CHEAP WAYS TO DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS (GENIUS IDEAS!)

I used these pine cones for fall. Just switched out the container to a Christmas one (which was part of a gift I received! Free, too!)

Here’s a blend of pine cones and cinnamon, which I mixed with faux berries and some jingle bells!

8 | WRAP BOXES TO USE AS DECOR

This is one of my favorite ways to decorate. What’s easier than wrapping up some boxes? And you can make it even cheaper if you use food boxes – like cereal boxes, pasta boxes, pizza boxes… the possibilities are endless. You can get wrapping paper at Dollar Tree, but even take it up a few notches and get a nice, butcher paper, farmhouse-y paper from Walmart for $3.

Use raffia, jute string, or ribbon to tie them up and add some berries and greens (that’s a great way to re-purpose some old decor you don’t’ really want to use anymore), and it looks amazing! And if you want someother real creative wrapping ideas, take a look at some insanely easy gift wrapping ideas that look amazing!

If you have the right-sized pail or bucket, you can also put rolls of wrapping paper inside for decor as well!

9| FREE PRINTABLES OR GIFT BAGS IN FRAMES

I’m a big fan of free printables – they are so accessible on Pinterest. But you might be like me and your printer spazzes out every other day. My new favorite alternative? Gift bags! There are so many beautiful ones, that look like frame-able to me. You can put them all together as a beautiful vignette!

I got these bags from Walmart and the frames from Dollar Tree! I’m so happy with how they came out! 

Free Christmas printables are EVERYWHERE on Pinterest. Below is one I made myself – ‘O Come Let Us Adore Him’ and you can grab the 8×10 free printable here.

10| LIGHTS EVERYWHERE

Using white lights and candles is a super cheap way to add festive decor. You can get strings of lights at Dollar Tree and just start hanging them around windows, on shelves, through garland – so many ways and places to add lights! Candles serve the same purpose – they just cozy everything up instantly. If you aren’t a fan of candles because of toxicity, you can use battery-powered tea lights and candles, too!

I threw in some battery-powered lights with jingle bells on them into some hurricane vases with Christmas potpourri plus a few battery-powered tea lights and candles!

Here, I used some sparkly garland I had and made wreaths, and just added some lights on the top!

11| CHRISTMAS CARDS AS DECOR

Christmas cards are free decor that shows up right in your mailbox. I’m always at a loss for what to do with the cards I get, so they don’t end up just taking up space on the kitchen counter. Using them as decor is the perfect solution! If you need so ideas and inspiration for how to display them, here are  many SUPER easy but really creative (like the one you see below – SO easy!) I’m all about multi-functional decor

12 | DO A FRIEND DECOR SWAP

Chances are, you have some decorations you’ve lost interest. And chances are, so do your friends! How about setting up a little Christmas Decor Swap? Even items that might seem outdated can be repurposed and given new life when they are looked at with fresh eyes!

JUST THE START OF HOW TO DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS ON A BUDGET

I’m just scratching the surface of ways you can decorate on a small budget.  Trust me, once your mind starts going in this direction, the ideas will just start coming non-stop. You probably have more on hand than you think you do,  and there is so much inspiration out there to get you going.