Frugal Table Decorations for Your Christmas Party

If you are throwing a Christmas party and are looking for inexpensive ways to decorate your table, look no further than this guide to decorating your Christmas Party table on the cheap! Here are some ideas for both a buffet-style Christmas party, as well as a more formal, sit down dinner party.

1. Fill wine glasses with Christmas-themed Hershey's Kisses in red, silver, green, and gold and place around the dishes -- or at each setting. The shiny wrappers will be seen through the glass and the guests can snack on them as well!

2. Bring nature inside -- a grouping of greenery, pine cones, or a bowl of cranberries make a festive and natural look to any table.

3. Candles always make an attractive appearance -- this time of year they are very inexpensive. Party supply stores sell colors you don't normally see such as gold and silver. Spread them around the table on white saucers to minimize wax spill.

4. Take a cue from your tree. A glass bowl filled with a grouping of round ball ornaments with a large pillar candle or two sticking out of the center makes a great centerpiece. For a buffet style, rest a ball or two face down in a small bed of tinsel scattered among the snacks.

5. An inexpensive but dramatic tablecloth can liven up any Christmas party table inexpensively. Go to a place like Wal-Mart where they sell fabric by the yard on discount (such as one or two dollars a yard) and get a bold fabric such as a red satin. Cut it to the shape of your table leaving a bit of overlay. If you cut with pinking shears you won't have to finish the edges and they won't fry. If it gets stained, no worry -- it was so cheap!!

6. Poinsettia plants are abundant during the Christmas season and with their bright red leaves, bring festivity to any Christmas table. They are often inexpensive as well because they are a "seasonal" plant.

7. A fun and unique way of decorating a Christmas party table is to print and frame pictures from Christmas past and display them on the table. You can get silver frames at the dollar store, and even use the frames as gifts when the party is over.

8. You can frame the Christmas table in garland -- even making homemade popcorn string, alternating with cranberries. Similarly, you can push the table against a wall with an outlet (if buffet style) and drape a string of lights amongst the plates of food.

9. Check out the thrift stores for snowglobes and decorate your table with a snowglobe theme. If you find them cheap enough you can even leave them at each place setting for a Christmas dinner party and give them as gifts. I recently found a Christmas snowglobe at a thrift store in perfect condition for $2, so even if you bought 10 that would only come to $20 for a presentation to remember.

10. A bowl of oranges stuck with whole cloves in a pretty bowl not only evokes Christmas memories of years past, but is fragrant and beautiful. simply take an orange and stick whole cloves into the skin, covering the whole thing. Frame the bowl with cinnamon sticks and peppermint to truly decorate your Christmas party table in a classic style.

I hope these ideas have helped you think of creative and inexpensive ways to decorate your Christmas party table. Happy holidays!