Make It Easy
Three Easy Pieces
Easy Home Accents
In decorating, change is a good thing. An easy way to freshen a room’s look is to change accessories. You can do that by switching things you already have from one room to another. Doing it that way won’t cost you a thing and you may be surprised at the difference it makes.
The next easiest thing to do is to shop the dollar store for inexpensive items that can be used alone or put together to make something totally new. The three suggestions following, range in price from a buck to $13 but you may already have some of these materials at hand.
Add a little inexpensive bling to your curtains. A three-strand necklace makes a change from the usual tassel tieback. Just do it up around the curtain and attach it to a small hook screwed into the wall. Experiment with different types of necklaces you may have on hand to get a look that’s right for your curtain and room décor. Or buy a couple of new ones at the dollar store; they’re very inexpensive.
A do-it-yourself candelabra is as easy as collecting a few candlesticks together on a tray. I like the look of glass candlesticks on a silver-colored tray but you could try this with any collection of candlesticks. They don’t necessarily have to match, but all of the pieces should be the same color. Varying the heights of the candlesticks furthers the illusion of real candelabra.
Depending on the occasion, use different colored candles and sprinkle the tray with confetti. For instance, for Valentine’s Day you could use red candles and red heart-shaped confetti, heart-shaped acrylic stones or fabric flower petals to decorate the tray.
I often see things in department stores that I know I can redo in dollar store style. The difference between their decoration and mine is, those plants were real and mine are fakes. Otherwise, these decorations are surprisingly easy to make.
Start with a square vase and pour enough sand into the bottom to anchor a plant. You can use colored sand, if you prefer.
For the first two arrangements, I used a cactus plant that came in a miniature pot. Push the pot down into the sand in the middle of the vase so the rim of the pot is below the top of the vase. Nestle an engraved stone into the sand right up against one side of the vase and fill in the empty spaces with mini river rocks so that the top of the pot is covered and only the plant shows.
The larger “plant” was done the same way only using a single green stem, which you can cut to the desired height. They’re decorative, you don’t have to water them and when you get tired of your creations, all of the materials can be reused for other projects.
