I had nothing left to do but wring my hands. Hurricane Dorian was looming off the horizon. We were being bombarded by media telling us to hole up, hunker down and hang in. Stores, restaurants, schools ...

Give your dining setup a high-end look with low-cost solutions. With some Dollar Tree rope, you'll have a convincing dupe of a Pottery Barn placemat in no time!

The bacon place mat in the front page photograph is a computer composite of four reproductions of a single mat. To make a similar mat, cover a rimmed cookie sheet with strips of bacon lined up ...