I can't believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner! This month, one of my goals has been to say something I am grateful or thankful for each night before I go to bed. It has been a great exercise in ending the day with some positivity and realizing how lucky I truly am to have so many wonderful things going on in my life.

 From the looks of my Instagram feed, many people seem skip right from Halloween to Christmas, but I still like to decorate for Thanksgiving. I am hoping to still write a post with some tablescape ideas, but wanted to share the mantel I put together.

You'll recognize much of it from last year's mantel, but this year I incorporated the window (which has become a mantel staple for me), a vintage copper pitcher leftover from our wedding floral, and some wheatgrass. I also found some free clipart of a vintage turkey, used a frame I had around the house, and added that to the mix. To download the free printable file, click here.

As I was putting together the mantel, I was thinking to myself that perhaps I should have changed it up more, but I decided that I really like a lot of the pieces I have and that this provided some good thrifty lessons in seasonal decorating.

1. You don't have to change everything to get a fresh look. 

Rearrange some items or change out a few things with other items you already have. Think about how you might use free printables, too. The addition of the turkey print didn't cost me a penny, but served the purpose of changing things up a little bit.

2. Traditions are a good thing. 

Sometimes it's nice to have those items you look forward to putting up each year. Perhaps there is a story behind them or other family members look forward to seeing them up each year. It doesn't always have to be shiny and new. A couple of my favorite items made an appearance for the second time, including the "Give Thanks" banner from Target, the fall bottles I made last year, and book pumpkins I purchased a number of years ago from The Cottage House in Minneapolis.

3. Clearance is your friend. 

As I've mentioned before, getting items on clearance that will be brand new to you for next year's decorating can help lower the cost of making some changes to your seasonal decor. The wooden candlesticks on the mantel were a Target clearance find, as well as this Family cookbook or tablet stand that I have displayed with my Grandma's turkey and dressing recipe on it. If you end up phasing out any of these items, you won't feel like you spent a ton of money on them.

Happy decorating!