Thanks to our guest poster Lindsay from Living with Lindsay, who is a genius at frugal decor ideas! You might recall her completely brilliant $1 Ruffly Wreath project. Check her blog out for a ton of great ideas. -Heather

Here we are, just mere days before Christmas. You have your gifts wrapped, your dinner planned, your stockings ready to be filled. But, oops! You forgot to put together something special to dress your table for the big meal. No worries. As always, the Dollar Store comes to the rescue! In no time flat, you can create a great looking place setting. This decoration can be used as both place cards and little take-home gifts for your guests.
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You’ll need to visit the Dollar Store to assemble a quick cast of characters. It is sure to be slim pickings this close to Christmas, but I’m certain you can make due with what you can find. Pick a color scheme that is easy to work with. After checking to see what was available at my Dollar Store, I decided on white and gold.

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You will need:

  • Wrapping paper, $1 – I chose solid white from the wedding or wrapping paper aisle. One roll was more than enough for 6 settings.
  • 2-piece cardboard square boxes, $1 – They come in an array of colors, and I chose silver. You’ll be wrapping them, so color doesn’t matter. They are in the Christmas and wrapping aisles. Buy the same number as the number of guests you will have.
  • Wired ribbon, $1 – Plan on 1 roll covering 2 boxes.
  • Floral bush, $1 – I found one with green leaves and gold berries. I only needed one stem for 6 boxes.
  • Small decorations, $1 – I found a package of small, glittery gold pears.
  • Tissue paper, $1 – Choose a coordinating color.
  • Ornaments, $1 – 3 or 4 packages of ornaments in a coordinating color
  • Gift tags, on hand or $1 or plain paper that you can cut into a gift tag shape
  • Marker
  • Glue gun/glue sticks
  • Tape

Total: $8, plus about $1.50 for additional place settings

Begin by taking apart your 2-piece boxes. Each will have a large box and a smaller box inside. Set the smaller boxes aside; you will not need them for this project. Wrap the bottom and top of the large box separately. I used tape to secure the wrapping paper.

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I’m pretty much the worst wrapper in the world, so you should follow a tutorial like this one if you need direction on how to do that. Don’t worry about it looking messy on the inside. You’ll soon stuff tissue paper in the box and no one will ever see the mess.

Next, cut a length of ribbon just long enough to go over the top of your box and fold over to the inside. I secured the ribbon on the box with a dot of hot glue on each side of the ribbon on the inside of the box and then a dot of glue on the top of the box.
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Repeat this process for the box itself.
Then, I wrote my guest’s name on the bottom of the gift tag (I had these on-hand, so they didn’t come from the Dollar Store) and hot glued it onto the center of the ribbon on the box lid. Cut a sheet of paper into a rectangular shape if you don’t have gift tags or don’t pick up something similar at the Dollar Store.
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Tie a simple bow with some of the wired ribbon and hot glue it on top of the gift tag.
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Now you are ready to decorate your box. I cut a few leaves and berries from my floral bush and tucked them under the bow, gluing them into place. I also glued one of the glittery pears underneath the bow for an unexpected decoration.
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All that’s left to do now is add some tissue paper in the box and a simple take-home gift. I added a glittery snowflake ornament, but homemade cookies, chocolate kisses, or even candy canes would be great, too!
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I set my table with my wedding china, but even plain white plates from the Dollar Store, (or ANY plates you have, for that matter) will do. No one will even notice that you used paper napkins from the grocery store, like I did.
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For the centerpiece, I simply filled a vase I had on-hand with 3 or 4 packages of gold ball ornaments that also came from the Dollar Store. I placed a few votive holders I had in my cupboard on top of my everyday table runner and added a bit of fake snow (or shredded white paper?).
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Isn’t that lovely? And I guarantee you that NO one will know that your Christmas table decorations came straight from the Dollar Store!
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I want to thank Heather very much for asking me to share something with you today. I was totally honored since Dollar Store Crafts is one of my favorite sites on the web. Thanks, Heather!

Please visit me anytime at Living With Lindsay. I’d love for you to stop by. Merry Christmas!
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