Courtesy of Mark Champion
HGTV designer Emily Henderson layers burlap, quarter-size confetti and vintage stemware to create a low-cost but high-style look for festive table decorating.
Here's what I love about Halloween: By the time it rolls around, after a dry stretch that's lasted since the Fourth of July, I'm ready for some holiday festivity. I welcome an occasion to change things up around the house, and it's so easy: Carve a few pumpkins, spread a few cobwebs, hang a skeleton (though most will stay in my closet), and have a good excuse to eat all the Baby Ruths I can stomach.
But then I'm done. The only problem is, after Halloween, the holidays hit one after another like a five-car pileup right through the Super Bowl, by which point I feel as burned out as a $2 string of lights.
Holiday entertaining, decorating and celebrating, and all the dazzling cleverness those activities imply, wear on a person - especially those, like me, responsible for creating whatever magic there's going to be around the house. So when I learned that some of the country's most crafty, cost-conscious design talent was going to be in my town hosting a series of design events centered on cheap, easy ways to pull off great party looks, I got two presenters on the phone: Emily Henderson is a winner of HGTV's "Design Star," host of "Secrets of a Stylist" and founder of the styleby emilyhenderson.com blog. Taniya Nayak hosts HGTV's "House Hunters on Vacation" and "Designed to Sell."
I tapped their creativity on how to make a memorable party on the cheap.
"Your party and holiday decorating style should be an exaggeration of your house as it is," Henderson said. "I'm a big fan of making your party match your personality and the style of your home."
Henderson's house is very bohemian, so nothing pretentious, like a Christmas tree trimmed in gold lamé, goes. If you have a more formal or high-end home, go for a tighter, more stylized look with a little luxe, she suggests.
To Nayak, the best way to get a party plan going is to nail down a concept.
"Once you know your theme - Mediterranean, Mexican, Manhattan - the colors, the menu, the music and the decor all fall into place," she said.
Here's what else they say you can do to add style, not stress, to your parties this holiday season:
Transition your everyday chairs. To dress up dining chairs for special occasions, Nayak suggests getting inexpensive king-size pillow cases in a color that works with your home's decor. Slip them over chair backs and tie a big bow with tulle, thick ribbon or rope at the base.
Top with raw linen. For fancier affairs, Henderson dresses up her casual furnishings by draping all tables with raw white linen. On top of that she adds metallic touches, including vintage gold-rimmed stemware. "It's an effortless transition that makes the place ready for a black-dress kind of event."
Cover it burlap. Both Henderson and Nayak use burlap as their go-to fabric. Covering a table in burlap adds texture and interest without showing off. "It's one of those unexpected materials that kicks things up," Henderson said.
"It's super cheap, and comes in many colors," added Nayak, who prefers natural tones. She cuts the stiffness and kills that burlap smell by throwing the fabric in the dryer for 20 minutes with a dryer sheet.
Make confetti on steroids. Get the festive look of confetti minus the mess by using a circle punch (available at craft stores) that cuts paper in quarter-size - or even bigger - circles. The large scale punches up a cliché idea. Pick paper in colors to match your scheme, Henderson recommends.
Say par-tay at the disco. No home should be without a mirrored disco ball, Henderson said. Depending on what you surround them with, they work for almost every occasion, whether Halloween or a birthday. "They don't have to hang from the ceiling," said Henderson, who likes to set them on tables and accessorize around them.
Make your own ceiling fixture. For just a little effort and money, Nayak can knock off a very expensive ceiling fixture she once saw. Take a large rectangle of precisely trimmed foam core, and one or two dozen same-color ornaments of varying sizes. Using clear fishing wire, hang the balls from the foam core at staggered heights. Attach the foam core to the ceiling (try using a glue gun), and presto - a ceiling fixture that looks as if it belongs in a Sotheby's auction.
Move beyond pumpkins. This Halloween, try carving out gourds of all shapes and sizes to make interesting jack-o'-lanterns. "Why stick with the traditional pumpkin?" Nayak said.
