Simple Decor Ideas Using Fall Favorites

Make your guests feel special by decorating their dining chairs with seasonal adornments. Here, one perfect pinecone hangs from a wide satin ribbon bow.

Mix the formal with the informal to make a style statement. Here, a pair of humble acorns get a lift to luxurious by replacing one acorn with a large craft store pearl and tying it up with a gorgeous velvet ribbon.

Don't sweat a seasonal centerpiece. Simply cut flowers at the tops of the stems and float them in little dishes of water. Arranged down a dining table or along a mantel, these make quick decorations with little effort.

Look for a long, narrow platter that fits easily down the center of your dining table. Then fill it with floating flowers, votive candles, or river rock. Or as we've done here, grab a few seasonal squash and garnish with a few flower heads and dried or artificial seed pods. How easy!

Forget about fancy faces and pumpkin patterns. Instead, go for a graphic look with easy-to-create drilled holes.

Cluster a display of plain glass candleholders (or vases) on a windowsill. Wrap the cylinders with art paper and secure with tape and twine for a uniform display. Tuck berries and twigs or blossoms and leaves between the strands of twine.

Chocolate brown is hot for decorating! We inserted a small vase into a larger one and filled the space between them with coffee beans. The inner vase can hold flowers. Or insert a pink candle into the center of a vase and fill around it with coffee beans. Try other colors as well to fit with your decor -- white, green, blue, or orange.

Group miniature trees to create a forest-like scene for a mantel or sideboard. Here, we've arrange pinecones of various sizes into vintage molds. Place large pinecones upright on pine needles or artificial grasses. Use a cinnamon stick or twig to support smaller pinecones and secure with hot glue. Fresh pine needles will provide a beautiful grassy base.

Both sophisticated and country, this white pumpkin has been elevated to designer status with a swoosh of black paint and a unique footed cake stand.

Craft stores are full of faux berry wreaths, though you can also make your own from a twig wreath and stems of real, dried, or artificial berries, and leaves.

Make this easy candle showstopper. Group nine pillar candles on a table center; soften the base with a foundation of moss for fall or fake snow for winter. Wrap the candles in wide ribbon and embellish with hypericum berries.

Stems with just a few leaves or berries can make natural holders for family photographs. Tie branches with twine and add evergreen tassels; then insert photos in the branches, clipping them on if needed to hold in place.

Dress up purchased candles with a sleeve of leaves. We used salal, but any flat leaf would work. Fit a rubber band or pony-tail elastic around the votive and insert the first leaf underneath. Align the leaves, though they'll probably need trimming to make a clean bottom edge. Finish with a tie of raffia or a satin ribbon. Glue leaves together if desired, for a more permanent decoration.

Try this idea for fall, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Simply cluster silver vases, such as these mint julep cups, and them fill with large-headed flowers, berry stems, twigs, and decorations. Here we've used green hydrangeas and lime-green holiday balls (on "stems" of floral wire) nestled into moss, to create a tabletop "wreath" that will last many weeks with minimal attention.

Try a natural theme for a fall table, using items from your yard or a farmers' market. Here, an interesting leafed branch stands in as a place card with the addition of a tied-on embellishment.

Here's a pretty decoration that can transition from fall to holiday. Plant live or dried green moss into interesting pots or urns displayed on a mantel.