It is almost time to turn your home’s fall and Thanksgiving decor into a Christmasy winter wonderland. Decorating your house for Christmas can be a fun project that you can get the whole family involved in, but it doesn’t have to bust your budget.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to Christmas decorations, no matter how much money you have to spend. Here are some creative and inexpensive decorating ideas that you can buy or make yourself that will turn your home into a beautiful and fun holiday masterpiece.
DIY Decorations
Chalkboard Tape
You can easily turn your plain dishes into holiday partyware by using chalkboard tape and a chalk pen with this idea from the Krazy Coupon Lady. A roll of chalkboard tape and a chalk pen each cost less than five bucks, and they will turn your everyday plates and serving dishes into temporary holiday decor that you can use to write festive messages or let guests know what you are serving for dinner. And, when you are finished, you can easily remove the tape and toss it.
Ice Lanterns
Turn some of your medium and large plastic containers into ice lanterns with some water, plastic cups, evergreen sprigs, berries, and tea lights. Check out this step-by-step guide from HGTV’s Handmade Holidays. This project is super easy and inexpensive, and these lanterns will use the cold weather to light up your front porch.
Bow Wreath
Improvised Design
This simple project from Design Improvised takes about twenty minutes, and all you need to make it are a bunch of cheap bows, a Styrofoam wreath form, and a hot glue gun. You can also do the same thing with ornaments like the Happier Homemaker.
Advent Calendars
There a ton of creative ideas out there for advent calendars and all you have to do is use items from the dollar store or upcycle old items in your home. The Lettered Cottage suggests stringing together toddler-size mittens and making an advent garland. Or, you can turn a bunch of pockets from old men’s shirts into a colorful holiday countdown.
Hot Chocolate Jars
Who knew you could make edible Christmas decorations? This amazing idea from How Does She uses mason jars, your favorite hot chocolate, and a variety of toppings to create a fun party decoration that your guests can grab when they need a hot beverage. All they have to do is add hot water and enjoy.
Carnation Snowman
With some white carnations and a few items from your local craft store, you can create a unique snowman centerpiece for your holiday table. Some of the items you will need for this project from HGTV include floral foam spheres, wooden skewers, Kraft paper, floral wire, and lots and lots of white carnations.
Treat Tower
Good Housekeeping suggests that with a clear vase, some holiday bows, and candy wrapped in red, green, and silver, you can create an amazing centerpiece in less than five minutes. During the holidays you can find Hershey’s kisses in red, green, and silver. So, grab a few bags of those and some bags of peppermints, and let the kids help you layer the different colors in the vase. Then, wrap the vase with a bow for an extra festive touch.
Game Piece Ornaments
This fun idea can be a craft project for the kids. With some Scrabble pieces and strands of ribbon or fabric – plus a hot glue gun – you can make playful ornaments that spell out different family members’ names and holiday phrases.
Snowman Ornaments
Crazy Little Projects
Turn baby food jars into snowman ornaments with some black, white, and orange acrylic paint, a paintbrush, and some ribbon. These ornaments are from Crazy Little Projects. They are super cute and fun, and your kids can help you make them.
Paper Angels
This decorative idea from Martha Stewart is perfect for the kids’ table at your Christmas dinner. With just some plain paper plates, a paper punch, a utility knife, and a pattern, you can create paper angels for a place setting or to put on the tree.
Store-Bought Decorations
Elf Legs
When you dress up your tree with a skirt, it just makes sense to add some whimsical little legs to your chairs. These decorative elf legs from Pier 1 add some quirkiness to your holiday decor with their striped tights and green velvet boots that curl at the toes.
Ugly Sweater Bottle Bags
Take your Ugly Sweater Christmas party to the next level by using these ugly sweater bottle bags from Oriental Trading Company. This is a festive way to wrap up any wine bottle, so it is nice and cozy, and you can use them as party decorations or gift wrap.
Santa Hat Chair Covers
A quick and easy way to dress up your holiday table is to use Santa hat chair covers ($8.49). These red covers will make your table look divine while adding some charm to your Christmas decor. They fit most chairs, and a set of four is less than ten dollars.
Mini Stocking Utensil Holders
You can find mini stockings online or at the dollar store for just a dollar or so a piece ($4-$24 for packs of 24 on Amazon). And while you can use them in the traditional way and hang them on the mantle or tree, you can also get creative like Princess Pinky Girl and turn them into utensil holders.
Christmas Motion Projectors
This high-tech option is an LED motion projector ($14-$40) that will instantly decorate the inside or outside of your home with snowflakes, dancing penguins, dancing Santas, or Christmas colors. The projectors are less than fifteen dollars, and they work on any flat surface up to twenty feet away. You can adjust them to any position, and there is a stand included for indoor use and a ground stake and cord for outdoor use.
Twinkle Star Window Curtains
This perfect indoor or outdoor lighting decoration ($15.99) works for Christmas, but you can also use it during other holidays and events. The curtain lighting comes in a soft white color, and there are also eight different mode settings including chasing/flash, slow fade, twinkle/flash, and steady on.
Snowman Toilet Seat Cover
One of the rooms of the house that can be easily overlooked when decorating for the holidays is the bathroom. But, not this year. This snowman toilet seat cover ($14.99) is made from flannel and actually has three pieces – the seat cover, a floor mat, and a tissue box cover. It has an adorable design, and it will make your bathroom ready for the holidays.
Snowflake Window Clings
An easy decorative idea for your windows, ceramic tiles and glassware are snowflake window clings ($11.99). The static clings don’t need any adhesive or tape, and you can reuse them every year. All you have to do is save the backing and store them flat.
Christmas Pillow Covers
It doesn’t make sense to buy a bunch of Christmas throw pillows since you can only display them for a few short weeks out of the year. That can quickly get expensive and start turning into a waste of money. But, if you want some festive pillows, try some Christmas pillow covers ($19.50) that you can use over your existing throw pillows during the holiday season, and then easily pack away with the rest of your Christmas decorations the rest of the year.
Peppermint Floor Decals
If you have hardwood, laminate, or vinyl floors in your home, try these fun peppermint floor decals ($9.99) to bring some extra holiday spirit. They come in a variety of sizes, and they will stay in place when you get them wet, so you can still easily clean your floors.
