Cheap Christmas Decorations

by Bethany

The key to cheap Christmas decorations in a room is more to do with a winter-themed backdrop, and keep the true Christmas decorations – which are, relative to winter-themed things – to accents.

Fake snow for surfaces is best achieved by getting bulk synthetic sheet batting and a can of spray “clear” or “iridescent” glitter to coat the top of it with. That, or fill a spray container with water, a little clear glue, and your subtle glitter of choice….shake, and then use that. (That’s the cheaper-yet version, if you already have a clean spray bottle and white glue -- “Elmer’s” type -- around.) Balance surface-topping fake snow by making paper snowflakes and hanging them from white thread or dental floss from the ceiling, held in place, since they are light enough, by pieces of clear tape. If tape won’t stay stuck to your ceiling, you can tie the thread to white / clear thumbtacks or pushpins and push those into the ceiling…the holes should be too small to really be noticeable. These two elements together are enough to give a space a “winter wonderland” visual effect. Now you can accent with your personal taste in Christmas décor.

To add a lot of the traditional red and green trappings on a budget, bear in mind that things sold in the Christmas aisle (for several times the price) are not the only things sold in red and green, and that is not the only place to find them. In fact, “pine” garland (which is more expensive if it comes with built-in lights, but less expensive than buying both garland and lights) is about the only distinctly Christmas-y decoration that you can’t procure in other ways. Red or green ribbon, even with metallic edging, can be found year-round in craft and sewing stores or departments, and can be purchased at an extra discount if you shop the “Harvest” season clearance. Metallic jingle bells can also be purchased year-round from craft stores or in bulk from companies like OrientalTradingCompany.com. Small pine cones can often be gathered from (*gasp*) nature itself, during a pleasant autumn walk. Spin stretched-out lengths of loosely spiraling ribbon around the lit greenery-garland, and attach here and there along whatever you’re attaching it to with something like ties created from clusters of miniature pine cones glued onto or clusters of jingle bells threaded onto green pipe cleaners.