Searching ideas for cheap Christmas decorations? We are overflowing with ideas for cheap Christmas decorations today.
Decorating on a budget for Christmas can be fun. Cheap Christmas decorations can look fantastic. What is your Christmas decor budget? My budget was to create free Christmas decor ideas in my home this year while keeping Christmas traditions alive.
When I get into full on Christmas mode, nothing will stop me from accomplishing my task at hand. See, a little known fact about me? Well, once I set my mind to something, there is nothing that will stop me from accomplishing said task.
Figure out how to write a blog, check. Create new recipes to share with others, check. My list of to do's is never ending. Is yours? I found at a young age, I am an odd ball who loves to learn new things.... constantly. It is the way I was made I guess.
I have enjoyed learning how I can empty the attic and basement of all of the Christmas things and decorate throughout our home. No, sorry I have not emptied our home of Christmas and used it all up yet. I still have so much up there lurking about, just waiting to be seen. I do not think it is possible for me to get it all out for one season, so I will keep decorating and you will keep seeing new and old things alike in our decorations year after year, or that is the plan anyway.
Being budget friendly is always at the forefront of my mind. Some would call me cheap, others frugal, and yet some would say eclectic.... maybe my most favorite term, but I do love to decorate for the holidays. I am sharing how I accomplish that spending zero to very little money this year in our living room.
I am not a themed Christmas decorator...
You know how you see some folks who decorate their trees differently every year? All new trees, ornaments, greenery, etc... Well, I am not that gal. You see, you will see a silver, gold, and blue tree color combination in my living room always... unless perhaps we change our living room furniture which I do not see happening.
We are a rare type here at Vintage Style Gal. Once we love something, we love it forever! Until something wears out, I will keep it. Since we rarely sit in our living room, I am sure it will be the same until I longer reside here.
I can guarantee I will add various ornaments to our tree, but I cannot see continuously changing our decorations every year to fit what is "in style" from year to year. To me, Christmas is all about traditions which I am sure you are picking up on if you read along with us on a daily basis.
Before major changes happened around here, we looked forward to searching out the perfect new ornament for our tree each year. Our ornaments typically came from antique stores, where most times there was only one available. One unique ornament for our tree, a tradition we began when we first started dating.
Traditions come from doing the same thing year after year. The very definition of tradition according to the Oxford Dictionary: "a belief, custom or way of doing something that has existed for a long time among a particular group of people; a set of these beliefs or customs".
So why do we feel the need to change year after year?
This question led me to thoughts of course, I have been doing some deep thinking lately... oh no, Cara has her thinking cap on. Yes, I have lately. I have been thinking how much covid has changed the world, and in turn, us humans. Do you feel like everywhere you turn there are more and more people trying to cram "more" down our throats. Well, Cara I need to know more, what is this "more" you are speaking of?
The more would be, buy more, more, more. Okay, I am guilty of it myself, but I think I have a shopping addiction. I mean, when the USP, FedEx, and Amazon trucks roll up, they know where my home is. No questions asked. In my defense, I have always been a shopper, but here lately... I have been scaling back.
I know, you may be thinking to yourself well if the Christmas you are showing us is scaling back, then we hate to see you in full on mode. My Christmas decorating is always over the top, every year (not nearly what I see out there though when you begin really searching online). I know this, but it does not mean I am making new purchases all of the time. I admit, we do have a lot of stuff.
If you have followed along with us since the beginning, do you see how I use a lot of the same decorations, but give them a new sparkle (new room, new way of displaying, etc..) every year? I know when I was growing up and my Grandma would try to put decorations in different places, we would immediately say no, that is not where it goes.
If we had littles running around here, I can tell you our home would look the same every year for them. I enjoyed getting the Christmas decorations out every year and knowing exactly where everything went as a child. How my mother would put out a sleeping Santa with patchwork quilt candy dish on her end table that she painted so many years ago. Or how there was a Santa and Mrs. Claus that would face each other and I would always pose them as if they were kissing.
Do you see how those memories have stayed with me all these years later? I believe traditions are important and for us to embrace them instead of always trying to change and create a newer, better us or home. What is wrong with tradition and keeping things the same?
If you ask me, absolutely nothing!
Above you see my hobnail candlesticks I have had for years which have been on the mantle, in the dining room, and now on the roll top desk. The pine swags were used at our wedding, along with the mercury glass tree.
There is one of those lovely glass trees purchased for our wedding, but went unused. The large diamonds were used on the tables from our winter wedding, the rose soaps I have had for years which always seem to make a home in our living room as well.
The silver candlesticks were picked up from a thrift store which were also used at our Christmas winter wedding. The small diamonds in this tree? Another wedding decoration. I recall one of the ladies I worked with said not to purchase items for our wedding to make it the perfect day, but purchase things we could reuse again later.
That thought stayed with me as I began picking out and purchasing items for our winter December wedding decorations. I just knew everything I chose would be used in our home throughout the year, and in some cases only during Christmastime.
Try to have a dual purpose when picking up items for your home. Now Christmas is a little different since we all put up Christmas decorations and take them down, but at least purchase with years following in mind. Stay away from trends, unless it is something you know you will never tire of. There are just some of those things for me I will never tire of seeing in our home.
I do admit, we go with more traditional decor in our cozy cottage, and sometimes I have people comment why did you choose that? I loved it when I saw it and I knew I would never change my mind is my response.
These days, I only make a purchase if it is something I love. That way I know it will be sticking around for years to come. No more on the fly purchases for this gal. I can be a huge impulse buyer, but I like to think I know myself now, and I know what I like.... hmmm... could maturity come with less impulse buys too? I am thinking so.
I picked up this Santa with his sleigh and reindeer from Biltmore. When I made the purchase, I knew I would love it forever, plus I only purchased the print, knowing I had a frame that would be just perfect for it when it arrived. You know what? In my opinion, my frame fits this painting perfectly.
Save money where you can. You can save a lot of money by using your own frames or frames from the thrift store instead of purchasing already framed prints. I do this with my paint by number kit paintings that I adore too.
These potted cedar bushes have been on our staircase, and in our dining room. They are housed inside galvanized buckets with a red stripe around them, I decided to place them inside these hobnail planters. Love that they received a new look and are now added to our living room this year.
Now my beloved teal hurricanes... oh, I just could not put them in the attic. I love this set! They light up in the evenings and the way the light dances through the pattern on the glass is just magical. So... they stayed in our living room as you can see. I am not so sure they will ever leave this room. Why would I want to move them when they look stunning as they are?
There is that mantel again, if you missed it, you can check out the entire post about our mantel. This year, the only purchase I made was a few sprigs of pine for our mantel in the living room. So even though I challenged myself to create new looks, I did not spend any money on our Christmas decorations in the living room this year. And you know what? It felt good, actually, it felt wonderful!
I enjoyed the challenge I created for myself. Oh, I am so competitive with myself, no one else, just little ole me. Those few years ago when I had a friend comment, you should totally do something where you can show people how to decorate their home for little to no money because honey, you can stretch a dollar... I wondered what on earth I could do, and then the blog just began to come together in my mind, who knew I would actually act on it. When covid happened, I decided it was now or never, I needed something to keep me occupied, and wow, has it ever!
So if you enjoy following along with us, our tips and tricks, our crazy pup stories, our decorations, recipes, or whatever you fancy, share it with us in our comments, send an email, I love reading them and respond, and/or share us with a friend. We enjoy bringing you new content and ideas every week.
Common questions we have been receiving:
How do you decorate on a tight budget?
- Use decorations you already have.
- Ask family members if they plan to rid their home of decorations.
- Thrift Christmas items.
- Dollar Store, there are so many items waiting to be found there.
- Use your existing decor, but add a few small changes, ribbon to lamps that look like scarves, on doors, down the center of your table.
How can I make my house look Christmassy?
- Add a bowl to your coffee table and add ornaments you may already have.
- Ribbon! Add it everywhere... last year I picked up plaid ribbon for $3.99 and I added it to lamps in the dining room, wreaths in our kitchen, I even put it in the bathroom.
- I add ornaments to our doorknobs for extra decorations. I like to see all of the nooks and crannies filled, but you do not need to do all of the extra things.
- Place a wreath on your front door, on your cupboards in the kitchen, great tip: use candle rings as wreaths in the kitchen, they cost less money!
- Use napkin rings as candle rings, you will save a lot of money.
- Hang tablecloths as decorative curtains.
- Use existing decor in unique ways.
- Grab a thrifted vase and add cedar, sparkly items and an ornament.
How can I decorate without getting overwhelmed?
- Do not take on more than you can handle
- Do a little bit at a time to prevent getting overwhelmed
- Ask family and friends for help, what a great way to catch up while you decorate, dinner and decorating anyone?
- Keep your decorations simple, it's not a competition, do what you can
- Bring out the items you love most and leave the rest put away
What is the most used Christmas decoration?
- A Christmas tree of course!
- I'd say runner up would be Christmas wreaths
What are the 3 colors for Christmas?
- Red, green, and gold
- If you ask me, I say there are 4 colors, we cannot forget silver!
What can I replace Christmas decorations with?
- If you do not want to decorate for Christmas and winter separately, then I suggest decorating with winter decor that will slide over into spring. You save time decorating for 2 seasons, and you save money, plus storage
So after you have finished reading this post, I hope you are armed with all the ideas in order to complete your Christmas decorating at home. Just jump in there and see what works for you, your home, and your family. Have fun with it, no stress holidays, do what you can, and most of all, enjoy the holiday season with loved ones.
