Clinton Kelly - Freakin Fabulous on a Budget

Most of the materials you probably have right in your own home, or they are available at hardware, arts and crafts, fabric, or home improvement stores.

COLOR-BLOCKED TABLE RUNNER,

Fabric fabric stores

NAPKINS,

Old dress shirts or shirting fabric most fabric stores

1/2-inch or 5/8-inch iron-on hem tape Walmart or fabric stores

NAPKIN RINGS,

Metallic ribbon Michaels or most arts and crafts stores

Fabric stiffener amazon.com or Michaels

Fabric glue (Fabri-Tac brand) amazon.com or Michaels

REHABILITATED VOTIVES,

Straight-sided votives and cylinders IKEA or jamaligarden.com

Krylon Metallic spraypaint krylon.com

MERCURY GLASS LAMP,

Lamp base IKEA JONSBO OROD

Krylon Looking Glass mirror spray paint hardware stores or krylon.com

TEACUP CANDLES,

Japanese and Chinese teacups and sake cups Pearl River Mart, pearlriver.com

Premium paraffin wax Country Lane Candle Supplies, clcs.com or soapexpressions.com

Pre-wicked candle tabs for votives in large or medium soapexpressions.com

LAMPSHADE,

Lampshade IKEA JONSBO

Burlap and jute twine jamaligarden.com

DECORATIVE TERRARIUM, P. 139

Mason jars Walmart

Soil, sand, rocks, and plants garden center stores

BAMBOO MAT ART, p.141

Bamboo mat Pearl River Mart, pearlriver.com

PAINTED CEILING MEDALLIONS,

Ceiling medallions The Home Depot or other home improvement stores

Krylon indoor/outdoor gloss spray paint krylon.com

SILHOUETTES,

Oval frames Michaels

Any acrylic or latex paint will workmost arts and crafts stores or home improvement stores

DECOUPAGE PLATES,

Clear glass plate IKEA OPPEN

White plate (in same diameter)Crate & Barrel

Prepressed flowers and flower pressing supplies naturespressed.com

Mod Podge arts and crafts stores

OOK deluxe plate hanger amazon.com

BAMBOO SCREEN,

Room divider (Chinese screen)Target

EGLOMISE TABLETOP,

Coffee table IKEA LACK

Custom-cut glass specialized hardware stores and framing shops will do this

Paint (enamel/glass paint is best for durability)most arts and crafts stores or hardware stores

EGLOMISE SERVING TRAY,

Picture frames IKEA

DIP-DYE RUG,

Small wool braided rug Target

Liquid fabric dye by Rit in Fuchsia amazon.com, Walmart, or Michaels

Latex paint The Home Depot

LARGE-FORMAT ART,

All molding and remodeling materials The Home Depot

Upholstery fabric Mood Fabrics, moodfabrics.com

CORN HUSK VOTIVES,

Plain standard-sized votive candleholders jamaligarden.com

Dried corn husks Mexican food markets, or El Guapo brand corn husks available at amazon.com

String or twine most hardware stores, garden centers, or jamaligarden.com

GOURDS,

Krylon spray paint or acrylic paint and paintbrush in colors and/or metallic hardware stores or krylon.com

Krylon spray high-gloss coating hardware stores or krylon.com

Dried gourds amishgourds.com

Metallic leaf paint for stems arts and crafts store like Michaels

GLITZY CONES AND SNAZZY NUTS,

Mixed nuts nuts.com

Metallic spray paint in a variety of tones krylon.com or dmcolor.com

Fine glitter arts and crafts stores like Michaels

BALL ORNAMENTS,

Clear glass ornaments save-on-crafts.com ; also available almost all year at arts and crafts stores like Michaels

Glaze medium and acrylic/craft paints arts and crafts stores like Michaels

TREE FORMS,

Silk dupioni fabric fabric.com

Tree-shaped conical Styrofoam forms save-on-crafts.com or Michaels

Black felt arts and crafts stores (available by the piece)

P ICTURE IT : SICILY, 1922.

My Salvatore and I are on our way to a feast.

P ICTURE IT : LONG ISLAND, 1975.

My mother, Terri, dons her finest caftan and bell-bottoms to host a Tupperware partyavocado green and burnt orange are everywhere! And she puts out this spread of fabulous 70s hors doeuvres like Swedish meatballs and rumaki. The whole scene is pure heaven to six-year-old me, and I think,

And thats the moment I know my future adult life will include hosting fabulous parties.

love having people over to my place, and I know that I cant successfully entertain without serving great food. I also know that I can do it at a great price. This is the thing: A lot of fancy foods arent really that fancy or expensive to prepare. In fact, many high-end foods have very lowbrow origins. You might pay ten bucks for a side of polenta at a fancy Italian restaurant, but its still the same stuff poor farmers ate for centuries. And the next time you see a review for a sushi house charging hundreds of dollars, realize that those seaweed rolls began as cheap Japanese street food.