10 Thanksgiving Items to Buy at Dollar Stores This Year
Get festive home decor, colorful tableware, scented candles and more
Courtesy Dollar Tree
Despite the lingering coronavirus pandemic, more people are vaccinated and eager to celebrate with family and friends this Thanksgiving and to resume treasured holiday traditions.
You want your home to look warm and inviting this season, but perhaps you’re on a budget. Dollar stores offer affordable yet stylish holiday home decor and decorations — everything from pumpkin decorations to scented candles to tableware.
Most items really do cost $1 at retailers, such as 99¢ Only Stores, Dollar General and Family Dollar, but some products online are sold in bulk. At Daiso, the Japanese dollar store, most goods cost $1.50 or $1.99. And Dollar Tree recently began adding products priced above $1 at some locations.
“It’s economical, and sometimes when I’m done with the items I put them out for free for others to use,” in keeping with the season’s giving spirit, said Katherine Colombo, 63, of Petaluma, California, as she shopped at a Dollar Tree store with her daughter.
Low prices and fresh, fashionable home decor are what attract shoppers, says Katie Ellison, a spokeswoman for Dollar General. Decorating for the holidays “is made easy ... without a huge cost,” she says.
Here are 10 items perfect for Thanksgiving that you can find at dollar stores.
1. Rustic plaids
Home decor items from plates to throw blankets in plaids, especially black-and-white plaid, are popular this year. The timeless patterns are perfect for Thanksgiving or any time of year and bring a more modern look to a home.
For $1, Dollar General is selling mini plaid pumpkins and Dollar Tree is offering a variety of black-and-white checkered tableware, including a rectangular serving platter and 8-inch ceramic plates with sayings like “Blessed” and “Gather Together.”
Courtesy of Dollar Tree
2. Comfort items
Indulge yourself with thankful-themed pillow or throw blankets even if they cost more than $1.
Dollar General stores sell plush pillows with phrases like “Take me to the Pumpkin Patch” and “Grateful & Blessed” inscribed on a pumpkin against a plaid background for $8 (rectangular pillows) to $10 (square pillows). Those stores also offer plaid throw blankets with fringe in various colors for $15. The throws and pillows come in trendy black-and-white plaid options.
3. Lights
Adding festive lights is a simple way to raise the warmth and brightness of any indoor or outdoor setting. Dollar General stores offer string lights decorated with faux leaves, berries and pine cones for $5. They also have various LED-lit pumpkins — some in a gold or silver metallic finish for $5 and ceramic ones in three colors for $3.
4. Crockery
Spice up your Thanksgiving table with ceramic or stoneware plates, bowls, mugs in various autumn themes and colors from dollar stores. For some more unusual, more expensive items, head to Dollar General for ceramic pumpkin soup bowls with removable tops (they come in orange, cream and light blue) for $5 or a cake stand with white circular beading (all wood) for $6.
Colombo plans to make her Thanksgiving dinner table special with some white ceramic dinner plates decorated with leaves from Dollar Tree for $1 each to go with similar plates with sunflowers that she bought last year.
5. Disposable tableware
If easy preparation and cleanup is your thing, nearly all dollar stores sell disposable paper or plastic utensils, tableware and napkins in fall colors. You’ll even find large plastic platters and wineglasses.
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6. Candles
Candles are a simple way to add color and scent to your home. Most dollar stores sell candles in scents like cinnamon spice and pumpkin pie as well as decorative candleholders for $1 and up.
7. Sparkle
Glittery home decor in metallic finishes is hot. 99 Cents Only Stores offer large silver, gold and bronze plastic platters and trays. Dollar Tree has beaded charger plates in silver and gold. Dollar General has glittery pumpkins and different color ones with gold stems.
8. Mini pine cones
A basket, bowl or vase full of pine cones is the perfect stand-alone decoration or a rustic addition to a table centerpiece with candles, leaves or other autumn items. Seasonal pine cones also easily transition to Christmas and Hannukah.
9. Foil bakeware
You won't find these indispensable pans priced lower anywhere else. “Our customers enjoy spending more time with their families by using disposable foil pans, plastic wrap, aluminum foils sheets and cutlery for easy cleanup,” says Dollar Tree spokeswoman Kayleigh Painter.
Courtesy of Dollar Tree
10. DIY craft supplies
Dollar stores offer plenty of supplies, such as ribbon and artificial berries and flowers, to make your own Thanksgiving wreaths, table displays and other crafts.
They also provide plenty of inspiration based mostly on products they sell. Family Dollar’s website provides some budget-oriented table display ideas. Dollar Tree’s website has step-by-step instructions on how to create autumn wreaths.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on November 17, 2020. It's been updated to reflect new information.
Sheryl Jean is a contributing writer who covers aging, business, technology, travel, health and human-interest stories. A former reporter for several daily metropolitan newspapers, her work also has appeared in the Chicago Tribune and The Dallas Morning News and on the American Heart Association's website.
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