Create a Great Table Yourself

You can entertain and create an very impressive table much cheaper than you might think. When I create a table for this charity luncheon I make many things myself. Often the tables done by the party rental stores look like they came out a box. They are beautiful but lack personality. Sort of like if you buy a furniture set and just put it in your home. Blah and yawn. Throw in an antique piece, a luxurious throw, some interesting art, live plants and color and you have a much better room. Add personality, texture, unexpected surprises.
Let's begin.....

Using what you have and what can you do yourself?
Lots. Just think outside the box.

A luxurious table. The table cloth was lovely and pricey. You could just do a topper to save money or stencil your own. Also, how about a pretty sheer over a simple floor length cloth. Yes, floor length, almost always.




A great centerpiece. You could use a simple parasol, add beads, crystals, glass drops, paint, trim, tassles or hang ornaments or candle votives. The same could be done to decorative boxes, place cards, vases, etc.. The base was just a wooden circle that was decorated.




I am sure these glass drops on the chargers were just glued on. Make sure and use the correct glue for your surfaces.




This napkin ring was beautiful. Look in the hair aisle for decorative ponytail holders, Christmas trim, floral picks, sewing trim, and even garlands that can be cut into short pieces.




This was big. It could be done with pvc pipe, painted and somehow secured to a base. I am not sure how to do the sections but if your man is handy give him a really good kiss and let him be your hero. Let me say glitter does not photograph well. Okay, the top was cool. A green hand holding a pumpkin. How about a head or a crow? Again, dollar store cheap stuff, paint and glitter. See the fuzzy plastic spiders? Tacky in the store, great when over the top. Throw in some black candle sticks, black, orange, purple and green candy.








Look close, the place mat is a spider web. I loved this idea. Add a cute skeleton into the napkin. For a different holiday you could tuck in an ornament, flower, candy, flower seed pack, anything. Notice the flatware is very ordinary and what makes the dishes work is the color.




How cute is this? The wine charm of coffee mugs. Details make such a difference. I wouldn't do this to fine china but just try hot glue and see if it works for a temporary solution. Glue on any little thing such as this spider. Or you could hang with pretty thread sort of like web strands.




Okay, this is tall and requires more glue and safety than I care to deal with. But, you can make your own cake platters very easily. Click here to see the ones I made. Again, spray paint is cheap, find stuff at garage sales, good will, your closets and paint away. If this is a decorative piece you could add stickers or paint detail, glue on dingle ball or sequence trims. Have fun. Go to the dollar store for flowers. If it were me, there would have been real cupcakes on there and candies.




Mix up your dishes and stuff. Yes this is the same pattern in two different colors, but why not just choose a color or two and buy different flea market dishes. I will say that this was not the table cloth I would have chosen. There is nothing whimsical about it. If you are watching pennies, cut your own stencils and brush or spray paint fabric or a sheet for your table cloth, take some old chargers and spray paint them in bright colors. Since there is not going to be any food touching them it won't matter. I have also suggested in the past to own a set of clear glass plates but don't use them everyday. Instead, purchase brightly colored beautiful holiday paper plates (the good ones) and set them under your glass plates. The color pops right through. They work like a charger/decorative plate. Inexpensive, reusable and you can use one set of dishes for everything but look like you have much more.