HGTV star and decorating expert, Libby Langdon, has a seemingly endless stream of incredibly creative ideas for making the home sparkle during the holidays. By using ordinary objects in extraordinary ways, she creates inviting and elegant living spaces that are as easy on the wallet as they are on the eye. Well, more than easy on the eye. See for yourself! –Glam Living Staff

Quick and Easy Inexpensive Décor Ideas:

Modern Fall Table  Set lots of tall glass cylinders or vases down the center of your dining table, fill some with pillar candles, fill one with persimmons, one with kumquats, one with tangerines, one with baby artichokes and one with small seckle pears.  Fill the remaining ones with fall leaves, baby pine cones and tall twigs.

Acorn Candle Hurricanes  This works with any clear vase, pitcher or hurricane you have; just place a fat cream pillar candle in the glass container and surround the base of the candle, about 4″ up, with acorns.  If the squirrels have already gotten all the acorns, this works with a few brightly colored fall leaves.

“Thankful” Stone Place Cards and Centerpiece  Gather smooth creamy river rocks from a lake, pond or beach or buy a big bag of them at a local garden center or home improvement store.  Write each guest’s name with a black Sharpie pen on a stone and rest them on napkins at each place setting on the table.  Fill a large glass bowl or vase with the remaining river stones and a glass of black Sharpie pens on a buffet.  When guests arrive, ask them to write what they are thankful for in one word on a stone (they can do as many as they like)… have the table set with a bamboo or cork runner (or any runner you have) down the center and set patches of moss on top of the runner.  Ask guests to place their “thankful stones” down the center of the tables in and around the moss and then complete the table setting by adding loads of little white votive candles in clear glass holders to create a warm glow.  This is a fun idea because the stones double as place cards and it’s also a conversation starter that gets people talking at the table about what they are thankful for.

Wine Crate Cheese Platter  Use an old wooden wine crate as a cheese platter and wine holder.  Angle the top of the crate over the crate box, so there’s about a 7″ space open down to the bottom of the box.  Lay down some fall leaves on the top of the box and place the cheese on top of the leaves.  In the open area inside the box place an open bottle of wine so guests can refill their glasses as they enjoy the cheese!

Twig Hurricanes  Find delicate brown twigs in your yard and attach the twigs to the outside of a cylindrical vase or hurricane using a small amount of hot glue to temporarily hold them in place.  Attach them so the thicker part of the twig is at the base and the smaller finer top of the branch goes up to the top of the cylinder.  Put them sparingly around the entire cylinder then secure them by tying twine around them at the base of the cylinder and another tie about halfway up.  You can use the hot glue again to secure the twine to the twigs and when the season changes just pull them off (the hot glue will come right off the glass).

Slate Cheese/Chalk Board Fall is the perfect time for a cheese plate and you can easily make your own by using a piece of dark charcoal slate from a home improvement store.  Set leaves (paper or real) on the slate and set the different cheeses you’re serving on top of the leaves. Use chalk directly on the slate to label the different cheeses and wipe clean when finished.  Set a rubber mat or potholder under the slate to keep from scratching your table surface.

Bucket of Branches  This is a great way to add beautiful fall color to your dining room or living room. Simply cut several tree branches that still have fall foliage on them (about 25″-30″ high) and place them in a bucket or glass vase.  It adds height and scale to a room as well as an elegant, autumn mood.

Bobbing Apple Votives  Fill large earthenware bowls or galvanized buckets with water and float a bunch of apples to see how they balance in water (each one will float differently) and mark their topsides with a dot.  Place a tea light over the dot and trace around the tea light with a pen.  Using a good utility knife or pairing knife, cut into the apple vertically as deep as the tea light is tall. Insert the tea light and float bunches of apples in the bowl or bucket.  These are a wonderful way to greet your guests as they enter your house for the holidays!

Bittersweet Berry Votives  Tie a couple of small twigs of bittersweet berries around clear glass votives with twine or narrow rust colored satin ribbon.  This is so fast and easy and it’s little touches like this that take your table from ordinary to extraordinary.

Silverware Ribbon Ties  This is a simple, elegant way to dress up your place settings.  Group the fork, knife and spoon together and tie them together at the top of the handles with double face satin ribbon.  In the tie also include an herb sprig (rosemary, thyme or sage), a fall leaf or a cluster of dried lavender.  Choose the ribbon in a fall color that will coordinate with your table linens and dishes; chocolate brown, olive green, rusty orange or a deep russet red are great choices.  Set the table with the dinner plates, a simple rectangular folded napkin on top of the plate, and rest the ribbon tied silverware/herbs on top of the napkin.  You can add an extra touch by handwriting place cards to tuck in the bunches of herbs.

Acorn Place Card Holders  Hot glue together clusters of acorns, rest a place card in between one or two of the acorns at each place setting.  It’s simple and quick and just gives that extra touch!

Fall Cocktail Napkins  Dress up plain paper cocktail napkins by using a large leaf stamp and a gold stamp pad.

Pine Cone Place Card Holders  Simply collect pine cones from your yard (or your neighbor’s yard) and place a single small card with each guest’s name on it at their place resting on a folded napkin.  It’s so simple but still adds a special touch.

Candle Decorations – simple ways to spruce up your candlelight:

Artichoke Candles  Snip off 1 ½” from the top of a green or purple artichoke, trim the sharp pointed edges of the outer leaves and cut the base stem so the artichoke will sit on the table.  Push open the leaves at the top with a fork and nestle in a votive candle with about ¾” of the candle sticking out on top of the artichoke.  Place several of them down the center of the table for a centerpiece or incorporate them with another centerpiece.  The next day you can cook the artichokes so they don’t go to waste!

Cinnamon Stick Candle Take a low pillar candle and stick two rows of clear double stick tape around it. Then surround the candle with whole cinnamon sticks placed vertically side-by-side (The tape will keep them in place just long enough for you secure them with a ribbon). Tie a rust orange satin ribbon around the candle to secure cinnamon sticks and nestle in a sprig of fresh rosemary at the knot of the ribbon.  This fragrant candle is wonderful for your table but is also great on a side table in the living room or entryway.  This also works well substituting small twigs instead of cinnamon sticks or even brightly colored fall leaves wrapped around the candle in place of the cinnamon sticks.

Ribbon Pillar Candles  A fast way to dress up plain pillar candles is to wrap the candle first with a wide ribbon (about 3″ wide) and it can be solid satin or grosgrain ribbon or a plaid ribbon with rich fall colors.  Then secure that wide ribbon with a narrow ¼” ribbon and a single knot and nestle in a sprig of wheat or dried grass at the knot.

Centerpieces - these are a little more work but still pretty easy and definitely worth the extra effort:

Fall Feather Swags And Centerpiece  Group together magnolia leaves, pepper berries, and pine cones; they can be wired together or you can simply arrange them together on the table in three places. Use one large grouping in the center and two smaller “swags” on either end.  Once they are arranged on the table, insert some brown and tan feathers, long and medium lengths, into the groupings. You could also add in sprigs of dried wheat or sea grass. The feathers add texture and visual interest as well as a modern element.  You can also use an eggplant-colored felt runner under the centerpiece and swags for an extra hit of contrasting color.

White Pumpkin Centerpiece On Woven Ribbon Cloth Cover  Place a table protector or mat on your dining table and set your tablecloth over it. Buy rolls of ribbon in various widths and in all different rich fall colors. Cut several long pieces of ribbon the same width and length of your tablecloth.  Lay out the ribbons one at a time length-ways and width-ways and spaced apart on the tablecloth about 5″-7″. You will basically be weaving the ribbons over and under each other until you have a large woven ribbon pattern that goes on top of your tablecloth. Secure the ribbons at the edge of the table by pushing straight pins (with the small colored heads) through the ribbon, through the tablecloth, and into the table protector or mat.  For the centerpiece, set out all white pumpkins and gourds in various sizes and weave in pepper berry vines between them; then place tons of glass white votives in and around all the pumpkins. They will reflect a light, glowing white candlelight and be a wonderful contrast to the bright woven ribbon runner tablecloth.

More images can be found at www.libbylangdon.com under the Thanksgiving Special on the homepage!

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