Rather than buying season-specific decorative items, think about how a single piece can serve many purposes.

For the price of a pumpkin soup tureen, you can buy a cast iron dutch oven.  You can fill the dutch oven with squashes, gourds, and real or fake autumn leaves and have a lovely centerpiece for your autumn dining table.  (Do use the squashes!  They’re not just for decoration anymore.  I’ll post a squash soup recipe soon.)

On Halloween, you can fill it wth dry ice as an eerie witches’ cauldron decoration.  Or, you can fill it with candy and use it to greet trick or treaters.  You can make it scarier by stretching fake cobwebs over the candy.  It’ll gross kids out and it’s cheap.  Fake cobwebs are available at craft and party stores. You may even find some at dollar stores.  You only need a little bit to make the cauldron scary, so you’ll have some left for next year.

On Thanksgiving, fill the dutch oven with a variety of produce to symbolize the bounty we celebrate.

On Christmas, you can cover the outside of the pot with gold foil and fill it with pine boughs, ornaments, fruits, and garland.

Oh yeah, you can also use it to cook soups, stews, and roasts.

You tell me, which purchase is the best use of your money?