Nature is a frugal source of decoration.
The great outdoors can be a source of fitness, entertainment, and can also be a wonderful source for decorating. Just like putting jack o'lanterns on your doorstep, having a pot full of sticks can be a great way to celebrate the change of seasons. Our family has a nature table on the front porch for things like wasp nests, bird nests, and collections of small things.
Gathering natural materials during a nature walk can open your eyes to new uses for all kinds of plant material. Simple displays of collections can be a compromise between the child who won't let go of a stick (or rock, pine cone, feather, etc.) and the adult who wants peace -- and free decorating material! Our family has kept small terra cotta flower pots full of fallen birch bark, sycamore bark, and locust seed pods as past compromises. During winter, we fill a glass fish bowl with pine cones.
Material for willow baskets is easy to find in autumn.
By using a rock tumbler, available for about $20 at many hobby stores (and garage sales), all those rocks that come home in Junior's pocket can be transformed into smooth, shiny centerpieces. Not only do tumbled rocks look good, they help kids remember all the memorable times they had gathering them.
You can also use some creativity with gathered materials. One autumn day, my family was walking at a new-to-us park when we saw the path littered with slender willow branches. The trees had dropped their branches, which were smooth since the leaves had all fallen away. We gathered the branches and took them home. Over the next couple days, my older child and I had woven two unique baskets and a wreath, completely suitable for coffee table display. After three years, the color is still true.
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Bookmark with pressed leaves.
Leaf and flower presses (or large phone books) can be used during spring, summer, and fall to preserve extra beautiful specimens. With a thoughtful verse or quotation on the reverse, these beauties can be glued to paper and laminated at the copy store into bookmarks. If you have many flowers and leaves, you can make place mats. And don't forget decoupage -- pillar candles have a nice glow behind pressed flowers from your landscaping or a wild meadow. Just look outside.
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