Several years ago I heard someone on a tv show mention a prop closet. I'm pretty sure it was Christopher Lowell on his first show. He suggested that you set aside an area in your home and collect items to use for entertaining. I've done that for years now, and I thought I'd share this idea with you. Thanksgiving is a great time to add to your prop closet because a lot of the fall stuff will be on sale, and it's good to get things on sale!! :friendly: Plus, for a lot of us, it's the beginning of a big entertaining period, and being prepared is the key to great entertaining! :applause:
A prop closet, like a gift closet, does not have to be an actual closet. It can be any space that you can set aside to store some essential items. I actually use three locations for my prop closet-the bottom shelves of my pantry and china cabinet, and a shelf in a cabinet. The key is keeping like things with like things...candles and candlesticks together; tablecloths, napkins and placemats together; etc.
In my prop closet I have:
*lengths of fabrics in solids and prints, most about a yard each, picked up at after holiday sales, etc. A yard of fall fabric can quickly become a Thanksgiving runner for a buffet, just by folding in the raw edges, placing it in the center of the table or counter and sprinkling some faux (or real) fall leaves around it. I also have some Christmas patterned fabric, Easter, Halloween, patriotic, etc. I never pay more than a dollar a yard for my fabric for my prop closet. I also use the fabric for a tablecloth, for covering lifts and levels when staging multi-level tablescapes and for just a pop of color on a table.
*lifts and levels. These can be anything-small blocks of wood, squares of styrofoam or other sturdy material, or even small bowls that you can turn upside down, cover with fabric and stack serving plates on to give the table height and dimension. I love to have a multi-level serving buffet. You can put so much more food on a table when you go UP with it! Also, centerpieces look fabulous when they are elevated, and again, it leaves much more room for the food!
*candles and candlesticks. I almost exclusively stick to glass candlesticks. I buy them at dollar stores for $1 each or less sometimes and they look exactly like crystal. They come in various heights and sizes, so you can vary your look. One year for Thanksgiving I used terra cotta pots, the small ones (I think they are 6"), spray painted them gold and put a chunk of florist foam in each one and covered the foam with Spanish moss. Then I plunked down a mini pumpkin on top of the foam, cut a piece out of the top of the pumpkin and put a taper candle in each. I used red, gold and amber candles, and marched five pots down the center of the table. Then I added some pepper berries (faux) and scattered some faux leaves all over the table. It was really pretty, and almost everything came from my prop closet. I didn't have to buy a thing!!
*White dishes. I have about 30 white dishes in about 5 or 6 different patterns! I never pay any attention to the fact that they don't match...the point is they are all white, and that unifies the entire table. Same for flatware and glasses. If they have a common element, such as color or style, it works!!
*Napkins. I keep a stack of white fabric napkins on hand, along with rolls of colored ribbon, faux mini gourds, leaves pumpkins, etc to make napkin rings with. Sometimes I add some charms or beads to a length of elastic thread and make napkin rings that double as party favors/bracelets. I also keep packages of colored and holiday printed paper napkins and paper dessert sized plates. I pick these up at after holiday sales, as well.
My space is really small, but because I store like things with like things, it works well. I'm interested to see if any of you have a prop closet. What's in it? What are you looking to add? How has it paid off for you?
A prop closet, like a gift closet, does not have to be an actual closet. It can be any space that you can set aside to store some essential items. I actually use three locations for my prop closet-the bottom shelves of my pantry and china cabinet, and a shelf in a cabinet. The key is keeping like things with like things...candles and candlesticks together; tablecloths, napkins and placemats together; etc.
In my prop closet I have:
*lengths of fabrics in solids and prints, most about a yard each, picked up at after holiday sales, etc. A yard of fall fabric can quickly become a Thanksgiving runner for a buffet, just by folding in the raw edges, placing it in the center of the table or counter and sprinkling some faux (or real) fall leaves around it. I also have some Christmas patterned fabric, Easter, Halloween, patriotic, etc. I never pay more than a dollar a yard for my fabric for my prop closet. I also use the fabric for a tablecloth, for covering lifts and levels when staging multi-level tablescapes and for just a pop of color on a table.
*lifts and levels. These can be anything-small blocks of wood, squares of styrofoam or other sturdy material, or even small bowls that you can turn upside down, cover with fabric and stack serving plates on to give the table height and dimension. I love to have a multi-level serving buffet. You can put so much more food on a table when you go UP with it! Also, centerpieces look fabulous when they are elevated, and again, it leaves much more room for the food!
*candles and candlesticks. I almost exclusively stick to glass candlesticks. I buy them at dollar stores for $1 each or less sometimes and they look exactly like crystal. They come in various heights and sizes, so you can vary your look. One year for Thanksgiving I used terra cotta pots, the small ones (I think they are 6"), spray painted them gold and put a chunk of florist foam in each one and covered the foam with Spanish moss. Then I plunked down a mini pumpkin on top of the foam, cut a piece out of the top of the pumpkin and put a taper candle in each. I used red, gold and amber candles, and marched five pots down the center of the table. Then I added some pepper berries (faux) and scattered some faux leaves all over the table. It was really pretty, and almost everything came from my prop closet. I didn't have to buy a thing!!
*White dishes. I have about 30 white dishes in about 5 or 6 different patterns! I never pay any attention to the fact that they don't match...the point is they are all white, and that unifies the entire table. Same for flatware and glasses. If they have a common element, such as color or style, it works!!
*Napkins. I keep a stack of white fabric napkins on hand, along with rolls of colored ribbon, faux mini gourds, leaves pumpkins, etc to make napkin rings with. Sometimes I add some charms or beads to a length of elastic thread and make napkin rings that double as party favors/bracelets. I also keep packages of colored and holiday printed paper napkins and paper dessert sized plates. I pick these up at after holiday sales, as well.
My space is really small, but because I store like things with like things, it works well. I'm interested to see if any of you have a prop closet. What's in it? What are you looking to add? How has it paid off for you?
