Many of us are pinching our pennies nowadays, so extravagant Christmas decorations aren’t on very top of the shopping lists. Fortunately, the economic slump has inspired a creative crafters to make beautiful, easy, and affordable DIY decorations. We’ve gathered up 30 of our favorites to help you celebrate the season.
1. Colorful paper ornaments. If you require something new to spice up your tree, try these easy, contemporary DIY ornaments from Lisa Storms. Employing border pushes, she hit out patterns from vibrant bits of paper in different lengths, and stapled together the ends so they buckle in the form of a decoration.
2. Feather ornament tree. Wish to go glam this Christmas? Try producing this marabou feather tree, courtesy of Kate out of Centsational Girl. Kate made this ornament tree out of dowel rods plus a 12′ length of marabou feather boa.
She made the tree shape using one 3/4″ x 36″ dowel pole, six 1/4″ x 36″ dowel rods, a hand saw and a drill. Then she put it into a timber bun foot from her hardware shop. She painted the whole thing white, place it together with her drill, then wrapped 12′ of a marabou feather boa around the dowel rods.
Kate glued a adorable white bird into the top of the tree for an extra touch, then added some brightly colored ornaments in metallic hues.
sarah & bendrix
3. Contemporary holiday dinner party. Veronika of A Few Matters Out of My Life changed her London dining room into the perfect setting for a posh holiday party.
A wreath hung from the ceiling becomes a impromptu chandelier, while evergreen trimmings, a linen tablecloth, and lots of candles make a subtle and tasteful Christmas ambiance.
The sideboard in the end of the table becomes a bar for effortless beverage access and additional storage.
sarah & bendrix
Veronika’s unique spin on an advent calendar is beyond easy, and is superbly minimalist.
Office envelopes with bright pink lining fill up a poster board. Every envelope is numbered and filled with quirky holiday treats.
sarah & bendrix
Veronika stuffed her wall shelves with Christmas lights, small wrapped boxes, and garlands of newspaper rings to v modern-crafty look of her dining room.
Paper garlands are a great, cheap Christmas decoration — try something easy like paper rings, or attempt more elaborate paper snowflakes.
Heather Thoming
4. Candy-cane striped wreath. For a festive wreath that will last longer than the one you usually pick up along with your Christmas tree, try your hand in this DIY candy-cane striped wreath from Heather of Whipper Berry.
This flirty, ruffled wreath is the best way to welcome the holidays to your house. Have a look at the entire tutorial.
Atypical Type A
5. Holiday decorations for small spaces. Alicia Parsons of Atypical Type A doesn’t haveroom for a full-sized Christmas tree in her home, so she’s gotten into the practice of reusing one of her old wedding decorations — branches at a moss-filled bud — rather.
This really is a great tip for anyone with a small apartment or a small budget!
Atypical Type A
Many of Parsons’ ornaments are handmade. These small Scrabble letter ornaments are too adorable! Parsons used a power drill with a nice bit to drill a hole through Scrabble letters and series together cheerful holiday phrases with festive red decorative thread. Have a look at the entire tutorial on her website, here.
Atypical Type A
Another space-saving tip from Parsons: Don’t allow your current furniture limit you! She brought this ladder in from a different room for an extra screen surface. Get creative and think outside of the box older suitcases, wine crates, and backyard stools may all contribute to your holiday décor.
6. DIY “milk glass” forest. Shannon of Madigan Made loves crisp white holiday decor, and also had a fantasy of a tiny white woods of trees covering her cart.
When she could not find what she was looking for, she chose to create it herself. She discovered plain glass tree-shaped candy jars and chose to spray paint.
She wrapped the exterior of the jars and lids with tape and plastic, and painted a few thin coats of white — on the interior. Painting them on the interior gave them a more uniform look and prevents peeling. In the long run, the bits have an almost classic, milk glass-like look.
tatertotsandjello.com
7. Advent calendar ladder. Jen Hadfield of Tatertots & Jello chose to do something a little different because of her family’s holiday advent calendar. She wanted a fantastic spot to hang holiday cards, and thought that having a ladder would be festive and unique. When she could not find a fantastic ladder in thrift shops, she made one.
She’s a ladder at the specific size she desired, and the entire screen cost her less than $20.
Hadfield painted it blue so that the ladder would go with the rest of her home’s color palette. She can leave it up all year long and use it to display invitations, art, or just as decoration.
For the holidays, the ladder becomes a quirky advent calendar. Little canvas totes are attached to baker’s twine with reddish clothespins; subsequently Hadfield placed hooks on the sides for Christmas stockings. This is a great alternative for anyone who doesn’t have a fireplace!
The Happy Home Blog
8. Christmas dinner in the summertime. For anyone living in Australia and New Zealand, Christmas comes in the midst of summer. As opposed to getting warm in front of a toasty fire, odds are you will be trying to cool down with the evening dinner outdoors. Belinda Graham of The Happy Home Blog establish a mixture of indoor and outdoor chairs inside her private courtyard for a simple Christmas meal. Light linens and blossoms are highlighted with touches of glitter for a small holiday glow.
The Home Blog
To give standard jars and vases an extra special touch, Graham highlighted them with a little glitter, then stuffed them with easy blooms and LED candles for a charming centerpiece for the table.
Christie Thomas
9. Holiday garland for the anyplace. Christie of Three Pixie Lane chose to mix up things a bit by placing a holiday garland at a somewhat unexpected place — the foot of this bed! A handmade red and white garland in her daughter’s room adds a remarkably festive touch to the space.
10. Intelligent peppermint wreath. Does not this seem like a picture from a catalog? Believe it or not, Myra of My Blessed Life made this magnificent Christmas decoration out of three bags of peppermints, a hot glue gun, and a white foam wreath form.
She included a ring of Red Hots to fill some white space, then hung the whole item with a festive ribbon.
11. Warm and intimate holiday dinner. Lauren Hufnagl of With Two Mothers includes a great deal of hints and tricks for entertaining large holiday celebrations in tiny spaces.
Mirrors and metallics assists a space appear bigger, as does turning on the lights. If your space is small and comfy, there’s no need to dim the lights to make guests feel comfortable.
Hufnagl set aside a kids table for her holiday dinner setup. Brown art paper is a terrific makeshift tablecloth — provide kids a pair of crayons, plus they’ll be busy for the whole meal.
The Decor Repair
12. Merry and bright Christmas mantle. Curious about the way Heather Freeman of this Beautiful Cupboard obtained her mantle to glow? This cheerful DIY art was made simply by sticking Christmas lights through the rear of a canvas.
Freeman made all of the mantle art herself, and accented it with ornaments from Wal-Mart and heavy green velvet stockings from Hobby Lobby.
The Decor Repair
Freeman made this extravagant looking wreath — rolled up audio sheets glued together — in a craft party. A retro Merry Christmas hint adds a classic touch.
The village below is one of Freeman’s most preferred possessions — her mum bought it for her and her brother on a family vacation to Germany if they were small.
13. Simple advent calendar at a contemporary palette. Christy Wallace of Everyday Giggles wanted to make an enjoyable and vibrant advent calendar because of the 1-year-old daughter. Simplicity was key, so that she went to Hobby Lobby and discovered a simple starter kit. Using her Cricut machine, paint, and a lot of decoupage, she gave the kit her own custom look. Rather than using more traditional Christmas colors, she chose to go with crimson, red, and gray theme for another look.
14. Christmas bulb advent calendar. Try your hand in a exceptional advent calendar like this one Meg Spaeth of Elise Marley made for her kids. Using a homemade pattern (found on her website), she sewed this by hand out of felt.
Each tiny bulb is a pocket which Spaeth matches with lightweight treats — notes, small ornaments, and candy — for her kids to open every day before Christmas.
15. Elegant handmade stockings. Trying to find a sophisticated stocking for your mantle? user Michele Cabot made hers out of amazing vintage French linens for a tasteful and minimalistic holiday mantle. If you’re tired of browsing shops for the best stockings for your family, consider creating your own unique models out of fun classic fabric.
My Sweet Savannah
16. Quick and effortless holiday vignette. To get a easy holiday display, Melanie Thompson of My eldest Savannah discovered some used books and removed the covers. This is a trick used for many years by interior designers and retail shops, and is a great way to bring a rustic element to any sort of vignette. Evergreens and a couple of straightforward ornaments round out the look.
17. Cheap DIY Christmas candle holders. Kristin of Iowa Girl Eats maintained her holiday decor cheap, simple and pastoral. Mason jars were filled with votive candles, imitation berries and spruce, and wrapped in a twine bow. Voila! They’re perfect party decorations. Put them onto a mantle and light the candles indoors as it gets dark. Try using scented votives in vanilla or cinnamon for an extra holiday signature.
18. Christmas screen in Sunset. Shelley Smith out of House of Smiths always has an amazing holiday screen in her dining room (check out her Halloween screen in this roundup).
This past year, she made a decision to prevent red and green and use colors that sensed more wintery. She picked a palette of silver, green, and a tiny turquoise with this particular setup.
Though she chose not to do a Christmas tree this season, she still wanted to have a Christmas-tree like screen. Spray painted branches wrapped with little ornaments became a fun and affordable alternative. Then she stuffed up glass votives with little baubles and trinkets for a little additional sparkle. Perfect!
Nicole Lanteri Design
20. Chic black-and-white Christmas tree. Retro-looking all-white Christmas trees really are making a massive comeback this season. specialist Nicole Lanteri employed a Parisian theme with hers. Simple black iron ornaments in the form of the Eiffel Tower go perfectly with a chic black-and-white striped tree skirt.
21. Whimsical pom-pom garland. If you have younger kids running around, you may want to have a holiday decorating hint from Kristina of ReMade Simple: Make it unbreakable.
Considering her holiday decorating theme this year was “childlike and whimsical,” she wanted her own garlands to be playful combinations of simple substances and vivid colors.
Rather than using colored glass or hard plastic, then she made a trip to her local craft shop and purchased pom-poms, eyelash yarn, and a yarn needle. Making the garland was incredibly simple — just pull the yarn through every pom-pom till you have the spacing you want — so Kristina made an all white version also!
22. Classic velvet wreath. Classic maven Danielle Thompson made this diverse wreath out of classic fabric she had lying about. She wanted something with a mod, 1960s texture for her holiday decorations. Making something out of fabric also supposed she could reuse the wreath year in, year out.
She cut a wreath form out of a foam core board, and glued and sewed classic fabric (and buttons she covered herself!) To the cloth covered wreath form. She made a bow out of more classic fabric and a classic ascot, and attached it to the wreath. How adorable is that? It’s an adorable and one of a kind wreath that (depending on what colors you select) could be used for several vacations.
FOCAL POINT STYLING
23. Holiday tablescape inpsired by character. specialist Lynda Quintero-Davids employed a white spray painted branch as the centerpiece of the holiday tablescape. If you’re having problems coming up with ideas to your holiday dinner table, consider sticking to something easy like that. Sometimes nature supplies all the necessary decoration — spray paint a few branches and accent with some discovered pinecones, and you’re set.
24. Crafty yarn ball wreath. Lisa of Recaptured Charm put together this catchy wreath using styrofoam balls, yarn, and a wire wreath form. By wrapping the yarn around each ball in different directions, she was able to make it look like an actual yarn ball. She hot glued all of these faux yarn balls on a wire wreath shape, and blended a couple red Christmas ornament in as nicely for some colour contrast.
Planet Fur
25. No-muss, no-fuss Christmas tree. Do you hate dealing with a endless course of dead pine needles? Try mixing it up a bit and use a pair of branches in a vase to display your ornaments.
Small and massive variations of the contemporary, DIY Christmas tree are getting increasingly more common. Not only are they tasteful, but they’re affordable and far more eco-friendly than a real tree.
26. Quaint hot cocoa corner. Set a hot cocoa dining table for guests. user stilesquinn used a festive sterling silver tray and classic candy jars to home hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, and candy canes — a great thing to set on the coffee table in your living space prior to another big holiday party.
27. Intelligent Christmas riddle. Holiday decorations may be foolish too! Read the signal out loud to see if you’re able to find out the riddle.
Gail of Can’t Stop Making Things created this humorous sign using paint and a tabletop wooden round she’s discovered in Lowe’s for $7.
The sign reads “No L” — “Noel!”
28. Moss wreath for every season. This simple moss wreath may be used for Christmas, but can easily be adjusted for summer or spring décor too. Aimee of My Pink Life glued a bag of moss on a foam wreath form, and accented with a decorative pine cone and berry embellishment.
suzanne pignato
29. Tropical Christmas tree. To get a Christmas at South Florida, specialist Suzanne Pignato skipped the traditional red and green Christmas palette and functioned sunglasses of turqouise and gold to her shrub, accenting with shells and starfish for a beachy vibe.
30. Magnetic advent calendar. Marie of My Lil Pink Pocket made this adorable and re-usable debut calendar using papier maché boxes from her local craft shop. After decorating them glued a little magnet on the back of each one and place them on a little framed magnet board.
Inform us! Do you have a great holiday DIY? We wish to view it! Publish a photograph in the remarks below.
More: 50 Beautiful Holiday Decorating Suggestions
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