Want to have beautifully put-together Christmas decor with out spending an arm and a leg on decorations? I have some great tips for you that will help you tastefully set the mood for the Christmas season without killing your Christmas budget. Some of them you can apply right now, others you can put into action for next year.
At the end I will give you 5 additional tips for saving money on probably the most expensive part of Christmas decor– the tree!
If you haven’t already, you’re going to want to sign up for the Frugal Fresh Start Challenge. You’ll be able to download the workbook right away, then you can follow along starting January 1st. Every weekday in January we’ll be tackling a new way to be more frugal. Learning to be frugal and manage your money will help you no matter what your financial goals are.
Okay! Let’s jump right into the frugal tips for decorating for Christmas!
Tip #1: Buy Used
You can find a beautiful variety of Christmas decor at thrift stores and yard sales. When people are moving or downsizing, one of the first things to go is their Christmas decorations (especially when it’s the middle of the summer).
The chain of charity thrift stores in our area stores all the Christmas themed donations they receive throughout the year and has a big event on the day they put it all out for sale. Prices are fantastic and the inventory can’t be beat. Of course you don’t have to attend the big unveiling event to find great things, as the Christmas inventory remains in the stores through the rest of the season.
Tip #2: Resist the urge to buy new… until after Christmas
If you can muster some self-control, then hold off on buying any new decor for this season. Stores are so eager to clear out their Christmas inventory once Christmas is over that they will be offering steep discounts on everything starting on December 26th. Getting 75% off is a great incentive to wait. You can pack away your new treasures along with your other Christmas decorations and surprise yourself with them next year!
Tip #3: Incorporate Christmas cards into your decor
There are so many great ways to display your Christmas cards. We like to string a ribbon up and use clothes pins to hold the cards up. You could display them across a mantel or on a bookshelf. I’ve seen other people stick them on the wall in the shape of a Christmas tree, like the one below that Dani from Thyme is Honey made with washi tape.
I love the way Thrifty Decor Chick made this door into a gift to hold her cards.
If you don’t get many Christmas cards or your feel like your collection is too sparse at the beginning of the season, save your Christmas cards from years past and put them up again. There’s no shame in that!
Tip #4: Use kids’ artwork
Every elementary school child brings home an abundance of seasonal art projects over the years. Choose your favorite pieces and find a thrfit stroe frame that will fit it. Create a little gallery of artwork from your children or grandchildren. As they grow, the children will love seeing the creativity from their early days and will love that you cherish their work.
Tip # 5: Declutter– Less is More
This tip isn’t for everyone but if you have a tendency to let your horizontal spaces get cluttered, then this will make a huge difference in the overall effect of your Christmas decor. Cleaning up the space you have will allow the decor that have to stand out and not get lost in the mess.
There’s no need to over-do it with Christmas decorations. A few tasteful intentional decorations are more beautiful and meaningful than an overwhelming collection.
Tip #6: Use what you have
You probably have some everyday items around the house that could double as Christmas decor. You just have to think outside the box a little. Adding some red ribbon to a vase or vase makes it suddenly look seasonal. Grab some pinecones from your own yard or around the town to use in a basket or bowl.
Tip #7: Get crafty
You don’t even have to be creative to be crafty these days! Just search on Pinterest or Google for handmade Christmas decorations or craftys and you will be inundated with ideas. And not just “homemade” looking ones either. You can make some pretty sophisticated-looking crafts with very few supplies and minimal talent.
Tip #8: Be smart when it comes to the tree
Probably the biggest expense in the Christmas decor category is the Christmas tree. Live Christmas trees can be quite pricey on an annual basis, but investing in an artificial tree that you love can be a big expense in the year you choose to buy it. Here are some bonus tips to help you be smart in the tree department:
Cut your own!
If you live near a national forest, you can get a tree permit for $10-$15. We’ve made a tradition of cutting our own tree on Thanksgiving weekend.
Got a 4th grader?
Through the Every Kid in a Park program, 4th grade students not only get a free national parks pass for the year, but they also get a free Christmas tree permit to cut their own tree (with an adults help, of course).
Buy it used
During our law school years (and again when we were living in my in-laws’ basement paying off the law school debt), we used a small artificial tree that we bought for $4.79 at the thrift store. It served us well and fit our budget.
Wait until after Christmas
Those pricey artificial trees will also be in the 75% off sale after the holidays. Hold off until then and you’ll be set for next year.
Get creative!
If getting a tree isn’t in the budget, don’t let it ruin the holiday for you. Let your creative juices flow and get the kids involved.
I love this felt Christmas tree that Chelsea from Two Twenty One made. She even has patterns for it over on her site.
With some washi tape you could create a life size tree on your wall. Add some lights and ornaments like HelloKim did and you’ll have a gorgeous festive tree!
Let your kids help decorate your masking tape wall tree with little candies and toys like this one from Mima and Moo.
Or you could use another potted plant (real or artificial) and set on a table to serve as the Christmas tree. Have the kids make mini decorations for the “tree.”
In 2019 we didn’t want to trek up to the mountains on the day after Thanksgiving with our brand new baby, so our older kids hiked around our property and decided on a manzanita tree. This is our first year with such a non-traditional tree, but so far we really like it!
How have you managed to decorate for Christmas without breaking the bank? Please share your tips in the comments so we can all get some fresh ideas!
Next in the series:
Day 8: Making Good Gifts GREAT (without costing more)
Frugal Christmas Decorating Tips for families who want to save money all year round. You can save lots of money by cutting out the non-essential Christmas extra ornaments and decorations, but if you really want to give your home a Christmas Makeover and make it “ocus on Christmas”, then cutting out all the unnecessary ornaments is necessary. But in most cases where trimming is needed or a major overhaul is needed to the entire home, cutting out excess ornaments is an obvious must.
I bought a pencil tree this year to put in the foyer. It is decorated with ornaments in a rustic theme that I have crafted. We cut down our trees for Christmas for a year until my husband accidentally locked our keys in the truck. It was very cold and it took a few hours to get there. We also make ice cubes every winter and hang them on windows and sometimes on the ceiling.
A few years ago we got a small (approx 3 ft. high) pre-lit table-top tree on sale. We leave it up all year round, where it serves to brighten up a dark corner of the living room. It also means no storage space needed for the tree! We don’t put up many ornaments, mostly just a ribbon or cloth to cover up the base of the tree.
We have used the same artificial tree for probably 30+ years. So that along with ornaments I have collected during those years continue to save us money yearly. I did buy a pencil tree this years to place in the foyer. It is decorated in a rustic theme with ornaments I have handcrafted. I always host a craft day for family and close friends before Christmas. This is where many of my ornaments have originated from.
We used to go cut our own tree for Christmas until one year my husband accidentally locked our keys in the truck. It was very cold and took a couple of hours to get in. The next year we decided that we needed an artificial tree. The day after Thanksgiving I went to a black Friday sale and got us a tree for $40. We had it for years. Some years we did homemade ornaments only. We also purchase ornaments from places we travel to so that when we hang them on the tree we remember our trip.
My kids love making paper chains. I keep them from one year to the next, because it seems like such a waste otherwise; and by now we have enough paper chains to stretch from one end of the house to the other. This is the one activity they look forward to the most when it comes to decorating, and it has been for years. If you can’t afford construction paper, you can use junk mail, freebie newspapers, whatever you have. We also make snowflakes every winter (June-July-August here) and hang them on the windows, and sometimes hanging from the ceiling. Again, you can use any old scrap paper for them; by doing that you end up with a huge variety of sizes and patterns. The light filtering through the snowflakes on the windows is always quite pretty.