One of our neighbors keeps a very large vegetable garden every summer. Their property receives significantly more sunshine than ours, so corn actually grows well for them. Upon cleaning up their garden for the season, they put the bare cornstalks on the curb with a giant "free" sign. Yippee! I have wanted to buy cornstalks for several years, but I could never warrant the cost. Free pretty much trumps all price points when decorating on a tight budget.
I simply love the look of cornstalks on the porch. Once home, I grabbed a length of burlap ribbon, a pick that I bought at Dollar Tree 2 years ago, then I tied the cornstalks into a tidy bundle. Rustic country pairs well with autumn, don't you think?
Many of our neighbors do some lighting for Halloween and autumn. In past years, I have had a serious case of outdoor-lighting envy. Once again, I just can't justify the cost of more decorating stuff for just a few weeks of the year.
So, I dug through piles of stuff from the attic and pulled out 3 ancient strands of multi-colored, outdoor Christmas lights. After removing all of the red and blue lights (plus any other burnt out ones) from 1 strand, I filled the empty spots with orange, white, and green lights.
There's a tall and narrow shrub just outside the house door nearest the driveway. This worked out great -- one orange, white, and green strand of lights was just enough to wrap around a single shrub. I'm looking forward to seeing it after dark tonight!
The cornstalks and colored lights may sound like such small things; however, the two items make a significant impact on my autumn decorating, and they didn't cost me a single cent. That's a price point that I can live with.
