Sukkah Decorating Inspirations

I am celebrating Sukkot this year and would love some Freelance Muse suggestions for how to decorate a Sukkah! Some friends that are coming have a lot of leftover paint from when they painted their apartment that they are happy to donate to the cause, and I have a whole bunch of awesome African cloth that we can hang. I'm still trying to figure out the lighting situation. My architect friend camps a lot, so I know she has at least two camping lanterns (I know, because I gave them to her for her birthday!). Any other inspiration? Still not sure how to get my hands on branches, since my town isn't exactly replete with trees.. Maybe bamboo mats instead.... Hmm....

Let's explain first what Sukkot is (besides a favorite Muse-y holiday!) This is so not a kosher description but we're going to go with it anyway - Sukkot is basically Jewish Thanksgiving. It's a seven dayfeast where people celebrate the harvest. Like any Jewish holiday, you eat and drink a lot. Wait wait, we missed a key step. You eat and drink a lot in a SUKKAH.

Now what is a sukkah you ask? Families build small huts in their back yards (enclosed on three sides and topped with branches) and they enjoy their feasts there. Some people even sleep in the sukkahs.

So how does one decorate such a place?

Lighting: You are totally right, girl. Lighting is key, especially if you are celebrating at night. Globe lights would be fantastic and easy to find. You could pick those up at a local hardware or party supply store.

Or, like you suggested, lanterns. Terrain (the home goods store run by Anthropologie) has some great and fairly inexpensive lanterns. Marshall's and Ross also always have great items like this.

Oval Hurricane by Terrain

Hanging Lantern from Ikea

Linens: You can decorate sooo easily with some great napkins. One option is to grab some great fall fabric and make your own napkins. That is a fairly simple project -

check out some DIY instructions from Skip to My Lou.

OR, if you are going to buy, World Market always has fabulous table linens and then, of course, there is Williams-Sonoma.

Andes Highland Tapestry Napkins

Chantal Floral Napkins

Wandering Vines Napkins

Frouffy Extras

: Ok the Mu

ses do NOT like stupid knick-knacks that clutter your house a

nd overflow your storage bins but seriously, Terrain has some awesome, classy extras that the M

uses can't get enough of.

How fantastic are these pumpkins?

Wire Pumpkin

Apricot Pumpkin

Nugget Pumpkin

Another great idea is to make some decorations out of things that are edible (read: reusable, not wasteful, or space consuming).

Fig and Grape Centerpiece by Martha Stewart

Kumquat Garland