Get Fall Tiered Tray Decor WITHOUT Breaking The Bank!
[Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that are at no additional cost to you, and I may earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog.]
Tired of drooling over those fabulous Pins of beautifully decorated tiered trays for the holidays – but don’t want to break the bank? If so, keep reading to learn how you can decorate your own Fall tiered tray with only dollar section buys! Also, check out my DIY video tutorial to see me building it all from scratch!
Tiered Tray
This is the tier tray that I have. I know it looks pretty rustic, but after I started decorating it for each different holiday, I thought it was pretty versatile. You want to find a tier tray that can blend in with your own decor and also be a blank canvas for all your decor pieces.
What I appreciated about this tier tray was that it was:
Multi-purpose - It can be used year-round for any holiday.
Versatile - It won't compete with the décor items that you place on it as it has a muted color and finish.
Larger - The bottom tier is larger in diameter (15 inches) than most tiered trays so you are able to display more items.
Customizable - This particular tier tray comes with 3 different top decorative pieces – gold, silver and black – to match your décor/holiday vibe. The tier tray itself also has come in three different color options -- black, white and rustic brown. I chose the latter.
So, in case you're interested in purchasing this exact tray, you can find it here.
First, before you start selecting pieces for your tier tray, there are three things I try to keep in mind:
Varying heights - Be sure to select pieces that are shorter and taller than most of your decor, and place them sporadically across every tier of your tier tray.
Different textures - Be sure to select pieces that have varying textures. Find pieces that are smooth, but also ones that have soft and rough textures to them.
Colors - Select 2-4 colors for the pieces on your tier tray. If you stay within the same color family, your tier tray will have a more cohesive look.
Below are the pieces that I selected for my Fall Tiered Tray decor.
Another thing I like to do when starting any new decorating project, is to find an inspiration piece / pieces first. Let’s say you really love a set of ornaments for Christmas that you want to feature on your tiered tray. Build the rest of your items around those ornaments. Let those ornaments determine your color scheme, and find other items that will complement – not compete – with those ornaments for attention. In my case, I found this Target tiered tray starter kit first and then found the pumpkins, candle holders, etc. to match/complement those pieces later.
Unfortunately, I can't find these exact pieces on Target's website at the moment, but they almost always have one kind of tier tray starter kit in their dollar section at this time of year. (Sorry, I don't have a picture of the packaging because I was so excited to get it, that I opened it right away before taking a pic!!) #newbieblogger
They also have lots of other types of Fall pumpkins on their website. Click on these links to see the different types - velvet, plush, wood, etc.
Fall Tiered Tray Decor & Prices
99 Cents Only Stores Pieces
3 votives - $3
2 short candle holders - $2
1 tall candle holder - $2
2 mugs - $2
Target Pieces
Tier Tray Starter Kit - $5
2 big pumpkins - $3 each - $6
3 small pupmkins - $1 each - $3
Wreath - $3
3 Mini Wreaths - $3
After I had collected all of my pieces, I realized that I needed to accent the tier tray with something that would brighten everything up. So I found some greenery to wrap around the bottom tier from the dollar section at Target as well as to put inside the top tier coffee mug. Technically, these are wreaths from their Christmas line, but because of the type of leaves on the wreaths, and the fact that's light green, it can double for fall decor.
I wanted to add the mini wreaths to the coffee mug on my top tier to almost make it look like a potted plant. I simply unbent the wire holding the wreath together, and instead of keeping it a circle, I pinched it in the middle to make it more of an elliptical shape. Then I just placed it inside of the mug so that the leaves would spill out the top and over the sides. I added another mini wreath placed perpendicular to the first one in the same mug for added fullness.
For the bottom tier, I wanted to repeat that same greenery effect, but the wreath is not long enough to go around the whole bottom tier. So, I had to figure out a way to adhere it to my tier tray so that it would be strong, but did not want to use a permanent adhesive because then I couldn't switch out the decor when I wanted to. So, I thought using twine -- to tie to both ends of the wreath -- and then wrap and tie the twine together, was a good option. First, I did the same thing that I did with the mini wreath. I unbent the wire holding the wreath together, and then took some brown twine (so it would match my tier tray) and tied a knot around one of the wire ends of the wreath. I kept my knot about an inch from the end of the wire so it wouldn't slip off.
I left an extra long string to make sure I had enough string to tie the wreath tightly to the tray. I repeated this with the other wire end by tying another knot of twine on that side. Then I wrapped the wreath around the bottom tier, and brought the two twine ends together to make a double knot and then a bow.
And that's it, yall! Super easy!
In total, I spent $29 (excluding tax) on my Fall tiered tray decor, and I think it came out pretty good! Let me know what you think in the comments, and please let me know how you find inspirational decor pieces for your own Fall tiered trays!
