Happy Holidays!

Five holiday decorating ideas on a budget!

1.  Swag it up!  Use your outdoor resources!  Every year I clip a few low-hanging branches from a nearby Hemlock and swag them with an old ribbon (I keep ribbons from gifts to re-use each year!).  You can swag anything!  Your front door, an old sled, an old pair of wooden skis, your windows and even anything inside the house (be ready for those needles in a month!).

You can also create a standing swag with paper-white bows from a fallen birch (usually the limbs that are 1″ or thicker have the paper-white bark).  Collect about 3 branches, some red berries (I couldn’t find any red berries, so I used another swag from the Hemlock tree, sorry Hemlock!) and arrange in a tall vase, bucket or basket on the floor.  Again, you could add a short strand of lights and voila!

A wintery decor for the holidays and beyond…

Simple paper stars go a long way…

2.  Simple paper stars go a long way… there are great sites like Lunabazaar where you can score paper lanterns and stars, with lights or without, and use them for hanging in bunches or singles throughout your home…

I put these up in the fall and keep them up all winter, they add a nice soft touch of winter to the inside of my home.

3.  Fill old boxes with pinecones and glass, pine swags and birch branches!  Find an old crate or a wooden box in your home you could spare for the season, and fill it with real or fake pine bows, pine cones (you can purchase bundles of cinnamon-scented pine cones for cheap from almost anywhere this time of year), and glass ornaments left-over from the tree.

If you’re feeling extra zesty, add a short string of twinkly lights inside the box!

4.  Collect your pillar candles, ones you’re not using, and perhaps ones that you are.  Group them as a centerpiece in the middle of your table for a soft, designer-chic look!

…find a fallen tree, sapling size, and shake it out, bring it in and prop it against the wall or in a corner.

5.  Head outdoors again, find a fallen tree, sapling size, and shake it out, bring it in and prop it against the wall or in a corner.

The tree alone is great ambiance, but add twinkly lights or hang your Christmas cards from it and it (with small clothespins) and instantly comes to life!