Christmas Decorating Ideas
Around The Home
These Christmas decorating ideas offer high style at little to no-cost. During a season which can get costly quickly, it's always smart to save where you can. Introduce the spirit of the season around your home with these thrifty yet simple Christmas decorating tips.
Take a less literal approach to your holiday decor. Use items which are free from nature. Grapevine, a favorite
of mine throughout the year, comes to the rescue again. Cut some lengths of it from trees around your home if able.
Ask friends if you may walk their wooded property in search of it. If you live in the city, you can order grapevine
garland online for the fraction of the cost of artificial pine garland. It's a smart choice as it can be used throughout the year
in other decorative ways.
Natural, Organic Decor Creates This Display
Use greens such as those from freshly cut Pine or other evergreens. Use sprigs of Holly or other red berry producing shrubs to add color and contrast. I typically prefer the look of natural decor to artificial during this season. It adds a special touch. Leyland Cypress as well as Boxwood and even Arborvitae greens can be used in arrangements or bound together with twine and hung as swags on doors and posts. Connect sections together with floral wire to create garland as well.
Simple Christmas Decorating Ideas
left: Freshly cut bundles of greens are tied to a mail post. right: More greens are added to a grapevine wreath and add additional color to a corner display. Cuts of Leyland Cypress and Azalea (for color) were used for variation.
Some unique items were used to create this focal display which masks an electrical outlet. A hanging basket is repurposed and filled with greens, Pine cones and bundles of twigs tied up with twine.
An old, wrought iron entry mat, placed on-end, adds interest. Thick pieces of grapevine, cut to mimic logs, are tied together and placed upon a bed of Leyland Cypress.
A burgundy bow adds color and unity among the other outdoor decorated areas.
Perhaps some of the Christmas decorating ideas showcased below
will give you more direction for your own holiday decor.
Outdoor Christmas Decorating Ideas
The use of natural decor straight from Mother-Earth makes stunning displays. Combine many of the items I spoke of above
to create hanging swags, garlands and holiday wreaths. Are you short on time but enjoy this look? Consider some of these
wonderful, pre-made, organic wreaths.
Various greens add a festive touch to a simple grapevine wreath. Add color through the use of other natural elements. Azalea twigs provide the orange/red/yellow leaves in this example.
Impress your neighbors by creating your own topiary. You can use tomato cages or form simple, inverted cone shapes from chicken wire. Wrap them with your choice of natural product. It's easy to wrap Pine garland around your form and add some miniature lights for nighttime ambiance; or consider creating a grapevine topiary (below).
Two 42" topiaries were custom-made with tomato cages and are the perfect accompaniment to the stone entry columns. Learn to make these grapevine topiaries for your home too.
Carry a theme throughout your property for a classy, cohesive look.
I prefer the traditional look
of white lighting via miniature light strands or focal spot lights shining on decorative areas and entries.
Consider a few more of these classy Christmas decorating ideas:
- Although cliche, an old sled propped up with a bundle of greens and topped with a red ribbon speaks of simple, sophisticated style.
- Do you have an old radio flyer or other type wagon? Set it on your porch and fill it with clippings and branches of Pine. Lay white miniature lights throughout. Add other decorative elements of your choice for a bit more interest. Large ornaments placed within come to mind.
- If you have an old, wrought iron gate or piece of trellis, prop it up. Attach a wreath or hang a swag of greens (or both). Place a white spotlight upon it.
- Old galvanized pails, buckets, watering cans and tubs are excellent containers for placing fresh cut greens. Those with a rusty patina just add more character. If your chosen container may be exposed to the elements, you may want to drill a few drain holes in the bottom. Add a bow to the handle or the greens and you are done.
- Create a grapevine archway for you front door if you have the materials. White miniature lights throughout the vine create a timeless look.
Indoor Christmas Decorating Ideas
Those items used outdoors may easily be incorporated inside your home. Fresh clippings of Pine and other evergreens add a festive, natural touch and fragrance.
Fresh cut Pine is bundled with twine and hung from a vintage farming implement propped in a corner. A trio of hanging bells add to the piece.
One of my personal, favorite Christmas decorating ideas is the use of cut crystal glass pieces as holiday decor. Their groupings around the room create an icy aura of mystical wonderment. Glass pieces such as these can be found at thrift shops, Good Will and the Salvation Army to name a few. They create an expensive, elegant look at a minimal cost. All of these various pieces probably cost around $40.00 total of slowly adding to my collection. These vintage pieces can be collectible too. Look for those by such makers as Fostoria.
Various pieces of vintage glass and cut crystal mimic the look of ice, creating a Wintry ambiance. left: White Pine cuttings fill a vase while loose bells become a decorative, bowl accent. right: Lidded bowls add elegance and shimmer.
Green hued ornaments used on the tree last year are now used as a decorative accent in a crystal bowl.
You may want to choose a color theme for your holiday decor. This makes decorating easier and provides a tasteful look. In sticking with the green accents of this dining room, some green decorations were used but the main direction was one of crystal and clear glass in accents and tree decorations. Some silver colored ball ornaments from years prior were reintroduced to add a bit more glimmer.
As mentioned earlier, cohesion was achieved by using the outdoor decorative elements inside. Grapevine spheres reintroduce the grapevine used in the outdoor topiaries and wreathes. Other organic elements such as Pine cones are reintroduced as well in the table's centerpiece.
More cut crystal elements are used upon the dining table. The centerpiece is actually two bowls. I inverted a heavy, vintage bowl to create a base for something you may already have in your home . . . a crystal punch bowl.
Do you need some Christmas decorating ideas for your fireplace mantel?
I carried the crystal look to this area with more vintage glass pieces. Green cuttings and grapevine spheres, along with some silver ornaments, repeat that of the table's centerpiece.
You can create a similar look by using charger plates of your color choice rather than crystal pieces. Inexpensive plate stands from Dollar Tree® in a silver finish were used to display the plates shown above.
Take the above idea and build upon or modify it.
If you have a burgundy and gold color theme for instance, you may want to buy a trio of varying height candle stands in a gold finish. Arrange them in the center of the mantel. Place fresh cut greens around them. Add burgundy candle pillars to the stands and gold charger plates to the sides. Scatter burgundy ball ornaments throughout the greenery. Additional gold elements such as crystal covered sprays may be added to the greenery for more glimmer.
A Holiday Tree Reinterpreted
Christmas decorating ideas can be whimsical, fun and "out of the ordinary". Rather than using a typical evergreen-styled tree this year, I opted to create something different. My "weeping grapevine tree" is a minimalist approach to reinforce the strong use of grapevine outdoors. The weeping shape, attached-branch lighting and stark use of opaque and crystal reflective elements establishes an almost enchanted forest environment. This tree becomes the perfect accompaniment to the icy aura replicated by the crystal pieces throughout.
Visit my pages on Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas and
Homemade Christmas Ornaments
for more options,
suggestions and direction for your holiday tree.
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