Decorate Your Home for Thanksgiving: 15 Ways

Decorating for Thanksgiving doesn't need to take a lot of time or cost a lot of money. Since the Thanksgiving season is so short, you’ll want some quick decor ideas that will be easy to put in place and then pack away when the season is done. Maybe these 15 quick decorating ideas will provide some inspiration.

1. Throw Pillows

Harvest and Thanksgiving throw pillows are a given for a quick, adorable way to spice up your living room for the holiday. Look for pillows that come in festive harvest colors or that commemorate the gratitude, pilgrim, or turkey aspects of the season.

2. Use Nature

There’s no need to go overboard on fake decorations when you have the real stuff in your own backyard. Take your family on a nature walk and collect leaves, pine-cones, acorns, etc., and use them to decorate in clever ways. You can do leaf presses with your children and make your own centerpieces.

3. Candles

Scent is an important, and often overlooked, aspect of decorating for any season. It’s a good idea to light candles with pumpkin spice or harvest scents to set the Thanksgiving mood.

You can also use candles as a simple decoration. Candlesticks and plain candles surrounded with leaves and pumpkins are a very attractive sight for the season.

4. Deck Out the Dining Table

Since the table is where Thanksgiving happens, use it as a prime place of decoration. Get a fall-colored table cloth and a table runner, and then make a festive display in the center. You might want a cornucopia spilling out pumpkins, apples, and leaves, or you could do a cute turkey and pilgrim display. Get creative with this one.

5. Layers

A great way to add Thanksgiving color is to simply add layers rather than removing existing decor. Add a colorful sash to your curtains, and toss a small Thanksgiving themed rug over your regular one in your living room. Surround lamps, statues, and photographs with leaf garlands for an easy decoration to both put up and take down.

6. Thanksgiving Mantel

If you have a fireplace mantel, use it to your full advantage. Cover it in leaves, candles, pumpkins, crafts, and whatever else you can think of to give your living space a classy Thanksgiving look. Remember to layer and play up those autumn colors.

7. Front Door Wreath

No house is ready for Thanksgiving without the perfect outdoor wreath. Use nature to make a festive wreath. Pine-cones, leaves, acorns, gourds, and mini pumpkins are all great options for your wreath decor.  Check out these other tips for the perfect fall wreath.

8. Thanksgiving Craft Table

If you have kids or you just love to craft, a table to display those crafts is a must! As you and your kids spend time together making homemade turkeys, cornucopias, leaf presses, and more, don’t let all that talent hide away in a box. Display each item on a designated craft table by the front door or even in the kitchen.

9. Give Thanks Jar

Tis the season to be thankful, and what better way to remind your family to do so than by having them put gratitude notes in a decorative jar on display? It will remind not only your family of how much they have to be grateful for, but also your guests.

10. Harvest Candy Bowl

Candy corn and candy pumpkins don’t expire after Halloween, and putting those leftover candies in a bowl in your entryway for guests is a simple way to decorate and re-purpose Halloween leftovers.

11. Gourds and Pumpkins

If you could only do one thing to decorate for Thanksgiving, gourds and pumpkins would do the trick. Strewn tactfully around the house, these little fall beauties are the perfect way to fill your house with Thanksgiving cheer.

12. Accessorize with Throws

A very simple way to spice up any living space is a good, fall-colored throw blanket. Put these over the backs of dining room chairs, sofas, and at the ends of beds, and you have added instant fall color to your home.

13. Gratitude Reminders

Set up gratitude reminders around your house. This could be as simple as a wall decal saying “Give Thanks,” or as extravagant as a wall in your kitchen painted with chalkboard paint with reasons to be thankful written in colorful chalk. Continue to update the list as the season goes on.

14. Front Porch Decor

As you decorate your house, don’t forget about your front porch, especially since more people will see the outside of your house than they will the inside. This is a great place to put your giant pumpkins, cornucopias, colorful wreaths, and dried, yellow and orange plants.

15. Use the Fireplace

To make your home inviting for Thanksgiving, don’t forget to use the fireplace. Have the fire going every now and then. If you don’t have an electric fireplace and you don’t want to light a fire, light plain candles and bunch them together in your fireplace.

Pretty soon, your house will look just like Thanksgiving, reminding you, your family, and your guests of everything they have to be thankful for.

10 Ways to Prepare Your Finances Before the Holidays Arrive

It's now October which means the holiday expenses are about to roll in. October means Halloween costumes, decorations, and candy. November means a 20-pound turkey and travel costs, and December means gifts for your family and friends. It’s amazing how quickly it adds up! Though the holidays are meant to be a time of peace, joy, and relaxation, the season often leads to stress, anxiety, and fear.

Start a new trend for your holiday season and consider these 10 tips for financially preparing now for the upcoming holidays.

1. Make Budgeting Easier

Budgeting (and keeping on track with your budget) is not easy, but budget-savvy tools can help. Look for a free download of an Excel spreadsheet formulated to do all of the adding and subtracting for you. If you are willing to spend a little, there is also budgeting software that boasts features that not only do the math for you, but also help you stay on top of your budget. Many programs track your spending and offer free financial classes and lessons. The one-time fee for a budgeting program may be worth it for financial stability.

2. Build Savings Now

Your biggest holiday expenses will most likely come at the end of the year. If you begin now, you have approximately two and a half months to save. Assess your budget and determine the maximum amount you can set aside until then. Put some of each paycheck into a savings account, and don’t touch it. That savings account is your ticket to a stress-free holiday.

3. Create a Plan to Pay off Debt

Although eliminating your debt before the holidays is virtually impossible for most people, a solid strategy for eliminating financial obligations can renew your hope this holiday season. You could consider the ideology of a financial guru, or you might look into a debt consolidation plan if your obligations are simply too many to handle.

4. Shop for Better Insurance Premiums

Too often Americans fall into the routine of paying a monthly expense and then forgetting about it. While it may seem convenient to stick with the same insurance premium, in reality, you could be losing hundreds of dollars a year. Car, health, home, life, and other insurances often change rates, meaning that your current plan might not be the best deal anymore. Take the opportunity to compare rates and prices to ensure you are paying the least amount possible for your premium.

5. Examine Your Spending

Online banking and apps make it easier than ever to track your spending. Take a look at your accounts and add up how much you have spent on certain categories, such as food. Once you are aware of how much your little purchases are affecting your budget, you can plan to cut them down. Pack a lunch every day rather than heading to the nearest restaurant, or get as much out of that tube of toothpaste as you possibly can before buying more. You’ll be surprised how much you save when you make small changes.

6. Avoid Impulse Spending

It probably doesn’t seem like it could hurt your budget to spontaneously take your family out for dinner on the way home from a sporting event. And maybe such a whim wouldn’t hurt just once. However, repeated impulsive spending can quickly become a financially damaging habit. In regards to shopping in general, remember that you can often find certain products online or at other stores for a better price. Instead of purchasing the first bicycle you see at the first store you visit, shop around before making a calculated purchasing decision.

7. Reevaluate Your Mortgage

If your current interest rate on your mortgage is doubling your payments, now’s the time to review your options. You might find a new mortgage with low enough interest that your monthly payments decrease and you can put some of the extra into savings.

8. Consider the Necessity of Each Monthly Expense

Take a good, hard look at such things as gym memberships, cable and phone bills, and other consecutive monthly expenses. If you are only visiting the gym once a week or less, your costly membership is probably not worth it. Likewise, you might not need unlimited talk and text on your cell phone if you are using less than 1500 minutes a month. For more information about cutting such expenses, see this article.

9. Don’t Underestimate Couponing

Couponing often has a negative connotation, since nobody likes to be in the checkout line with someone fumbling through ten different coupons for the cashier to scan. However, collecting coupons can cut some purchase costs in half, which will show in the long-run.

10. Set Goals for Next Year

If you plan months in advance for the holidays, your finances can be in tip-top shape. Take a minute to set some realistic goals for the following year. You might consider opening a high-interest savings account dedicated solely for the holidays. Then, plan to set aside a small portion of every paycheck to help make next year’s holiday season the best yet.

(Author: Amber Brubaker)

Weekend via Instagram

(Pictures from left to right)

1. Phoenix Temple under construction. Wahoo!!

2. Out & about with the love of my life

3. Thanksgiving. Helping the kids make Nativity scenes out of candy

4. Tired puppy

5. Black Friday shopping with my Mom & Josh. Found this sweet hat and had to take a picture!

6. Hot cocoa+fireplace+Christmas music+Husband=GREAT night.

7. Flowers from my Husband. I placed them in our kitchen window and

it reminded me of one of my favorites Hymns "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today"

8. Lunch on Black Friday with my two favorite people.

Give Thanks Printable

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(printable from All My Love For All My Days)

4 Things.

I love about Fall.....

The Crisp Cool Air
I love stepping outside in the morning and breathing in the nice cool crisp air.

It's a nice change from this Arizona weather.

Thanksgiving
 What a better way to celebrate than a giant meal with all your loved ones around? I love Thanksgiving.

Comfort Food

When the temperatures start to dip, that's when comfort food starts to taste extraordinarily yummy.

Fall Attire

When I think of fall clothing, I think comfy and warm.

There is nothing better than wearing a chunky oversized sweater, some leggings and some boots!

What are some of the things you love about Fall?