How To Decorate For Christmas Without Going Broke! *Budget-Friendly Christmas Decorating Tips* Pt. 2

In today's video, we are continuing to decorate for the holiday season. I'm going to share with you guys all of my holiday thrifting tips, tricks, hacks to get your space totally decked out and beautiful for the holiday season, but on a super tight budget. So we have several spaces to get through today, so without further ado, let's go ahead and jump right into it. Starting off in the living room, often some of you will ask for home tours or updates on how we kind of refinished our very builder grade home. So this is what the living room used to look like when we first bought this house. Big changes we made were adding the built-ins on either side, replacing the fireplace, and adding that LVP throughout the entire first floor. Bringing us now into the holiday season, one thing that we've definitely struggled with in the past is where to put this Christmas tree, because our living room doesn't have the biggest footprint. We do have this one small accent chair that usually lives in this corner with a task light and a side table, but I think it just makes the most sense to move this chair situation into the office, so now I have the room for our nice big tree. The tree that I'll be using is the same one that I found last year at the thrift store. It was originally tagged for $40, but then I had 20% off, and this is a really nice full substantial tree. The only thing I guess technically wrong with it is that one of the branches was missing from the very bottom, so I just turned that side to the back, and then someone had strung all of these lights through, so I just basically had to remove those and cut them all out. A couple boring kind of housekeeping things we have to do to this tree is, of course, fluff the tree, which I just do so wearing long sleeves and gloves, and then add all of the lights. The lights I will link in the description box below. These are the best Christmas lights. They're non-breakable. They don't tangle, and they give off just the prettiest nice warm glow. For like sequence of the ornaments, I like to do the things that I have the most of, so you might remember when I found these icicles at the thrift store for a few dollars, and I have 20 of them, so those will go on first, as well as these velvet bows that I'm just making myself using one spool of velvet ribbon that I ordered off of Amazon. I just like to kind of lay out all of the ribbon first and cut it all to about the same size, so that way I have the same amount of fabric for each bow, if that makes sense. After all of the pieces are cut, then I just assemble the bows, obviously just making sure that the velvet side, if you're using satin ribbon or silk ribbon, this part doesn't matter as much, but if you are using velvet ribbon, you just want to make sure that the velvet part is what you can see. To attach these to the branches, I just took some wire and just hooked them on there. I found that that's just kind of the easiest way to make sure that they're really nice and sturdy, and you can kind of manipulate the shape of them a little bit with that wire on there. So after placing the bows and all of the icicles, this is kind of just like the base of my tree. Now if you have garland or the clip-on candles, those would also go on for me at this point before adding all of the other ornaments. Then I like to go in with any kind of ornament sets, either that I've made or that I found, like I found two boxes of these ornament sets at the Goodwill, and I'm just going to attach some fishing line to all of the hooks and just add these to the tree at this point. Then I'll go in with all of the DIY ornaments. So for example, this little starburst ornament, I have three of these. They used to be a set of three mirrors. I just simply removed the mirror and now I use these for the holiday season, or another repurposing idea is when I found this set of little crystal what I thought were trees, but you guys shared with me in a previous video that those probably at one point belonged to a chandelier. So again, just repurposing items so they don't end up in a landfill they can live on throughout the holiday season. Or just your really simple fillable kind of clear ornaments. I grabbed several of these clear ornaments at the thrift store, had all of the filler also found at the thrift store. The only thing I ordered retail was again the ribbon. With the exception of the ribbon and the lights, it was super important to me that this year I really wanted every ornament on the tree to either be something I found secondhand or something that me or my family made, because I feel like that just really aids in creating a very curated, unique tree. Right? Because anybody can go to Target and buy the Studio McGee ornaments or order something from Pottery Barn, but I think taking the time to really choose and select all of the pieces yourself and maybe make some of those pieces yourself really just makes your tree feel that much more special and unique. Another question I get often from you guys is what to do with the ornaments that your kids make or bring home from school. And there's so many different ways you can do this. You could do like a keepsake tree, so that's basically a whole other tree and that tree is dedicated solely for keepsake ornaments. Or in my case, what I like to do is I basically just tell my kids, Mom's going to do kind of like the boring stuff, let Mommy get the lights on, we'll fluff the tree, add all of the really just basic ornaments on, and then they get to come in at the end and put on all these really special family ornaments. Now it's just time to decide on a tree collar or a tree skirt or something for the bottom of the tree. For me personally, unless I'm confident that I will use that tree collar every single year, I don't want it to eat away at my storage, so I prefer to use fabric. Last year I used a blanket, which was actually really great because we were able to use that blanket pretty much all year long. And while I found so many beautiful tree skirts this year, they were just either the wrong color or the wrong size. So usually when I find myself in those situations, that's usually when I turn to fabric. Starting with the cheapest and easiest thing first, this was the fabric that I found for just a few dollars at the thrift store. I'm going to basically just poke a hole in the very middle of this fabric, and then take a string out, and then I'm going to trace around. And we might be able to like fringe the ends, so it could be like a really great no-sew option. I might just put one of the other tree skirts that I got underneath of it, just so that way it looks a little bit more lush and full, and not just like some thin fabric on the ground. After tracing out the major outline, I then just needed to cut a slit, and then again another small circle inside, just so that way it could sit on the very inside of the tree. And the last kind of small thing I like to add, because I am using an artificial tree, is these little sensicles, I believe they're called. I found mine this year at Target. They're super affordable. Basically you just kind of hook them on like an ornament. I like to stick mine kind of on the inside of the tree, and it just kind of really releases such a beautiful scent for the holiday season. With our tree pretty much complete, now it's time to move on to the rest of the living room. So generally I like to do the tree first, and then I will move on to the mantle. And of course I can just go buy more garland, but then I have to store more garland for the rest of the 10 months of the year. So I wanted to try something different this year, and I decided to go with real garland. I ended up finding my garland at my local grocery store, and it was exactly what I had in mind, which was just like a pine and cedar mix. It was so beautiful, so aromatic. The only thing I didn't love about the garland was obviously with real garland there's sap, so in the future I'd probably just wear gloves while doing this instead. But I ended up just buying two of these garlands, and I was able to use them in several different ways. So I probably used just one total just for this mantle piece, and I basically just assembled it as I wanted it first, before then locking it in with some wire. One new piece I did buy, and some of you might remember when I had ordered that really beautiful but overpriced wreath from the Magee & Co website, and I only did it because I had a gift card truthfully. Once I returned it, got my money back, I wanted to order a few pieces for the holiday season. And one thing that I felt was very fairly priced was this really beautiful metal Merry Christmas garland. Just going to attach that and just kind of string it on the inside of where the garland is going to sit. Now I personally like to do my garland because the tree is on that left side there. I like to make my garland asymmetric, and I want that asymmetry, the kind of flowing, the overflowing part to be on the right side, just to kind of keep cascading down. Now for the stockings, instead of hanging one stocking per stocking hook, I like to just have mine all kind of cascading down. So I actually found two new stockings at Five Below, which is totally random because I never shop there, but I already had two Sherpa ones from last year, just added these ones in too, and I think it's just kind of like the perfect uniform kind of look but on a budget. Another thing to consider for the holidays, especially if you do plan on doing any sort of hosting, is offering seating. And because I had to remove that green chair, I already had to eliminate at least one seating option for people. Now some of you might remember when I found these two Sherpa ottomans at the thrift store. These were each just four dollars a piece, they looked brand new, and they offer a little bit of additional storage as well as seating. The only thing I don't love about these is they are a bit short, so one thing I am going to do is add wheels to the bottom. So I grabbed these wood rounds from Lowe's, and I'm just going to attach these to the inside of the ottomans, and then screw the wheels in from the bottom, so then that way they can stay connected and attached. I think these will be great when we're having like family game nights or hosting for the holidays, just gives a couple more seating options in a really affordable and aesthetic way. Another adjustment I wanted to make, usually you guys have seen me kind of put these statement greenery pieces on this DIY plinth table that I made, however because we have the mantel with the greenery and of course the tree, I didn't want to add more greenery here, so I was trying to figure out something else to put here. So I found this candelabra that is so beautiful, and I just decided to add some flameless candles to it, and it's just like the perfect warm ambient light that it gives off. And to make it have even more of a statement, I found this really beautiful tin mirror at the goodwill bins for just a few bucks, and decided to put it just kind of behind the candelabra, and it just kind of like doubles the light effect, and makes it just look so beautiful for the holiday season. When it comes to textiles, for me I think I've really realized that less is more, and if you just find one or two pieces for the holidays, I think for me that feels like plenty. So I didn't find any blankets that I really like this holiday season at the thrift store, but I did find this scarf here, and it was that perfect kind of deep red that I was really incorporating in my holiday decorating, so I just decided to kind of fold it in half and just place it behind my couch, just kind of as a little accent piece, and I think it's the perfect amount of color and pattern for my holiday decorating this year. So some of you guys might remember when I had this small little four-person black Ikea kitchen table, and I decided that it was finally time to donate and get rid of it, and in its place I found this table off Facebook marketplace for just 150 bucks. It was perfect. The thing that I loved the most about it was that it had a bench for my kids to sit on, so I wasn't having to constantly wash the cushions all the time. The problem with this table, the only problem, was the top was a bit scratched up, so I went to Lowe's and I did a little bit of color matching, and I just tried to get the exact color as close as possible, and just kind of shaded in those spots that were distressed. Now it's not perfect, but it's definitely an improvement. And now for the holidays, I wanted to just set something up really simple because my mom and my mother-in-law at some point usually come over on Christmas Day, and it would be nice to just have something simple but sweet set up for that. Rather than go out and buy a tablecloth, I'm just going to use a drop cloth. This is one of my favorite little hacks recently. Just using this gives such a nice organic feel, and it's free. For plate settings, I find that there's never a reason to really go the retail route because you can find beautiful stemware at the thrift store for such an affordable price. These retail at Kohl's for almost $50 for a set of four of them, and after I weighed them, I spent about $1.79 on seven of them. So they probably donated them because one broke, and I bought all seven just in case one of mine break. So I only need six for this, so it's the perfect thing to save a little bit of money here and still get a really fun festive look for the holiday season. A nice little fun touch that you can do in advance is making little plate setting cards, and I just do this really easily on Canva, and then I just trace out the names, and this is just a really easy way to make something look really official, but it was so simple to create. For the cards to have something to sit inside of, I found this bell wreath at the Hartville Thrift Shop for $3, so I just kind of separated it and took out all of the bells that were the color that I was looking for, and I'm just going to snap that top piece that went into the wire and kind of hammer it down so it sits nice and flush, and that is going to be our little place card holder. Things like this from Magee & Co, I believe a set of four is like $36, and for me, I would just rather spend the $3 here to get a nearly identical look and then invest that money in the Merry Christmas garland, which is something I don't think I would ever find at the thrift store. For napkins, I'm just going to take these really neutral ones, but to just make them feel a little bit more festive, I also found three of these really teeny bell wreaths, but because I only found three, I decided in order to make these into napkin rings like these ones from William Sonoma, I don't want to spend $40 on these napkin rings, especially when I think we can create something super similar in a really budget-friendly way. So these wreaths that I found here were just a dollar a piece, so I'm just going to cut them in half, separate them, cut them in half, remove some of the bells so then that way they can kind of click together and don't occupy as much space, but I think you get a near identical look and it costs just a few dollars. Another thing that's really nice too is when you kind of make all of these pieces in advance, it just really eliminates so much of this stress that I know comes along with the holiday season because if you just work on things a little bit at a time, it doesn't become so overwhelming. So now I know exactly what I need to pull out for Christmas morning. I know how it's all going to look together. What I really love is everything, including the table on here, I either have just already had or I thrifted secondhand and I think it still looks really beautiful, really festive, but done so so affordably. Moving along now into the kitchen space, which was definitely the area that we had to kind of allocate most of our renovation budget, was here and I'm so glad that we did that because it truly does make the biggest impact. I'll have to do a whole video one day telling you guys everything we did from top to bottom, painting the cabinets and all of that, but for the holidays, generally where I like to start is at this window here, taking some of the leftover scraps from the garland that I found at my local grocery store. Again, I'm just going to kind of drape it asymmetrically here. Now I don't like to use those command hooks to hang up garland. I feel like they fall off all the time or they rip my paint off, so both I'm not okay with. So I just take a teeny tiny nail and some wire that usually holds up the best for me. To dress up the garland, some of you might remember when I found this piece at the Goodwill for just a few dollars, I decided to separate the two pieces and painted them in some like brassy gold spray paint and then dusted it with some black spray paint, added that same velvet ribbon, and I'm just going to attach it to the middle of the garland. Again, just incorporating that color from the living room and now tying it in to the kitchen space. Because I decided to omit any florals on the plinth, I felt like it would be okay to put something on the island that was a floral arrangement. I found this one at the thrift store, but I didn't like that the faux water was starting to already yellow, so I just decided to remove the glass from the florals and just take the florals and take it and put it in this DIY vase that I've made previously. To give a more realistic look, I just took some dried baby's breath to add to it just to give a more realistic look to the floral arrangement overall. Behind that, you guys might remember when I made that advent calendar, I just took a wall decor piece that I already had, took some thin wood, cut different sections down, added numbers to the fronts, as well as just created little boxes for each of the little wooden pieces, and I think that this was just such an affordable way to take something that I might have out all year long, but now because of some minor changes, become seasonal. Not thrifted, but one thing I absolutely could not pass up on were these bell candles from Marshalls and HomeGoods. They, I think, were only $12.99 and a near identical dupe to the Yuletide bell candles from Pottery Barn that are sold out now, but when they are in stock are super expensive. So for the other piece of that ornament that I split apart, I turned that in just to kind of like a flattened bell. Again, I painted it with some brass spray paint and then dusted it with some black spray paint, flattened it out, and a really great way to just embellish things that you already have. Add a little ornament to it, pop some greenery in there, that cutting board sits up there all year long, but again just makes it feel a little bit more festive with these little touches. Same thing with any book stacks. If you have any kitchen book stacks or entryway book stacks, whatever you have, just adorn them with some velvet ribbon and all of a sudden it gives a more festive feel. Lastly, in the kitchen, if you have any kind of area that you can hang something from, this could be just a set of hooks. Some of you might remember when we installed this peg rail. So one really easy way is to just take anything that hangs and you can hang it up on there and it can feel super festive. This could come in the form of a cutting board. Some of you might remember when I kind of distressed this tree shaped cutting board, gave it a kind of primitive look, and then added some suede ribbon to the top and it's just like a really easy festive touch. Normally year long I have some form of a cutting board here, but again doing this one instead gives it a more holiday feel. Also found this really beautiful deep red faux fur stocking at the antique mall for just a few dollars. Whenever you have just one of something and it can hang, it's the perfect thing to kind of put on a set of wall hooks or a peg rail like I'm showing here. You can just adorn the top of any shelf with some garland or some greenery or opt for just sticking the greenery in the stocking. There's so many different variations of this, but hopefully this gives you guys a few. The last kind of thing I like to add to the kitchen is the door that goes out to my garage. I like to put a wreath there. It's kind of a darker corner, so it helps to bring a little bit of life in that dark corner, and I found this really beautiful pine wreath here for just five dollars at the Heartfelt Thrift Shop, and it had a really kind of like real touch feel, which is always what I'm looking for when I'm choosing greenery, garland, wreaths, anything like that. So I just attached this smaller wreath to a larger wreath that I previously thrifted and DIY'd, and then I will just kind of fluff over the zip ties and then just kind of intermix the different greenery together so it looks like one uniform wreath. And you can embellish wreaths in so many ways. Bells are great. Ribbon is great. I decided to just pop a few bells from last year up here, but I think it's just the perfect little touch to this little corner and gives it a little bit of life. And that really wraps it up for today's video. Thank you guys so much for watching. Let me know down in the comments if you found something helpful, something that you plan on doing to your space this holiday season, hopefully showing you that, once again, it does not have to cost a ton of money to make your space absolutely beautiful and decked out for the holiday season. I hope that everybody is having an amazing week, and I will see you guys next Sunday. Bye for now.