The holidays are the perfect opportunity to make your home festive both inside and out. However, decorating can quickly get expensive, so it’s good to have a plan to keep costs down. Here are the four best tips to making your home a winter wonderland on a budget.
Wrapping Up
Most likely, you’re either going to need to buy holiday wrapping paper, or you have some from previous years. One great way to make things around the home seem festive without breaking the bank on over-the-top decorations is to wrap your presents early. Placed around a tree, nothing adds cheer quite like beautifully-wrapped presents. There are plenty of tutorials available to guide you if you are not naturally adept at adorning beautiful gifts. Branch out and wrap old shoe boxes to place around the home as decorative touches. In a similar vein, you could hang some holiday cards as banners or garlands. String them across the fireplace or along the bannister of the stairs for an easy and quick transformation.
Get Creative
Not all of your decorations need to come from big mega-stores, though those may have some good, inexpensive options in bargain bins. Instead, think about going down to your local second-hand shop and seeing what they have in their homeware department. They may have some gently used decorations to give your home a quaint, antique look, or even brand new decorations just waiting for you to find them. You can also use nature as your decorative inspiration. Gather some pine cones (or buy them from a craft store, which will only cost a few bucks), have the kids paint them, or simply arrange them as a centerpiece on the table. You can often get pine tree scraps and use them in multiple ways, like the cast-off bottoms of Christmas trees or pine boughs. Use household items that you have to your advantage. A few cheap wine glasses from the second-hand or dollar store can be inverted over an ornament or two and used as festive candle holders. Fill a vase with holly or baubles. The options are limitless.
Think Homemade
Often, we can make our own versions of store-bought decorations at a fraction of the cost. Take, for example, wreaths. They are beautiful, but can run upwards of $50. Instead, think of creative ways you can make your own. Get a bulk pack of Christmas ornaments and a wreath base from a craft store, and make your own ornament wreath. If you have extra bows left over from your wrapping projects, use them to make a bow wreath. Use felt to create festive mistletoe, ornamental stockings to hang along your mantle, or even angels you can hang over each doorway. If you have children, these can be fun projects to do together. Even homemade holiday cookies are an option. Keep them in quirky containers or displayed neatly on a decorative plate to be viewed and snacked on.
Safe Storage
Another way to keep your costs down is to keep what you make and buy safe for next year. Rather than spending more than you need to year in, year out, look after the things you have acquired and made. Doing so will really save you on your decorating budget in the long run. The first step, especially for homemade goods that have no box, is to look around the home for ways to keep your goods unbroken. Egg cartons can keep small ornaments protected, and plastic cups can house larger ornaments.
There are many ways you can transform your home into a winter wonderland. This is a magical time of year, and your whole family should enjoy it without breaking the bank. Thankfully, if you scout around and see what you already have available, you can have an affordable and festive holiday season.
Author: Suzie Wilson
Image Courtesy of Pexels.com