Last Minute Budget Friendly Thanksgiving Decorations for the Front Porch

I'm one of those last minute gals who never thinks about decorating anything until 30 minutes before my guests arrive. Fortunately for me, I've managed to collect an assortment of Thanksgiving and Autumn decor over the years that makes it possible to throw together something festive and holidayish at the last minute.

Making some last minute, budget friendly Thanksgiving decorations for the front porch is really quite simple, even if you don't have much in the way of Autumn decor. Here's a few ways it can be done:

Toss up a wreath. One of my basic decor staples is a plain, woven vine wreath that can be decorated to suit any holiday. If you don't have a wreath available, Dollar Tree has budget friendly 24" reed wreaths priced at one dollar. To turn a plain wreath into a Thanksgiving wreath, try these ideas:
* Tie a festive orange, red, or yellow bow at the top
* Wrap the wreath with a dollar store "autumn leaf" garland
* Scatter an assortment of pine cones, acorns, whole walnuts or other nuts throughout the wreath holding into place with hot glue, finishing up with a pretty Autumn themed bow.

Decorate with pumpkins and gourds. At our house, Halloween pumpkins are left uncarved so they can be used for a Thanksgiving display. A collection of pumpkins and ornamental winter gourds can be stacked in the corner of the porch on a pile of leaves, arranged in a large wicker basket, displayed in a rustic wheelbarrow, or used to line the stairs to your front door. Be sure to accent the pumpkins and gourds with some Autumn colors or Autumn foliage or it'll look it's left over from like Halloween.

Orange twinkle lights. Did you buy orange twinkle lights for Halloween? These pretty lights can also be used as a last minute front porch decoration for Thanksgiving. Ideas to try include outlining a door or window, wrapping the porch columns, or accenting the porch railing. For something totally unique, loosely coil the orange twinkle lights on the floor in the corner of your porch, and lightly cover with crisp Autumn leaves.

Place a pretty bow on the front door. If you are really crushed for time, Autumn bows are a simple way of sprucing up the outside of your house for Thanksgiving guests. I use Dollar Tree wire ribbon in Autumny Thanksgiving colors and these instructions to make a pretty bow for the front door. Extra bows are placed under the front windows to finish up the decor.