Decorating on a Dime!
Written by~Summer Green with Summer Green Photography
A good friend of mine planned to have her wedding reception in my parents backyard earlier this week. A few days before the wedding I took a tour of my parents yard and decided some garden decor was desperately needed. The problem? She had basically used her entire wedding budget up. So I decided to challenge my DIY abilities and told her if she could give me $70.00 I could do some fun, colorful, large decorations. She accepted and I went to work!
Listed are the 10 different garden accessories I was able to put together!
1. For this super fun and modern decoration I snagged a picture frame mat from Hobby Lobby for $1.50 then I also grabbed some crepe paper for the rosettes which was $1 a bag. I purchased a bag in all 3 colors (other 2 colors not shown here) Total for this item $4.50
2. If you love this elegant classy look you are in luck! I found this fabulous mirror frame at Ikea for $3 and picked up the felt at Joann’s for $1. Total on this item $4.
3. I happened upon these beautiful and spacious yellow lantern balls at Hobby Lobby. They are originally $6.99 for a set of 3 which would still be a good deal but I got them on sale for 40% off which made them $4.20 for the set of 3! Score!!! I bought 4 sets. Total for these items $16.80 (for 12 gigantic yellow lantern balls!)
4. Tissue balls! They seem to be the craze this year. I purchased tissue paper in 3 different colors each bag of tissue was 20 sheets/1.00 I was able to make about 3 balls per 7 sheets of tissue paper, so almost 9 balls per $1.00 Overall super inexpensive and so vibrant! I bought 2 bags of each color. Total for this item $6.00
5.These gorgeous white lantern lit balls came from Ikea! They were only $3.00 each and that included the light! I bought 4 to hang in the tree as people exited my parents yard. Total for these items $12.00
6. For the fun, old, recycled look I used salvaged picture frames and broken windows. These were free!
7. By far one of my favorite purchases to date! I found these adorable birds at Honks around the corner from my house. They came in 4 colors and 2 different sizes. I bought 8 of the larger ones and each smaller set of birds came in a set of 2! These would be so adorable covered in Mod Podge® and scrapbook paper! They can be repainted and customized to match any wedding colors! Total for these items $12.00
8. Now for these, I had to go a little out of my comfort zone. I knew my budget didn’t have enough in it to cover the cost of these beauties so – I called a local green house and asked if they were going to be dumping some flowers anytime soon. I also explained that I was decorating for a wedding and didn’t have a whole lot left in my budget. They gave me these flowers out of their dump pile for FREE =) They were going to be dumped just later that week, so it was no biggie for them! I couldn’t have been more ecstatic!
9. This terrific trifecta of jars I scored at Ikea for $10 for the set! Total for these items $10.00
10. And last but not least! I so luckily stumbled upon this fake fruit at a garage sale for $2 – I’m not usually a fake fruit kinda girl but these were too big, and colorful to resist. Then to take away the phony fake fill to the fruit i picked up some real fruit at a local grocery store and added it to each of the jars. Each jar has $1 worth of real fruit chopped up and jammed in there. Total for these items $3.00
So how did I do? Let’s re-cap. I spent $4.50 for the picture matt and 3 colors of crepe paper
$4.00 for the white mirror frame and felt
$16.80 for the yellow lantern balls
$6.00 for the tissue in 3 colors to make tissue balls
$12.00 for the Ikea white lite up lantern balls
$10.00 for the jars with the fruit in them
$3.00 on fresh fruit to mix with the fake fruit
My budget? $70.00 what I spent? $68.30! My mother would be so proud =)
About Summer~ I am obsessed with taking pictures. And not just pictures… Affectionate, mind-blowing timeless pictures! I am also crazy about weddings, I find any excuse to help and get as involved as possible. There is just something special about making someone else’s day as close to perfect as possible! I believe when someone is passionate about what they do it shows in their work. I love photography. I have studied it for years and continue to study it. I know as an artist there is always room to grown and learn. I am eager for new challenges that push me and make me better. If you want to know more about me – like me on facebook HERE.
