Budget Christmas Decor Ideas...

I detest the $ cost to change decor for holidays. So, years ago, I switched over to the 're-purposing' side of life...
Since then, my Holiday decor has NEVER been the same. I scout yardsales and thrift stores. I watch Craigs List and some of our local used and repurposing websites. And, I hunt & gather for a couple months before the holly days...

So, here are 'Some Budget Christmas Decor Ideas'...

   ~ Think outside the box.~

I wanted a lot of pine garland this year, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. It can be ~So Expensive~ So, I bought a few of the obnoxious fake Christmas trees with all of the individual boughs for $10 at our local thrift store. They would be easy to wire together, but I just tucked them in here and there where I wanted some greenery... Cheap decor idea~!

(Hardest part is going to be dragging them out to a shed for storage - the boxes are big!)

~ Nothing has to be new... Use your imagination~

I'm not a big fan of traditional, or tree skirts, or fancy, or expensive...

One of the used, fake trees had a beautiful top piece that's about 5' tall. A brilliant idea came to me this morning. I have a vintage, crusty, pennzoil can over by the chicken coop and it would be a great base for the Christmas tree. So, before the snow started setting in, I ran over and got it. And, I grabbed a few more rusty crusty things to tie it all together.

Such as; an old galvanized bucket for the mantel...

An old wooden crate...

An old cast iron milk can and an old, rusty, vintage coffee can. 

I used another top of one of the fake trees and used a small cast iron milk can as a base...

It all made a really unique and rustic window display in the living room.

I used more of the pine boughs from the used Christmas trees to make it 'Very Merry'..

~ Think Economical and try to use what you already have ~

I am a lace hoarder (duh~ like the name of my blog didn't give you a hint?)...

I have a lot of lace. So, I thought I would keep my tree simple and rustic this year, so I dug out some lace yardage for some tree bows... Of course I got the lace at the thrift store for a $0.25 at sometime in my past...

I ran across these really cute and quite western looking ornaments at the dollar store a couple weeks ago. They worked out perfect on the crusty rusty tree. Boy, do they sparkle (and boy is the glitter messy)

Some other great hints...

The dollar stores are a great place to get seasonal flowers. They may look plain in the store, but if you dress them up with natural greenery, or other things, they can look quite classy. 

I usually buy about $20 worth of dollar store flowers per season. 

You can also find a lot of silk flowers on old wreathes at yard sales and thrift stores. Don't be afraid to cannibalize the flowers off of something, to use for something else. If you only pay $1 or so for a used floral, tear that momma apart and don't ever feel guilty!

(I put my flowers in 5 gallon buckets in the shed for easy storage. If you watch the side of the highway, you can find a few buckets too - Sheet rock contractors just can't seem to keep those buckets in their pickups...)

If you purchase lace, ribbons and other notions at yardsales for pennies during the summer, you can just go through your stash when you need something. You will always have a little hoard to draw from. 

Reuse your decor...

I put mine in plastic keepers and keep them separated by holiday. Sometimes I use it all, sometimes, I don't~!

~ Don't be afraid to be different ~

Why try to fit in when you were born to stand out~!