Common creativity

It doesn't take a ton of money for a lovely holiday table, just some creativity.
By EILS LOTOZO
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Momentarily possessed by the holiday fantasies portrayed in Hallmark commercials and the pages of Martha Stewart Living, I volunteered to host Thanksgiving dinner this year.
With the big day close, I realized I was in trouble. My linen cupboard was lacking, and my stemware deficient. And I didn't relish sitting my guests down to a hodgepodge of mismatched china, motley folding chairs and paper napkins.
But a tight budget wouldn't allow me to just spend my way to a stylish solution, either. What to do?
I embarked on a mission to find out. And with the help of some experts on entertaining, and some clever ideas culled from books and magazines, I learned that setting a fine holiday table doesn't have to break the bank.
With a little creative thinking, even the most ill-equipped hosts can work with what they have, fill in gaps with low-cost options, and end up with a table they can be proud of.
THE SPACE
My large eat-in kitchen is fine for small dinner parties, but harboring a Thanksgiving sit-down for 12 seemed a stretch.
At first, I thought of turning the living room into a dining space with a rented table and chairs. Renting, I learned after calling a few local companies, can actually be a great, and surprisingly inexpensive, entertaining option. Folding chairs go for as little as $1 a day, tables for $7.50, and tablecloths (in more than 50 colors) for $7.75. And if you can pick the stuff up, you can save the delivery fee, which can start at $65.
But, as in all plans for Thanksgiving hosting, you have to start early. Many party-rental firms won't accept orders for holiday delivery after Nov. 16 or 18.
Alas, a quick tape-measure survey of my living room ruled it out as too small for dining -- though the glass console table there is perfect for a bar.
Then I had an epiphany. Instead of crowding the table with food for family style dining, I'd do a buffet. Suddenly my dining table, whose round shape could be expanded to an oblong with two leaves, was looking more spacious.
"I always prefer a buffet," says Steve Poses, whose Frog Commissary Catering Co. has been behind some of the city's swankiest parties for almost 30 years. "Passing all that food gets difficult for people."
THE SEATING
Two feet is the ideal measure per place setting and chair, Poses says.
"But you can get away with as little as 18 inches," he says.
I barely have that. In my favor: My guest list includes two small girls, two tiny grandmothers and a skinny teenager. But would it still be too tight a squeeze?
Don't sweat it, Poses says. "They are all friends and family, and this is just a meal."
A bench I use as a coffee table would make a perfect seat for two at the end of the table, I decided. Two square stools, doing duty upstairs as plant stands, could also fill in as space-saving seats.
That still left me with four black dining chairs and four worn brown folding chairs with tattered green vinyl seats. Mixed together, they looked a sight around the table.
But, inspired by an Ikea holiday circular that featured chair backs draped with rectangles of fabric, I got an idea.
At the Jo-Mar factory outlet in Kensington, Pa., the mecca for bargain textiles, I found a tiny flower-print cotton in autumn colors for $1.99 a yard. Instead of cutting and sewing, I simply ripped the fabric into the proper-size pieces and ironed the raw edges under. Then I straight-pinned them together to completely jacket the chair backs.
A trip to Ikea turned up the crowning touch: beige linen seat cushions for $5.99 each. Suddenly, my motley chairs were elegant.
THE TABLETOP
While at Ikea, I picked up inexpensive white dinner and dessert plates (50 cents to $2 each) to fill out my own service for eight (also white). I also bought 12 clear glass bowls (50 cents each) for the soup course I was planning.
At Target, I found another dinner table nicety I lacked: water goblets ($8.99 for four).
But you don't need to buy brand-new dishes for that Thanksgiving crowd, says Danny Seo, an expert on eco-conscious style. He recommends a trip to the thrift store.
"It's mind-blowing to go to the Salvation Army and see how much tableware is donated," Seo says. "You can get amazing stacks of vintage plates inexpensively. They don't have to match either, as long as you have the same color. Or, if you want to go very mismatched, make it colorful. If you don't like them afterwards, you can donate them back."
For people like me who lack the right tablecloth or napkins, Seo suggests thinking multifunctionally.
"Flat sheets are great as tablecloths, and they come in wonderful colors. For napkins, buy bandannas at an army-navy store. They are cheap, washable and they come in a million different colors now."
I opted for Linens-N-Things, where I found a rich gold tablecloth ($9.99) and deep pumpkin napkins ($9.99 for four). But my most brilliant tabletop find was the half-dozen dishcloths I picked up at a dollar store.
With a woven jacquard pattern of autumn leaves and interlocking squares, in gorgeous tones of green, pumpkin and brown, they sure didn't look like they cost a dollar. Laid end-to-end over the gold cloth to resemble three parallel table runners, they were fabulous.
Finally, with some assistance from Philadelphia interior designer Sharne Algotsson, who runs the Pine Street shop Twist, I put the finishing touches on the table. For place cards, we cut up index cards, taped them together to make tents, and glued on fake autumn leaves ($3.50 for a 9-inch garland at A.C. Moore).
We filled a white oval platter (borrowed from a friend) with fruit, minipumpkins and decorative gourds for a centerpiece. We filled two small vases with branches of rosemary I cut off the shrub-size plant in my mother's yard, and set out the black soup tureen I'll be using.
Three pillar candles set on ceramic coasters I had in a drawer and a sprinkling of votives in sparkling glass holders provided the final touch.
The result. From impossibly humble beginnings, my Thanksgiving dining spot became a vision of loveliness. Total expenditure: $158.
I probably could have done it for less and it still would have been fine.
"It's all about your attitude," Poses says. "Entertaining is an act of love. You want people to feel welcome. You want your table to reflect a level of thoughtfulness and care.
"You have to start with that, and you can't get it by going to Pottery Barn."
FROM THE EXPERTS
Feeling ill-prepared for the Thanksgiving hordes? Here are more ways to make the holiday more stylish at your place.
Short on dining chairs? Arrange cushions around the coffee table and turn it over to the children you've invited, suggests Janice Simonsen, design spokeswoman for Ikea. "If you give them a separate area, they'll love that."
You could also stock up on folding chairs. Ikea has several affordable plastic-seat models in a range of colors, including "Nick" ($9.99) and "Jeff" ($7.99). "Terje" ($12.99) comes in pale wood with a slat seat.
Eco-lifestyle guru Danny Seo, whose show "Simply Green With Danny Seo" debuts on Sirius satellite radio on Wednesday, suggests buying those nylon-sling camping chairs with aluminum frames.
"Everyone has them, and they're the right size to accommodate an inexpensive fabric slipcover," he says. Even better: When the weather warms up, you can bring the chairs to a picnic.
Decorating the table. "For styling, just look in your own backyard," says Steve Poses, who heads Frog Commissary Catering. "Colored leaves, branches, evergreens. It's easy and cheap, and it's a reflection of you."
Greens such as herbs can take the place of flowers in vases. For place cards, attach name tags to minipumpkins, pears or pomegranates, or write names with a metallic marker on vibrantly colored leaves. (Preserve that color by soaking the leaves in a solution of two parts water and one part glycerin for two days.)
To simply press leaves, put them between sheets of wax paper in a telephone book for a week. Then scatter them atop a solid-color tablecloth for wonderful patterns. Or, for an even dreamier look, take an idea from the editors of Martha Stewart Living and cover the leaves with a sheer layer of fabric.
Finally, think candles. "If you are trying to do things inexpensively, the more candles the better," Poses says. "They create a wonderful mood."