If you are planning to have a frugal Christmas, one of the areas that you will need to try to save money on is that of decorations. Decorations can get rather expensive, especially if you buy them at the store ahead of the holiday. The good news, though, is that you can usually make wonderful Christmas decorations for much less if you do it yourself.
Even if you are not “crafty” (I know I’m not), you can make simple decorations that look great. Here are some great do it yourself ideas that can help you bring a festive mood to your home this holiday season:
Candles
Candles make excellent Christmas decorations. You can use plain white candles, or even get red or green candles. Groups candles of different heights together, and tie them with ribbons. You can also add glitter to the candles. Use egg whites or glue to coat the candles, and sprinkle glitter over them.
You can also make very pretty decorations by putting small votive candles in goblets, glass tumblers or small bowls.
Natural Items
Use what nature provides to create beautiful holiday decorations. Gather some evergreen branches and use them to make any number of frugal decorations. Small branches tied with ribbon are simple, but look great. You can use glitter on branches, or even paint them with silver or gold.
Add in some pine cones. These can be piled in the middle of the table, or they can even be used to surround your candle decorations. Create bundles of small branches, pine cones and ribbon for a fun look. If you have cranberries or holly these can be added in as well.
You might not be able to go outside to get fruit, but you can use some fruit from the store in your decorating efforts. Pears and apples are considered Christmas fruits, as are small oranges. You can polish these up and add them to centerpieces or mix them with your evergreen branches. Pile them in a basket (tied with a festive ribbon) or a glass bowl. You can also coat them in glitter for a more festive appearance. Coat the fruit with egg whites and then roll the pieces in glitter.
Cinnamon sticks can also be incorporated into your decorating efforts, and they have the added bonus of smelling great!
Jars, Baskets and Bowls
There are a number of ways that you can use jars, baskets and bowls in your Christmas decoration efforts. Even canning jars, filled with Christmas candy, curled ribbon, tinsel, small ornaments, or even Christmas tree lights can look good. There are a number of inexpensive bowls, apothecary jars and even vases that can be filled with fruit, pine cones, tree ornaments or any number of Christmas-y items.
You can put together baskets of different items to look festive. Fill baskets with any of the items we’ve mentioned above, and you have an instant centerpiece. You can paint baskets in Christmas colors if you want, or festoon them with ribbons and bows. Fill them with small boxes wrapped like presents (something else that makes a fun Christmas decoration).
Do you have any favorite do it yourself Christmas decorations?
This post was featured in the Best of Credit Cards and Saving Money.
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Ooo, I like the idea of filling a bowl with Christmas lights! I have some lights I don’t always know what to do with, and curling them into a glass bowl would be a really pretty!