10 budget friendly ways to decorate your house this Christmas

Decorating the home for Christmas is one of the joys of the season. The festive decor can brighten up everyone's mood and get them into the spirit. Thankfully, you don't have to break the bank to make this happen. Here are some budget friendly tips for decorating your home for Christmas. 

1. Utilise nature. Find pine cones or branches that you can put in a bowl or vase. They are completely free, and add a wintery touch to your home. If you want to spice up the arrangement, add a few red berries or flowers from a craft store for a splash of colour. You can also add these pieces of nature around a festive candle for a beautiful centrepiece. 

2. Make use of ribbon. A spool of ribbon can be extremely cheap, but you can do so much with around the house. Wrap it around a lamp post to mimic a candy cane. Tie it around some white candles that you already had in your house to add a Christmas touch. You could even wrap it all the way up a banister. 

3. Make a home-made wreath. Pre-made wreaths can be quite costly. Find all the materials at a craft store for a fraction of the price, and no one will be able to tell the difference. You can use pieces of fabric stuck in a wicker frame, flowers, or evergreen branches to create a custom made wreath. 

4. Recycle Christmas cards. Normally, Christmas cards get tossed or saved in a box somewhere. Use some of the more beautiful ones to decorate your home. Find a couple small picture frames from a discount store, and put them on a coffee table or counter. You can also recycle Christmas cards for labelling presents. Simply cut off the side with the old message, and stick the pretty cover to your gifts and Christmas toys that are under the tree. If you’re stuck for Christmas gifts, readers from Australian and New Zealand can visit Only Online for a huge range of new toys for Christmas. 

5. Take advantage of the red, green, gold, and white that you already have in your home. If you have red candles, put them somewhere more prominent. If you have green pillows, tie some ribbon around them to make them look like presents. If you have a gold platter, bring it out during parties to arrange snacks on. 

6. Decorate cans and jars in Christmas paper, bows, and ribbons. You can put them on desks to hold pens or on a counter to hold candy and kitchen items. 

7. Spray paint empty wine bottles in festive colours. You can even use Christmas-themed stencils to add snowflakes, stars, or phrases onto the bottle. For a two-toned look, spray the bottle with the colour you want the stencil to be. Allow it to completely dry. Then place the stencil and spray with the background colour. No one will be able to tell that it used to be a bottle of wine. 

8. For something more extreme, use the same method you used on the wine bottles on a large piece of canvas. It makes a large piece of art that you can put on the wall during the season that was cheap enough that you won't mind hiding it for the majority of the year. 

9. Find some cheap vases and fill them with water. Add a couple drops of food colouring to make them more festive, and top them with a floating candle. This entire project can be complete with a few bucks. If you have children or don't want full vases of water sitting around, fill the clear vase with cheap Christmas ornaments or with some Christmas lights. Readers from Australian and New Zealand can pick up some great Christmas lights online for a great deal. 

10. Let the kids join in on the fun. Teach them how to make paper snowflakes. They are great presents for them to give to family that visits, and they will look beautiful in the windows.

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