How to Make Budget Party Centerpieces

The centerpiece is the focal point of the table, but it's also a sticking point if you have spent a lot of money on the food and other decorations that surround it. Try one of these ideas to create your own centerpieces that suit the theme of your party and keep you well within your budget.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Vases
• Candles
• Embellishments
• Branches and leaves
• Spray paint
• Wine or champagne glasses
• Pumpkins
• Flowers
• Raffia
• Fruits and vegetables
• Skewers
• Glass bowls
• Picture frames
• Printed poems

1. Buy cylinder-shaped glass vases and tall white candles at a dollar store and customize the centerpieces for holiday parties by changing the embellishments you use to surround the candle. Add cranberries for Christmas, small pine cones for Thanksgiving or candy corn for Halloween, for example. Only fill the vase halfway so the decorative item won't burn.

2. Gather items from your yard like twigs, small branches, sturdy leaves and pine cones. Spray paint them silver or gold and arrange in a decorative bowl.

3. Turn an assortment of wine or champagne glasses upside down and use the bottoms as stands for colorful votive candles. Add dried flowers, a handful of ribbon or shredded metallic paper inside the glasses for added interest.

4. Hollow out a pumpkin to use as a budget-minded centerpiece for a fall party. Place a piece of floral foam in the center and add a tight bunch of bright yellow flowers. Tie natural-colored raffia around the flowers to complete the look.

5. Create edible centerpieces by placing melon balls, grapes, cherry tomatoes and strawberries on skewers of different heights. Arrange them in a vase for guests to enjoy throughout the evening.

6. Fill shallow glass bowls with water and float a single flower, like a gorgeous gardenia, along the surface. Let a few candles burn nearby and the light will shimmer across the water.

7. Use household frames to temporarily house printouts of famous love poems and surround them with rose petals for a romantic Valentine's Day centerpiece.

Tips & Warnings

• Although tall centerpieces are an impressive sight on the table, try to keep them below eye level so guests can still see each other easily over the arrangements.