More Budget Decorating Ideas

There are many easy projects you can do yourself to decorate a dorm room or apartment on a tight budget. From creating your own throw blankets and pillows to creating pictures to hang on the wall, many things can be made cheaper than you can buy them in a store, and making them yourself ensures that your friends will not have the same things in their dorm room or apartment.

Fleece Throw Blanket

To buy a throw blanket in a store, you are looking at a minimum price tag of $15. To make one on your own, you will most likely spend between $6 and $10 (at a price of $3 or $5 per yard).

You will need lengths of two different colors or patterns of fleece fabric. The size of your fabric depends on how large you want your blanket, but generally two yards will make a blanket large enough for the average adult. Also, for a slightly lighter weight blanket, you can replace one piece of fleece with a piece of heavy cotton.

Select either a solid and a pattern or two solid colors that compliment each other. Lay the two pieces of fabric one on top of the other, the "wrong" sides facing each other (inward). Using a pair of sharp fabric scissors, begin by cutting a square out of each corner on both pieces of fabric. The squares should be the same size as you want your fringes, two or three inches is generally a good length.

Cut the fabric into fringes, two or three inches in length, all the way around all four sides of the fabric, making sure to keep both pieces together as you cut. Your fringes should be between one half and one inch and there should be an odd number of fringes per side.

Starting with the fringes at each corner (eight fringes total), loop the top fringe behind the bottom fringe and bring it back up through. Repeat these same steps to create a knot, making sure not to pull the knot so tight that it disfigures the blanket.

Once you have tied off each corner, repeat the knotting steps all the way around the blanket's edges. You do not want to tie all of the fringes together, thus the reason for the odd number on each side. Only every other pair of fringes should be tied.

Throw Pillows