Decorations | 30 ways to save on Xmas decorations

Xmas decorations are fun. I love the time of year I get to dig around the shed looking for our old box of Christmas decorations. When I find the box, I call the kids with urgency. But since my kids are usually taken up with more exciting endeavours like Minecraft or Peppa Pig, they don’t venture outside in response.
So I am left alone in the shed with the dog. His tail-wagging love is enough to help me savour this moment for yet another year. So he gets a big fat butcher’s bone from Santa this year! Smart dog. He’s worked out where Santa get’s his money.
Nice doggy, doggy….
So I venture inside with the dog and box and place it, in all its still-boring glory, on the living room floor. At this point the children become vaguely curious. They lift their eyes from their digital devices for a moment. They have their eyes on my prize and I can tell they want to use my big boring brown box for a cut-it-up-and-ride-in-it adventure.
Before I’ve invited one of my children to see what is inside, my three-turning-thirty has ripped it open with the force of a compact sumo wrestler.
Now I’ve got their attention!
There’s tinsel and more tinsel everywhere! There are decorations galore! Christmas balls, Elves, pine cones and Christmas lights all tangled up in one big Christmas ball of fun.
My kids torsos are now headfirst in the box and they are digging deep into the bottom. This is where the best finds are. There are balloons and knickknacks leftover from last year including those little red and white Candy Sticks!
Hey everyone! Let’s take a chance at eating those shall we? Hmmm….
There’s a fake Poinsettia plant, plastic holly, berries and a bunch of ring-a-ring-a-ring-a-ring jingle bells.
Hey! I found the reindeer ears! But there’s only one pair and that’s started a fight. But that’s OK – because I just found the other pair. Yey! Now both kids have ears and everyone is happy again!
OK, I need a wine….OMG! Look! The Christmas CD! Let’s do this Xmas gig to music!
Don’t spend more money on Christmas decorations this year. Reuse what you’ve got or access this fabulous cheat sheet on how to save money on Christmas decorations. Whether you’d love to  make a DIY Advent Calendar, candles or create a homemade wreath you will find some great ideas here!
Keep this list handy when planning Christmas this year and save dollars on decking out your home and fast!
Cheap DIY ideas

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Decorations | 30 ways to save on Xmas decorations

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Advent calendar

Make your own advent calendar for the kids.

Candles

Jump on YouTube and learn how to make your own candles.

Cheap tinsel

Dress the table with cheap tinsel from an Op shop.

Cheap trees

Buy a fake Christmas tree from the Op Shop. Why pay full price?

Cheap wreath

Tie items around a wire coat hanger worked into a circle to make a cool wreath.

Craft stores

Craft stores are full of weird and wonderful materials for creating decorations.

Eco-friendly table

Decorate with bark, leaves, berries and flower from the garden.

Fairy lights

Make sure you buy fairy lights that are not on a circuit.

Garden centrepiece

A branch from the garden decorated with lights makes a gorgeous centrepiece or wall art.

Get tinsel happy

Put tinsel on everything! Red and silver work really well in most cases.

Go gardening wire

Wrap ribbon around gardening wire for cool and artistic decorative creations.

Hang pictures

Glue nice pictures to cardboard and hang on the tree.

Icing sugar

Icing sugar makes great frosting on tables and decorations.

Kid’s scraps

Kid’s bedrooms are filled with odd pieces you can spray paint and hang up.

Lollies

String up lollies in wrappers. Pick red and green ones. Kids love lollies as decorations!

Love a candy stick

A bag of candy sticks are a cheap tree decoration and edible! Yum!

Make a wreath

Make your own artistic door wreath using garden twigs and recycled items.

Old office paper

Shredded paper from the office makes fabulous fake snow on a tree.

Old place mats

Buy a cheap roll of gift-wrap to match your theme and cover place mats.

Op shop finds

You can pick up tinsel and decorations at thrift shops for very cheap prices.

Paper chains

Make your own paper chain decorations using glossy magazine pages.

Plain candles

Decorate plain candles from discount stores.

Read magazines

Magazines are filled with fantastic and fabulous decorating ideas.

Spray pine cones

Spray pinecones with silver or red spray paint. You can also add glitter.

Stars and memories

Save food boxes and then cut them up into gorgeous stars for the tree.

Suspend oranges

Stick the cloves into oranges and use ribbons to string them up on the tree.

Tinsel on the table

Do not forget that food is a great decoration too.

Tree branches

Use a large artistic tree branch from the garden instead of a tree.

Toilet rolls

Cut up old toilet rolls into rings. Spray silver, dip them in glitter and string them up!

Use junk mail

Make colourful confetti or paper tinsel using shredded junk mail.

Wrap biscuits

Wrap up homemade biscuits in foil and hang them from the tree.

Xmas crackers

Cover toilet rolls with paper and twist. Put gifts or jokes inside to complete your crackers!

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Want more ways to save money and get organised for Christmas?

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We’ve got lots of goodies in the Savings Room!

Christmas Cheat Sheets