the feeling you are trying to evoke is my favorite trick! 🙂
Your vignette is really pretty.
It’s definitely a well used one of mine too! Thank you very much!
Tara, you definitely have an eye for creating beautiful vignettes! I love how everything came together with this challenge! Great job! P.S – I absolutely love what you did with this dresser. I can’t wait to see the full view!
Awww Thanks so much, Maria! I can’t wait to show you the entire thing
It all looks so good! I love the styling of everything and what great clearance finds!
Thank you! It was so much fun putting it all together