Hey y'all! Happy belated Thanksgiving! I had the best Thanksgiving! We spent it at home in Maryland and went over to my Aunt and Uncle's house which we haven't done in years! It was such a good time!
I am so excited for this post because it was so fun to write. It is now socially acceptable to decorate for Christmas! That's not to say I didn't have my decorations up the week after Halloween...because I did. Joey is the best husband because he allowed this craziness! I love decorating for Christmas and I read an article this year that said people who decorate early for Christmas are happier and I have to agree with that. Christmas decor makes me so happy and I didn't care what the party poopers had to say! If decorating makes you happy, go for it! I did!
So today I wanted to talk about decorating for Christmas on a budget. Decor can be suuuper expensive and as a newlywed, I didn't have any decor at all yet. I knew what I wanted and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get the decorations I wanted. That is until I got a little creative. I'm going to show you how I decorated on a newlywed budget and how I got creative to save $$$!
Let's start with the Christmas tree. We found our tree at Home Depot on sale! I would love to have a flocked Christmas tree but I figured it would be a little too girly for Joey so we went with a regular tree. It's 6.5 feet and we chose a slimmer tree just because we don't have a ton of room for a giant tree. It's perfect for our little space. Most of our ornaments were from Amazon. We have a few that were childhood ornaments and some milestone ornaments. I wanted to go with a gold and silver theme because I love when Christmas trees just glitter and shine and I think having a color scheme makes things look more cohesive. I found some gold and silver sparkly poinsettias on Amazon that I used to kind of fill in some of the gaps. Our tree is by no means full and I'll definitely be getting more ornaments each year. It's a good start!
I love the look of having ornaments in clear bowls and vases but ornaments and even the vessels you put them in can be really expensive! This is where I repurposed my cake stand! My cake stand can be flipped over to create a punch bowl and I filled it with red and silver ornaments with various finishes from the dollar store! I didn't have to buy a bowl AND it was $4 for 4 sleeves of 10 ornaments! I mimicked the bowl of ornaments on one of my side tables in the living room. I already had some candle holders that I have on that table to I replaced the candles with vases I got at the dollar store and filled them with mini ornaments that were red, gold, and silver that were also from the dollar store. These vase decorations cost me $6 to create! Inexpensive and super festive!
I found a lot of my decor from Walmart! They have sooooo much y'all. If you haven't been to Walmart for decor, you're missing out. I found the most adorable lanterns there! The smaller one was just under $5 and I believe the bigger one was around $8. I loved the red and gold and I filled them with battery operated fairy lights so they'd glow. These are some of my favorite decor pieces!
I always wanted garland around my tv stand. I think it's super festive. I found this pre-lit garland at Lowe's for $16! Super inexpensive and it's not too tall as to block the tv! Next year I want to add something to the garland to make it even more eye catching.
I also found my stocking at Lowe's for $13! I wanted something really cute and girly but also not too over the top. My furry stocking is very good quality and fits my personality so well! Of course Joey couldn't go without a Philadelphia Eagles stocking. I got his at Rally House for $20. A little more expensive because of the NFL brand but still didn't break the bank!
I always like to wrap Christmas gifts pretty far in advance because they double as decor. I used to hate brown paper for wrapping but my mom has done it for a few years now and I've just fallen in love with how cute it is! I wrapped gifts in brown craft paper from the dollar store ($1 for 30 feet) and I got some ribbon on sale at Michael's and from the dollar store as well. I also got some really cute gift tags from the dollar store to indicate whose gift is whose. I love how a Christmas tree looks full of gifts underneath. It also rids you of the need for a decorative tree skirt.
The last pieces of decor are all from Target. I got a few nutcrackers to put in various places throughout the apartment. I LOVE nutcrackers. I just think they're adorable! I also got 2 little signs that where just whimsical. One is hanging in our bathroom because Christmas decor doesn't stop in the living room. The other is in our entryway and I thought it was adorable and perfect since it's directional signs and you're just entering the apartment! Super adorable.
Definitely look out for sales at Michael's and Hobby Lobby when decorating for Christmas. And don't be afraid to look at the Dollar Store for ideas and little touches. Think about how you can repurpose things you already have in your home so you don't have to spend extra. I had so much fun decorating this year for the first time in my own home! I hope these tips and ideas were helpful for you! Happy Decorating!
XO,
Gabby