Beauty and the Bargain

by Marlene Alexander

When the nights turn cooler and leaves start thinking about what color to wear for their annual show, we start thinking about cozying up our indoor spaces with an eye to a fall palette. Whether you are using all natural finds, man-made materials or even a blending the two, you can't go too far wrong when using earthy elements like pinecones and leaves.

Pinecones are always visually appealing objects to bring indoors. Try them in different containers, accented with fabric leaves. We laid this thin rectangular vase on its side to line the back of it with the leaves before putting the pinecones in. All vases at Dollarama are only $1 each and there's usually a good selection to choose from. Fabric leaves come in packages of about 20 leaves in different sizes for $1.

This harvest centerpiece was created with a rectangular handled basket, two autumn candle rings used as a base, an autumn pick and some fanciful dollar store gourds. The total cost was $8.

Four dollars and an assist from Mother Nature produced this display. This vase and three berry-laden "twigs" are all from Dollarama and cost $1 each, but it all began with two small fallen branches that took our fancy. Style can be arbitrary so play around with your finds until you've created a thing of beauty in your own eyes.

Marlene Alexander is a writer living in Ontario, Canada. For more on dollar store shopping, visit her website at www.dollarstorestyle.com.

Share your thoughts about this article with the editor: Click Here

Do you need more information on this topic? Click here to ask a Dollar Stretcher Stretchpert!

Do you have a time or money saving idea that wasn't included in this article? Please send it to tips@stretcher.com. We get the best ideas from our readers!

If you liked this article, sign up for our free eNewsletter Surviving Tough Times. Just enter your email address in the box below and click Subscribe.

Follow The Dollar Stretcher on Twitter.