by Lorri Mealey

Created on: December 23, 2006   Last Updated: November 23, 2009

By shopping in the clearance section of stores and using your imagination, you can create elegant and tasteful table-scapes and centerpieces for holiday gatherings. Here are some useful tips:

1. If you have a chance, just after the holiday season, pick up decorations like fake greenery, table linens, even dish sets for use the following year. Because you use these inexpensive items only once or twice a year, they should hold up well for a long time.

2. If you are like most, you probably are scrambling to find something nice for the table just a few weeks or days before the big holiday. Not to worry. If you can't find a nice tablecloth in your budget, head right over to the sewing department. Depending on the size of your table, purchase 3-4 yards of inexpensive cloth that will compliment your color scheme. You don't have to sew or hem, just cut, and make the sides long enough that no one will notice the raw edges. I use this trick as an inexpensive way to dress up my very hideous kitchen table. I don't do paper tablecloths. If you went to two restaurants, one that had linen tablecloth, and one that had paper, and the food was the same, which would you think was nicer?

3. For napkins, I buy inexpensive white or cream linen. The colors go with everything. I also try to pick up red, green or gold, to mix and match for Christmas. These linen napkins are useful as breadbasket liners, runners on the table (place that at a diagonal, in a diamond pattern) and to add splashes of color around the room (try placing them as mats underneath vases, or lamps).

4. Seasonal fruit mixed with live or fake flowers makes for a bold and beautiful centerpiece. I like to fill a long narrow plastic window box (I spray painted it black- it looks like it came out of pottery barn!) with Clementine's, pears and sprigs of evergreen. I then set in some fake branches of cranberries for a dash of red. When dinner is over, we eat the Clementine's and pears, toss the evergreens outside, and save the cranberries for next year. No waste!

5. Candles are a great for lighting, and setting a relaxing moodunless you have small children. I opt for lamps. Take lamps from other rooms, if needed, and place them around the dining room (or wherever you are eating) to give a nice subtle glow. Obviously, you don't want to use your daughter's purple plastic desk lamp for this trick. But if you have a couple of bedside lamps, or living room lamps, try this idea. I recommend playing around with the lighting a few days before the big day, so you can see what works and what doesn't. If your lamps are mismatched, that's okay. Try placing small floral-fruit arrangements near each one, to help deceive the eye and create a uniform look.

I hope these tips help! Happy Holidays!

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