Make A Stunning Candle Centerpiece For Thanksgiving With An Affordable Dollar Tree DIY

When it comes time to make a mood-inducing centerpiece for Thanksgiving, it's easy to assume that the project will cost a pretty penny. Given that these decor items easily cost over a hundred bucks at some chi-chi decorating and home goods store, the assumption (and resulting fear) is well-founded. However, crafty DIYers can turn to Dollar Tree when they want a stunning, yet affordable Thanksgiving centerpiece. Taking such steps can mean the difference between paying nearly $130 for a high-end piece and paying less than $25 at Dollar Tree to get all the makings for a decor with a similar aesthetic.

Many of the expensive centerpieces in high-end stores have candles at their center, and so will yours. To make the centerpiece at home, you'll need a Luminessence Glass Taper Candleholder and a Floral Garden Clear Glass Cylinder Vase. These two pieces, glued together with the help of craft or super glue, make up the base for your DIY harvest centerpiece. A Luminessence Flickering LED White Tealight Candle lights up the decor. For this project, you want to go with the LEDs instead of regular candles because you're going to use the tealight candle in a special way. A regular wax candle won't work well.

A few pieces from Dollar Tree's available pumpkin decor, as well as items from your yard, like pine cones and boughs, acorns, and dried grasses, will bring your centerpiece solidly into the season. Some clear acrylic gems from DT also play a role in this unique arrangement. Finally, be sure to grab some scissors and fancy ribbon from your craft supplies. You'll be using those items, too.

You'll assemble an elaborate candleholder that'll become the base for the entire centerpiece. First, glue the taper candleholder onto the bottom of the cylindrical vase, right in the middle of the bottom of the vase. Allow this to dry. As is, this project makes only one decorated Thanksgiving candle. If you want to really decorate for fall and add more light to your holiday table, double or even triple your supplies so that you have two or three candle centerpieces on Thanksgiving Day.

Once the glue dries on the vase's base, drop some Clear Glass Accent Gems into the bottom of the cylinder until they fill up about an inch to an inch-and-a-half of the glass. Stack decorative holiday-themed items on top of this. For example, take some pieces from  the pumpkins or other gourds in Dollar Tree's Pumpkin and Gourd Decor set and put those in the vase. Add fillers like pine cones, dried berries, and acorns from your yard, snippets of pine boughs or dried branches, and some silk fall leaves. You can also preserve the color of real fall leaves and use them in the arrangement instead. Top the centerpiece with a holiday-hued ribbon. Finally, turn on the LED tealight candle and place it UNDER the feet of the taper candle to allow the light to flicker from underneath the candle centerpiece.

This Dollar Tree Thanksgiving centerpiece will sit on your holiday table as is, meaning there will be nothing underneath the candleholder except the table. This may look a little plain and undone. However, you can dress the look up to make it more polished. One simple way to do this is to create a flat base for it to sit on with a Rectangular Beveled Mirror from Dollar Tree. Set the finished candleholder in the middle of it and dress the mirror up by laying strands of a pumpkin garland, autumn leaves, beads, ribbons, or other decorative elements around the base of the centerpiece. The mirror will reflect the light as well as the beautiful items in the arrangement, elevating the look and augmenting the effect of the candle.

Or lay down a harvest-themed table runner and place the candleholder in the middle of it. Flank each side of it with one or two of DT's Seasonal Collection Artificial Pumpkins. Dress the area around those pumpkins up with more of the LED tealights, silk leaves, and other decorative fall items. The mini arrangements next to the big candleholder will give the whole thing balance and add visual interest. In turn, this makes it more stunning without requiring you to empty out your wallet in the process.