Deck the halls on a budget
EAST COAST MOMMY
I love the holidays and adore decorating my home for Christmas. There is something magical about all the glitter and twinkling lights that appear everywhere this time of year.
I don’t go overboard with holiday glitz, but I do like making my home feel festive. I focus on keeping my décor easy, inexpensive, and fun. Today, I am sharing some of my best ideas for decking the halls … on a budget.
When planning out holiday decorating, the first thing to do is pick a theme that will tie all the décor elements together.
You can focus on a character (Santa, reindeer, snowmen, etc.), or you can choose colours that work well together. Grab the items you need from the dollar store or search for second hand treasures on buy and sell sites.
Choosing large elements that make a big impact is an excellent option when trying to decorate on a budget. Garland, greenery, lights and bows are wonderful, and they transform indoor and outdoor spaces quickly and easily.
Mantles are a great place to focus creative energy and budget too. And if you don’t have a fireplace, you can turn a window ledge into a makeshift mantle. In my home, we decorate window ledges with Christmas ornaments, holiday pictures, and hanging stockings.
DIY projects are a fantastic way to create inexpensive and unique holiday decorations.
You can save a lot of money by making things yourself, and you can customize design elements to your colour preferences, style, and taste. In past years, I have used construction paper to transform doors in my home into snowmen. This year, I created a little 3D Grinch vignette on one of my boring white doors. I cut holly leaves from green construction paper and added pom-pom berries. Then, I made a Grinch hand reaching out from behind the door with green and red construction paper, cotton batting, and a large red ball ornament. It turned out super-cute, and my boys love it!
Crafting wreaths, decorations and ornaments is fun, too. Simple wreaths are easy to create with just a couple of basic supplies. Start with a wreath form, wrap it with yarn (secured by hot glue periodically), and decorate with dollar store flowers or embellishments. Alternatively, a unique wreath can be made by painting an old frame bright red, hanging ornaments inside, and finishing with a bow.
Other ideas for cheap and cheerful Christmas decorations are: set up a hot chocolate bar on a tray using a variety of treats in glass containers of varying heights, hang bells or ornaments from ribbons along the top of a window, update pillows you already have with festive pillow covers, wrap existing wall art to look like presents, display Christmas cards by hanging them from a ribbon or framing them, have family members paint Christmas pictures on dollar store canvases, and replace existing framed family pictures with holiday photos.
Holiday decor is a wonderful way to create a warm and cozy home for Christmas. Just remember to keep things simple and inexpensive so that you can focus on what is truly important this time of year … spending time with family and friends.
Gina Bell is a writer, content creator and mom of three.
She lives in Antigonish, N.S., with her husband and three sons, and she is constantly on the lookout for easy and inexpensive ways to have fun with her family.
Follow her adventures at Eastcoastmommy.com.
DIY projects are a fantastic way to create inexpensive and unique holiday decorations.