DIY Table Decorations

Beautiful DIY table decoration all depends on your use of color, height and texture. If you want a monochromatic scheme, for example, vary the height and texture. If you want multiple colors, keep height or textures the same. Keep this in mind whether you're decorating with flowers, candles, books or frames, and your table centerpiece will always be beautiful and eye-catching. Does this Spark an idea?

Natural Beauty

Instead of buying an expensive floral arrangement, create one yourself with real or faux flowers. To keep your DIY decoration looking fresh and modern, use common household items instead of traditional vases. Teapots, small metal watering cans, empty mason jars and even clean, de-labeled aluminum cans look charming when filled to the brim with bright, colorful blooms. The juxtaposition of bursting, radiant blooms and a low-key vase is key---a mason jar looks homely with a single daisy, but when filled to bursting with roses, tulips, peonies or hydrangeas, it's a chic twist on the expected.

Flowers aren't the only way to bring Mother Nature to your table decoration. Because of their small size and inexpensive price, succulents and cactuses make beautiful individual place setting decorations. Buy them singly at any garden store, and spray paint the containers to create a customized table setting (be sure to cover the plant with a disposable cup while you paint). You can even paint or stencil a name on the container and use the succulent as a place card. Judy Casanova, artist and owner of Desert Succulent Creations in Claremont, California, tells HGTV.com readers to use kalanchoe or crassula for solid green color, with aeoniums or echeverias for visual interest. For your centerpiece, use one to two larger succulents. Casanova recommends using red and green trigonas or sansevieria in centerpiece displays because of their fantastic height. To tie the look together, strew your table with a mix of these natural items: polished stones, dried sage bundles tied with craft-store ribbon and natural beeswax pillar candles on simple glass candle plates.

Lighten Up

Candles are one of the best ways to create visually dynamic table decoration. Start by making a trip to a craft or hobby store and stocking up on short, squat pillar candles and tall, thin taper candles---these are DIY decorating must-haves. You can buy them in colors that complement your decor, but it's also fun to mix plain candles with homemade glitter candles. You'll need glitter, a shoebox and craft spray adhesive. Note that once these candles are decorated, they should not be burned since the adhesive is flammable; burn only plain non-adorned candles.

Place two or three plain candles in the shoebox and cover them with spray adhesive up to the wick. Shake or spoon glitter over the candles, rolling them around in the shoebox to make sure they're fully coated. Martha Stewart's Blueprint magazine recommends using superfine glitter to coat the candle evenly; if you use less expensive larger flakes of glitter, they won't coat the candle evenly and you'll be left with bald spots. Let the candles dry at least 12 hours (preferably 24), and then place them in candleholders or on candle plates on your table. If you mix candles of varying thicknesses and heights (some glittered, some plain), you'll create a table centerpiece that glows and glitters, especially beautiful in dim lighting for special occasions.