Welcome to the Beautiful Christmas series!
Throughout this week, a group of great bloggers will be sharing ideas on how to prepare for the holiday season without busting the budget.
There will be tips from Katie on homemade candy canes, from Kaley on memorable Family Traditions, and Beckie on gift giving… all with an emphasis on beauty within your budget. It’s going to be great!
Of course, we need to starting out by Decking the Halls…
Like most families, we love to decorate our home for Christmas.
And like most families, we don’t have a lot of extra pennies lying around waiting to be spent on “frivolous things” like decorating our house for Christmas!
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to cost much to make your home look beautiful for the holidays – we have found that God’s creation has a plethora of beautiful {free} options!
What will you need? A pair of scissors, some string, access to the great outdoors, and a willingness to try something different!
We first went outside to see what we might find… and it didn’t take long for us to identify some goodies!
Here is a branch of White Pine from a tree that grows on the corner of our yard.
Here is a bough of Hemlock that populates the local forest – we looked for branches that had some small cones on them for an extra dimension.
Here is Winter Berry which grows in the wet marshy areas of forests in the NorthEast…
We found this Winter Berry growing along the NY State Thruway(near the rest stop north of Kingston in case you’re in the area!)
And finally some pine cones collected from our backyard…
What can you do with these beautiful gifts of nature?
Make a Door Wreath
I had a rusty, metal “bow” that I bought in a Hobby Lobby for $1 after the holidays many moons ago. On it’s own I think it’s rather tacky, but has a hanger on the back to secure it to a door so it’s useful.
I simply layered the two types of pine boughs on top of each other, and then tied them together with twine at the top.
I add the metal bow on top of it, and attached it to the pine boughs with some more twine.
Then to finish it off, I added in some pine cones, attaching them to the frame with green floral wire.
Now we have a beautiful decoration for our front door (that costs less than $2)!
Create Holiday Arrangements
What else can you do? Grab an old container and fill it up!
We used a milk jug which we found abandoned in our barn. You could also use a leftover vase, a a large drinking glass, or a basket…
The display doesn’t have to be symmetrical or ornate… just keep adding sprigs until you like the look of it!
TIP: I found that it helps to put the container in it’s spot and then do one additional round of tweaking… it’s funny how differently things look at new angles!
I did the same thing for our kitchen on a smaller scale. Just add a few pine boughs and berries until it looks full.
(The container is made from a reclaimed wood vase that I bought for a few dollars at flea market several years ago…. and St. Nicholas showed up for his big day on December 6th!)
Advent Wreath
And finally, if you are a family who prepares for the coming of the Christ Child with advent, you can make a beautiful garland with sprigs of White Pine and Winter Berry…
We wrapped up an old chandelier, added the candles and created a festive centerpiece to foster our family’s worship. This wreath sits on our coffee table, and each day we sing a song to remind us of what we are preparing for on Christmas morning.
It’s lovely.
TIP: any time you decorate with candles, be sure to burn the wicks for about five minutes before you put them on display. It will make the arrangement look more homey and lived in… I don’t know, but I think unburned candles look lonely!!
All these decorations look beautiful… and we didn’t spend a penny to make them. We just used what we already had and brought in Nature to do the rest!
Interested in more Beautiful Christmas ideas?
- Check out a tutorial on how to make a simple holiday bow,
- learn how to create elegant gift wrapping for just pennies!
And from my Home to Yours… Merry Christmas!
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! Great tips. I love the look of the things you made. I think these types of things often come out even better than the store bought ones anyway!
GORGEOUS!!!
These are so beautiful! Nothing beats the real thing in looks either, It doesn't matter what you pay for fake, they are never as beautiful or smell as nice as genuine greenery at Christmas. I'm looking forward to reading more!
Sharon,
These decorations are beautiful. I'm always looking for crafty ideas Maya and I can do together and i think these are perfect. We had collected some pinecones earlier and we are planning on decorating them with some glitter to look like little christmas trees. Thanks so much for sharing!!! I love your blog!
This post is exactly what I needed! I have no creativity so your step by step directions help me to figure out how to do this. The pics are great too. I can do this! AND for FREE! Even better. Thanks!
So beautiful!! You are quite talented!
Blessings-
Amanda
What beautiful arrangements! I love bringing nature inside!
You are so creative! I love love the chandelier piece!
Ohh should also tell you I'm your newest follower:)
Great tips and beautiful arrangements.
Thanks for sharing it.
Have a great week.
PS: Remember that I start today with the Christmas Decorations Tour 2009, join the fun with us.
I love the greens in the milk jug! Merry Christmas!
Another idea using those same items is to put them in a bundt pan, add enough water to cover and freeze. Make sure it's sitting level in the freezer! When it's frozen thoroughly, you can run a little hot water over the pan upside down to release the ice wreath. Add some ribbon and hang on an outdoor tree, light post, or the side of your house for a decorative frozen treat!!! Of course this only works if you live in a very cold area like I do!
Wow, you rocked it! I absolutely LOVE your ideas. And I have a farm full of trees, so we're headed outside to get some greenery.
How FUN! Your decor is beautiful! We will be getting our tree this weekend. The parts that my hubby cuts off the bottom to fit it in the tree stand will get used to make small arrangements around the house, too! It's certainly fun to see what the end result will be.
Peace and blessings to your day!
Jeanine
Beautiful decorations! Love it! Also, do you have a "button code" for your Beautiful Christmas? I would love to post it over on my blog under the "What's going on…" section. Thanks!
I enjoyed looking at your decorations! Is this the post that you intended to link to The Homemakers Haven? The link you left brought me to your home page so I wasn't sure. If so, could you please put a link somewhere in your post linking back to the meme? I would appreciate it very much! Thank you
I look forward to seeing more of your Christmas on a budget series!
Beautiful ideas! Thanks for stopping by and linking up with us. I hope you'll check Money Saving Monday again next week – good to find you.
These arrangements are all so gorgeous! Its great when you can use nature to decorate your home.
I've got pine in my back yard which I'll pile on the mantle for color and fragrance. Nothing beats nature! Ever.
So excited to see this great post linked to on "Money Saving Mom" — so happy for you!
How very pretty! I've also read on a few blogs where people asked at Lowe's for the scraps when they were trimming Christmas trees, and they were given them for free.
Unfortunately, I am allergic to pine, spruce, etc. For this reason we have a fake tree.
Here in Las Vegas, we don't have winterberry. However, rosemary grows all year-long here. I am hoping to make a couple of rosemary wreaths this year like this one here:
http://www.allaboutyou.com/craft/Christmas-craft-ideas-wreath-Jane-Cumberbatch/v1
LOVE all of your ideas! I had to share them with my readers on my blog!
Just catching up with some of my blogs and saw you were featured on Money Saving Mom!!! Congrats! It's well deserved, I've really enjoyed reading your decorating ideas. And can I just tell you that since you put the idea in my head I've been searching for winterberry everywhere I drive– so far, only found it growing in a neighbor's yard (a neighbor I don't know yet). I would love to get some, but that would be stealing. But so tempting.
Most Nurseries will give classes on wreath making for quite cheap, I know we do! We charge $10 for the supplies (greens, a wreath form and use of the machine) Just a thought for next year and it is fun to do with friends!
Love your blog, just found you from 'The Frugal Girls'
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