Table Settings
Splurge or Save
Save – If you see a beautiful dish pattern that you love, you don’t need to buy the whole set. Buy the salad plate or the soup bowl. First of all, they are usually cheaper than the dinner plate. Second of all, you don’t really see the dinner plate if you stack your place settings. This place setting was from Mother’s Day brunch so I didn’t need the dinner plates which was a bonus. If I was going to use dinner plates I would have stacked these on my plain white plates.
Save – For fun events such as Hallowe’en, Easter or birthday themes, make your own placemats or chargers. Michaels carries every type of paper pattern imaginable. You might remember this from my Easter table. These ‘placemats’ are simple pieces of paper from Hobby Lobby. After lunch, the girls set out to cut out all of the eggs for a craft. Win-win for Nana!
Splurge – always use a linen tablecloth. I rarely use plastic, if I do I would only use it outside…but even then….yuck!
Save – Wrapping paper makes a great table runner..….if you want to really save then go ahead and have it laminated so that you can use it over and over again. You can even glue on some fun feathers, pompoms or frills depending on the theme. This black and white wrapping paper worked beautifully for my Galentines movie night!
Splurge This one might be a bit debatable. I like to have matching chairs and splurge on rentals. These Chiavari chairs were $7 per piece and that included the cushion. I thought it was a reasonable investment. I have a box of these faux pearl necklaces from a past shower. I love to drape them for extra bling. Check out my past post on the marTEAni party. I had them draped from the chandelier, the Eiffel Tower and had them strewn strategically around the table wear. 
Save – Tie ribbons around the stem of your wine glass for an extra splash of pizazz….black ribbon at Hallowe’en would be perfect. Pink pom poms for Easter, or as in this photo I used earrings at my Flammingle party and all the ladies had a cute pair of Flamingo earrings to take home in memory of the day.
Save – Cards inserted into picture frames are fun. This is from Galentine’s movie night. We watched Sleepless in Seattle. I think I will do this with photographs of my kids at their birthday dinners this year. It doesn’t matter how old you are…it is always fun to see old photos of yourself.
Splurge – Don’t cheap out on the napkins …paper napkins just don’t cut it unless it’s your grandchild’s party or you are eating outdoors, even then I like to use a fabric napkin. Splurge on the real thing! Notice these napkins don’t even match the plates? It didn’t matter since all of the colours on the table were very light and springy:)
Save – on the flowers. You don’t have to go to the best flower shop in town to buy a professional table bouquet. Grocery stores or Costco is all you need. You can even mix in fake flowers from a dollar store for extra filler. Usually, nobody ever notices. These are from No Frills. I bought them for $5 per bundle. On Mother’s Day, I needed one more bundle and they upped the price to $10 per bundle…LOL…supply and demand!
Save – candles…I do love the dollar store. Honestly, you are starting these babies on fire!! Why waste money on the expensive ones? Dollar store carries a variety of sizes. Just be sure to read the label carefully that they aren’t scented candles. Vanilla or cinnamon just might not mix well with your roast beef! LOL, These pink ones are from the dollar store and after burning for about 20-30 minutes the wax started melting down the sides. I love that look. I will use this type in my next Italian night and put them in wine bottles so the wax trickles down the bottle.
Save Shope your own home! Think outside of the box…or in this case the candle holder! I bought this at Home Sense at Christmas time. I love the way it sparkles and makes prisms on the walls when there is a candle burning in it.
The opening was big enough that I was able to fit a vase inside of it and fill it with flowers. Now it is my new favourite vase….for this week! LOL…
I had all these little bottles put aside in the garage to go to Goodwill. I decided to pull them out and use them again for some extra tulips that I had. Sooo maybe I’ll keep them now:) This is a really cute look on the kitchen windowsill, I think they would be equally as cute in a powder room. I can picture fresh cut flowers from the garden in these all summer long…when there are no flowers available I will be able to use them for the fresh bouquets of Dandelions that the girls pick for me. I am SO lucky!
What do you Splurge on? What do you save on? Share your ideas with us below. Who knows, maybe you will inspire somebody hosting one of the many bridal or baby showers that seem to be on tap this summer in a big way!
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