Get Inspired for Fall with Pier 1 Imports + Giveaway

When Pier 1 Imports approached us about partnering together on a sponsored post and giveaway for their fall/autumn collection, we took one quick look at all the amazing things they had on display and said, “Yes!” Find out how Laura recently transformed her dinning room for the holidays spending way less that you would think! Then make sure to read to the bottom for a chance to win a GREAT giveaway from Pier 1! 

I don’t do Pinterest (I’m not even sure how to pronounce it).

My house is not filled with cutesy signs declaring our family rules.

Our stomachs have not been filled with the latest “I promise they are healthy and don’t taste like birdseed” recipes that I hear my friends talking about from Pinterest.

But man do I love to decorate. I’ve been tearing out pages from magazines and filing them away in my filing cabinet (the original Pinterest) for years. So when we finally bought our first house in November 2012, I was thrilled to bust out my file and start decorating.

We painted every surface of our house. We tore down 7 layers of wallpaper in the kitchen. We painted the built in book shelves. We painted doors. We bought new (to us) furniture. We bought a lawn mower. And a ladder. And every possible product to kill the mosquito haven that was our backyard. Oh, and we hired a professional varmint hunter to take care of the 12 football sized rats that made our attic their home (but that’s another post for another day).

THEN my car died, and we had to buy a new (to us) one. THEN I got pregnant, which quickly turned in to our second high risk pregnancy in two years.

Needless to say, my decorating budget quickly went to zero. I silently (most of the time) lamented this fact, but I was grateful for a roof over our heads, a backyard to play in and a furnished house.

There is something else you should know about me: I live for the holidays. The first day of fall, I was roasting pumpkins and freezing homemade puree. We went and picked out the pumpkins that currently line our front porch. I’m even threatening to put a hay bale and corn stalk in our front yard (hubby is not on board with that yet).

But when I looked at the inside of my house, it was sadly lacking any fall spirit. With the lack of money at hand, I accepted my reality and was grateful for what we had.

Then a few nights later, my son and I spent the night at my parents house so I could get a break from chasing him everywhere we went. After he went down, my parents kicked me out and said to go somewhere, anywhere, for an hour and not think about being a mom. Done. I took off out that front door at a run, just in case they changed their minds.

I found myself wandering aimlessly through neighborhood streets with my Starbucks in hand (seriously, what did I do with all my free time before kids?) and suddenly I realized where I wanted to go. A store where I could endlessly dream about decorating my house. Pier 1 Imports.

But as I wandered through the store, I realized that maybe my decorating didn’t have to stop in my dreams. Maybe, just maybe, it could become a reality!

I jumped from decor to decor, not even believing their prices (and the fall items that were already on major sale!!). I eventually took over their entire check out counter with items, so I could lay them out the length of my dining room table.

Then I asked them to ring everything up. Gasp. My purchases came in at $72. No. Freaking. Way. Not possible! Could I actually have fall decorations for my house?

I was floored. And then paid really quickly, just in case they had made a mistake. But it was no mistake my friends!

I was able to purchase two ceramic pumpkins, two small wreaths to go around vases, two of the most delicious smelling candles I’ve ever had, and place them in two darling little containers. From there, I pulled out our box wedding china (yes, it’s still packed away in the now rat-free attic) and found this gorgeous table runner someone had given us years ago. A quick trip to my my pantry found two unused vases and voila, my table was born!

What do you think?

Are you impressed by my $72 worth of thriftiness or do you think you could do better?

If you think you can do better, then here is your chance, because we want you to be able to create a beautiful fall arrangement for your home!

Pier 1 Imports wants to give 1 reader a $50 gift card!

(And by the way, I went to Pier 1 yesterday to return an item that ended up not working and their fall stuff is on even more sale than before so they can make room for Christmas decor. Get to shopping, ladies!!)

All you have to do is complete the Rafflecopter form below, and you’re entered! The giveaway will run until Thursday, October 17th at noon, and the winner will be announced at 1pm CST. . . Just in time for you to decorate your home for Halloween and Fall! So let your creativity flow and good luck!

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**Pier 1 Imports provided Dallas Moms Blog compensation for this post and giveaway; however all opinions expressed in this post are 100% our own. And we really did decorate for this cheap!