budget holiday decorating?

[beansmom]

How do you decorate frugally for the holidays?

I wrap all the pics on the wall in pretty paper and big bows. I also have mickey icons (the big ones) hanging from ribbon in my windows at varying heights.

What else do you do? I may be moving to a MONSTER house next summer and want to buy supplies during the after xmas sales.

 

[Foladar]

im curious on this too! we were in a 3 bedroom apartment which wasn't all that large, but now we have a 3 bedroom house with large vaulted ceilings and aren't sure what to do with a small budget. we actually saw some Mickey thing on sale for the window today at Walgreens, but for lights and such Walmart seems to be the best with Lowes/Target next. We took down all the prices so far, and keeping an eye out.

 

[AnninIowa]

I really only do one room, which is not only cheaper but easier to store and creates less chaos! Last year I gave about half of my decorations to Goodwill, and it felt so great to get rid of so much stuff!!

 

[uva185]

Instead of putting tons of lights up outside you could just put one "candle light" in each window and perhaps a wreath on the front door. It's classy and frugal at the same time!

Battery Opperated @ 1.99 http://www.christmastreehill.com/wincanbat.html
A/C Powered @ 2.99 http://www.christmastreehill.com/winligel.html
A/C Powered w/ photo sensor @ 3.99 http://www.christmastreehill.com/wincansen.html

Personally I would at least buy the A/C one as you will lose more money on batteries!

 

[bucket o' butter]

A friend of mine gave me a great (and cheap) decorating idea. She buys cheap twine at Wal-Mart and regular printed cotton fabric. She cuts strips from the fabric and ties it around the twine every few inches to make a very decorative garland. She has used it in her kitchen for year round decoration, but we recently saw it used on a Christmas Tree at the mall and it looked so cute. I haven't made mine yet (still trying to finish the Christmas stockings I am making), but hopefully it will turn out. My goal is to get it done this week. I'll post a picture if I do.

 

[cheermom1]

bumping to get a few more ideas

 

[java]

I saw a cute one on tv last night- I missed the show. It was just a styrofoam cone covered in round peppermints to look like a tree. Very cute. I'm trying it.

 

[DisneyMarathon]

I really only do one room, which is not only cheaper but easier to store and creates less chaos! Last year I gave about half of my decorations to Goodwill, and it felt so great to get rid of so much stuff!!

AnninIowa, I agree with you! Decorating only one room is less hassle. Less work is always good! I also got rid of many Christmas decorations at a recent yard sale.

 

[beansmom]

oh, i can't just do one room...i need the WHOLE common area to be festive. NEXT year, if we're in MONSTER house, it will have to be the whole house as it is mostly one big area...open, lofty thing. (I wouldna built it myself! but dh loves it).

i love the ideas.

 

[MDTerrapin]

I do little touches in most of the house. I have hand towels for every season. I swag fake garland around our porch with white lights and I splurge on real garland and a real wreath for the front door.I hang fake wreaths with red bows in all the front windows. A great budget thing I did last year was to buy a nice roll of wide wired ribbon from Michaels. I then had the floral department make a big bow with long tails. It looks beautiful on my staircase and I think it cost around 15.00.

Karen

 

[beansmom]

oh, i can't just do one room...i need the WHOLE common area to be festive. NEXT year, if we're in MONSTER house, it will have to be the whole house as it is mostly one big area...open, lofty thing. (I wouldna built it myself! but dh loves it).

i love the ideas.

 

[Nickimouse]

Here's a tip if you get a real Christmas tree.
Get one that has a lot of low branches that you will need to cut off to make it fit in the stand and make room for gifts. Use the extra branches to make garland, a wreath or line your mantel etc.

 

[flakypuff]

Look around your yard or woods near by...
I have a wooded area in my back yard. I find all kids of things to cut...
pines, pincones, redberry things...I put them in all my window boxes, even
some here and there in baskets and containers around the house. You can get a big box of glass or nonglass ball orniments pretty cheap under 5.00...
you can tie pretty ribbons on them and hang them in windows, stairways...
My sister bought this real ugly christmas tree...its a real one...but she bought it to cut up. It was 7.99... She made 6 bunches of branches and added a few glass balls and a red bow to the top of each one and hung them
on all the doors inside the house...it looks just as nice as the ones you buy for 20 dollars and up...

 

[Foladar]

anybody have a suggestion as to LED vs "old" lights? We saw a special on TV, and the lady mentioned her bill w/ LEDs was actually pretty cheap, so we were considering those (and they're suppose to work longer too) .. and it seems Walmart has the best prices, or Target. We were thinking about just two sets, and two more for the windows, as well as one for a bush. Any suggestions? Thanks guys!

 

[annsteere]

I bought a sheet on sale and made a Christmas shower curtain.

The bathroom is one room in the house where I sit for a minute or two with nothing to do but look around. Having it decorated really helps makes the house FEEL decorated to me.

 

[beansmom]

I bought a sheet on sale and made a Christmas shower curtain.

The bathroom is one room in the house where I sit for a minute or two with nothing to do but look around. Having it decorated really helps makes the house FEEL decorated to me.

Me, too! It's the only place I can read a quick magazine article in peace!

I have added something to my decor: I took my big Mickey Icon ornaments (of course, any ornaments would do) and suspended them from different lengths of ribbon and hung them in the windows so they hang in front of the blinds. I'm not sure it would work in front of drapes...but any open space would be nice...even just from the ceiling.

One day, I'll take pics and post them.

 

[NaplesRI]

An easy way to make the whole house feel decorated is to use a lot of RED throughout.

Red placemats on the tables, or red tablecloths. Hand Towels in bathroom and at kitchen sink, red misc rug, a couple red pillows for the sofa. I had actually started using some red in my kitchen and was amazed at how much I liked it, so I have now added more red touches throughout the house for the holidays and it's great.

If you buy plain red items (or plaids) it is often less expensive than those with holiday designs, yet it still can shout holiday to you. I think sticking with one color makes it appear to be more decorated also.

If you don't need them now, wait till after the holidays to buy your decorations, but already items have been on sale this year- I know the Martha Stewart items are 50% off at Kmart today.
Good luck- I love the look of a decorated home!

 

[Amii]

My son makes paper snowflakes and we hang them from the celing. It makes the rooms look so festive.

 

[TNC924]

I have a big clear glass bowl that I fill with different colored/shaped ornaments, I also put small ornaments on a candle platter, with green and red candles.

 

[Dustball]

My favorite centerpiece:

Buy different kinds of fruit apples, oranges, grapes, pears...you can also
purchase them from the bruised and marked down section....

whip some eggs with a little water...

roll the fruits in the egg/water mixture and then in granulated sugar...

let them dry in a dishrack

arrange on a big platter or among boughs or branches from evergreens
from the backyard...add some cheap silver christmas balls if you like

SUGARPLUM Centerpiece...

P.S. Doesn't last for more than a few days unless you refrigerate them
at night...also don't eat the fruit...raw eggs