Almost all the action at our at-home birthday parties takes place in the dining room. That’s where I set up the buffet table and where guests deposit birthday presents and pick up party favors. Because of that fact, I usually concentrate most of the party decorations in the dining room where they will have the most impact. For my daughter’s Frozen birthday party, I worked a little harder on decorating the food table especially. I have been watching some instructional YouTube videos on “tablescaping” and I put some of those techniques to use.
All the pieces that I used on the table were either things I had already made or that we already owned, or they were supplies that I bought for cheap at the dollar store. You can shop your house for linens and decorations for your own tablescape (that’s such a dumb word) to keep the costs to a minimum.
I always have a protective pad on my dining room table underneath any tablecloth to protect the surface from scratches or heat damage. I topped that pad with a cheap light blue tablecloth from Dollar Tree. The tablecloth was so long that it hung all the way to the floor on each end. I thought about trimming those ends but I wasn’t sure I could cut the plastic without making it jagged.
I then took a white tablecloth (also from the dollar store), folded it in half, and laid it perpendicular to the blue tablecloth. I used a sharp pair of scissors to cut icicle shapes onto the ends of either side. Just layering those two dollar store tablecloths already added some interest to the table.
Next I rolled out a length of purple decorator mesh as a runner down the table. It hung over the ends of the table about 4 inches on either end.
I made a puffy garland out of white decorator mesh and silver pipe cleaners after learning how in this video tutorial. That garland was placed down the center of the table and hung over each end a bit.
I wove two strings of mini LED light strands under the mesh garland. This added some lights to the table that echoed the window decorations.
I used the snowy cone trees that I made for our Christmas table last year to cover the light strand switches and to add height to the table.
Finally I used foam snowflakes from the dollar store to cover the twist ties on the garland and then scattered a few more flakes around the table.
Since I used materials from my stash and items from the dollar store, this table only cost me $3 to decorate! If you don’t happen to have rolls of decorator mesh on hand (only weirdo crafters like me generally do), you can look through your closet or fabric stash for scarves, blankets, or fabric scraps to layer instead.
I was pleased with the way the table turned out. I haven’t reached master level table decorating yet, but it’s an improvement from where I was. Check back in tomorrow to see all the Frozen themed foods that I topped the table with!
If you would rather not shop your own stash for table decorating supplies, I gathered up links so you can buy the materials I used for the table. These are affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I will receive a small commission. Thanks!
