I love decorating our home for the Christmas season.  We cut down our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving each year and have it up until Epiphany to maximize the magical holiday season.  Decorating your home for the holidays doesn’t have to take a lot of time or be a drain on the budget by following these simple ideas.

Frugal and Fancy Decorating for the Holidays

• Use nature to decorate your home
• Decorate with fruit that can be eaten later
• Sew or make table coverings that can be used year after year
• Decorate with items you already have

Use nature to decorate your home.

On your next walk to the park or while hiking on a trail, pick up any pine cones, leaves or tree branches and bring them home with you.  Placed in a bowl, pine cones look very seasonal.  Add a few drops of essential oils to your bowl and your home will smell fresh, too.

Tie tree branches together with twine, add a pretty ribbon, and you’ve got a holiday swag for the front of your home.  Holly branches from your yard or your neighbors are always lovely in a vase this time of year.  Be sure and check with your neighbor, first, before trimming their holly tree.  This is the front of our home with a holiday swag I made from branches we cut off the bottom of our Christmas tree.

Decorate with fruit that can be eaten later.

Bowls of oranges or lemons mixed in with holiday decorations look so pretty and festive.  Oranges in a bowl mixed with a tartan plaid table runner looks very crisp and classic.

Sew or make table coverings that can be used year after year.

With plaid wool fabric that I’ve added gold trim to and lined, my tables and side-board are instantly transformed with their holiday finery.  Yes, these took time to sew years ago but now they’re a quick and easy way to decorate for Christmas.  In minutes, my home looks like it’s dressed and ready for the winter.

None of the lining on these items match and it doesn’t need to.  (Who looks at the lining anyway except perhaps other sewers!)  Use scraps from other projects or a re-purposed skirt for the lining.  Several of my table-coverings are lined with a Ralph Lauren black velvet dirndl skirt and another is lined with Ralph Lauren velvet palazzo pants.  (Can you tell I used to work for Ralph Lauren, or what?)

Use items you already have around your home to decorate.

A stack of Christmas tales or picture books makes a nice holiday statement.  Colored dice, conversation starter game cards, and finger puppets in pretty containers give a coffee table a party look in no time.

Estate sales are an excellent place to buy used Christmas (and other holiday) items for decorating your home.  Buying items second-hand saves money, resources, and is very stylishly frugal.  Now, where’s my eggnog?

What’s your favorite way to decorate at this time of year?