Make Your Own Frugal New Year's Party Centerpieces

It's easy to create your own glitzy New Year's Eve centerpieces and table decorations. You can do it with materials from around the house, and save some money in the process, as New Year's Eve is a great time to get a jump start on those New Year's resolutions about frugality. Here are directions for some flashy New Year's centerpieces to make yourself , one with a retro feel and one Asian-inspired.

Martini Glass New Year's Eve Centerpieces

Martini glasses have a festive retro silhouette and can be trimmed to create mini glitter firework balls for your New Year's Eve party, reminiscent of the big ball in Times Square. Start with a clear martini glass. Fill with 2" of play dough in a color matching your party decorations. The sparkles are created from stiff wired star Christmas garland, easy to pick up at an after Christmas sale. Great color combinations are dark blue play dough and silver garland, or green and purple play dough with gold garland. Cut the garland into eight to ten 12 inch lengths. Push both ends of the wired garland into the play dough at opposite sides of the glass. Repeat with the other strands of garland, working your way around the glass to create a ball shape. For an added touch slide a flameless candle into the center. Your centerpiece is ready. Arrange singly or in groups of threes in the center of the table.

A variation on this idea is to use champagne flutes and create champagne fountains for your table decorations. Cut the glitter sprays a bit shorter and let the ends flare out. This creates a sparkling flare effect in homage to that favorite New Year's Eve beverage. You can also add glitter to the play dough by molding the dough roughly to the shape of the glass, then rolling it in glitter before pressing it into the glass for a really sparkling centerpiece. For even more glitz, arrange on a small mirror or mirrored tile laid flat on the table.

Origami New Year's Centerpieces

If you're having an Asian-themed New Year's party, why not create some origami centerpieces? For a stunning origami crane tree, start with a large vase filled with sand or rocks, and add some branches. You can leave the branches natural color, or spray paint them silver, gold, or white. Fold some origami cranes from metallic or brightly colored paper. Try white branches with silver and blue metallic cranes, or gold branches with purple, red and blue cranes for a striking contrast. You will need one to two dozen depending on the size of the branches. Using embroidery floss and a large tapestry needle, thread a 12" piece of floss through the center of the crane. Knot the top of the floss to create a hanging loop. Thread a few metallic beads onto the bottom of the embroidery floss and knot in place for added weight and sparkle. These make great go-home gifts for guests as well.

For a fun variation on this centerpiece for a seated New Year's dinner, create a small tree for each table. Fold a half-dozen animals of the same type for each table --frogs, butterflies, tortoises - and hang from the table tree. Fold a matching animal for each guest and write their name on it for the welcome table. Much more fun than conventional place cards and centerpieces for "table number 12," and a memorable New Year's Eve event for all.

Happy New Year!

"Origami Crane Instructions", origami-fun.com

"Origami animals", origami-fun.com