A charming Santa and Christmas tree display- purchased form a thrift store.

How to Make Your Home Ready for Christmas While Being Thrifty

/ Thrifted Decor / By

Have you ever studied magazine photographs that feature a cozy family home decorated for Christmas? Or perhaps you have admired someone else’s home and wondered if you could make your home feel the same way?

I truly believe that any space can be made lovely with a bit of creativity and care. A big budget alone does not make a home feel like a home. No, no there is so much more involved. For this post, I would like to (again) focus on making ordinary things lovely. 

As Christmas is quickly approaching, I would like to share a few of my thriftiest Christmas decorations with you all. Of course this includes thrifted treasures, fresh yard foliage, and some adorable Christmas time capsule ornaments (that the whole family can be involved in).

If this sounds interesting to you… then please, be my guest- and follow along as I share some of my favorite ways to make my home ready for Christmas (while being thrifty).

~My First Thrifty Christmas Decorating Tip: ~

~Step One: Clear the Space~

First things first, you need a clear area to work from. If you are anything like me, you may find that all available surfaces in your home become a “holding place” for random papers, toys, and various knick knacks. Having four young children does not help this lack of organizing, therefore, it is imperative to do a quick tidy up. 

Throw those cluttered items away…or a least move them into the infamous junk drawer. 

Right, see how productive we are being. The surfaces are now clean, but the junk drawers are bulging.  Hmmm.

All chuckles aside, now that we have clear surfaces, we can begin to think about our Christmas arrangements.

~Step Two: Lay Everything Out~

My top tip is to lay out all your Christmas decorations on your dining room table or kitchen countertop. (The floor will work for this too). I used this same organizing method when getting ready to decorate my home for Easter (you can see that post here.)

(Sidenote: if you regularly follow my blog, you will know that practically all the decorations I own are either bought from a thrift store, handmade, sentimental, brought over from England, or purchased from an antique store).

Collecting things throughout the year can also mean that I forget what items I actually have.  Therefore, I like to categorize my collected decorations. So, for example, I may have a section for candlesticks holders, and then a separate section for my nativity scenes. Perhaps a further section for my vintage Santas, or a section for my Christmas ornaments and so forth.

However, you see fit, organize your treasures.

I find this type of organizing technique helps me decide the “how’s” and the “where’s” of my Christmas home decorating.

Thrifted Christmas items laid on a table in order to organized and use to decorate a home for Christmas.
*Aside from the Venetian trays, all of these items have been collected from thrift stores...or they are handmade (like the salt cookie garland). If you thrift throughout the year, you can accumulate a nice collection of Christmas treasures.

~How to Create the Christmas Scenes: ~

~Thrifty Idea Number One: The Stage~

When I was a young girl, I can remember looking at beautiful Christmas village scenes. In fact, I can vividly remember crouching down low, closing one eye, and peering inside the little church windows. Or squinting through the front door of a Christmas storefront- and feeling the Christmas magic. Almost as if I expected to see some faint form of life inside those tiny towns.

I suppose that is where my love for Christmas scenes began. Sometime later, I carried this idea into my own home. Especially now that I have small children. Creating little wintry stages and scenes brings me much joy.

With vintage Christmas scenes as my inspiration, I created my own version of a little Christmas “moment” in our dining room. I love how the scalloped edges of the hutch create a “window frame” of sorts to peer into. Indeed, I can almost feel my younger self smiling.

This simple Christmas “moment” was created using a vintage table runner, to create the illusion of snow, and vintage Christmas characters that the children and I have collected over the years. 

Christmas decorations bought from a thrift store to create a thrifty Christmas look.
*Just don't leave these candles unattended. In fact, it is probably best to use battery lights for this type of semi-enclosed environment.
A Christmas moment in a family dinning room featuring vintage, thrifted trinkets and a homemade salt cookie ornament garland.
*Little cubbies make decorating Christmas scenes feel intimate and warm. The scalloped edges of this wooden hutch were the inspiration for creating this "little home" that encompass my thrifted figures.
A wooden candle and other Christmas trinkets collected to form a Christmas decoration.
*Photography really makes things come alive. Perhaps, if you look closely, you might just see Santa wink his eye and proceed to ring his bell.
Thrifted Christmas trinkets work together to create a Christmas moment on a china hutch display.
*Aside from the vintage trinkets, the salt cookie ornament garland I made in my last blog, helps to give this space a vintage charm- for very little cost.

To see how the salt cookie garland is made, click here.

~Thrifty Idea Number Two: Use Fresh Foliage from the Yard~

Personally, I like to add fresh wintry foliage to my decorations whenever I have the chance. I get these plants from my backyard or on one of our Happy Hawks Homeschool nature walks. Think pinecones (big and small), ever green needles, rose hips, holly, etc.). 

Adding a natural element to a display does not add cost- but it does enhance beauty.

Vintage Christmas decorations on a bookshelf.
*This is another fun Christmas scene I created with vintage, thrifted items. The little silver winter scene (that is part train, part village), is reversible- and a fun stage for the children to stop and look at.
A vintage Christmas scene collected from a thrift store.
A close up of a Christmas building that says peace and joy.
A Christmas scenes collected from a thrift store. Natural greenery has been added for a festive touch.
*By adding touches of evergreen foliage, holly berries, and a pinecone, a cozy natural feeling is created.

~How to Use Thrifted Trivets to Add Charm to a Kitchen~

As it would be, I am always on the lookout for vintage countertop trivets. They are both handy and beautiful.

For a thrifty Christmas idea, try this: Scour your local thrift store for a beautiful trivet. And when you find one, bring it home with you. By adding a bit of Christmas ribbon, you can thread the ribbon through the trivet holes- to make a sweet statement piece. Not forgetting to add some fresh evergreen sprigs, of course.

And there you have it, a charming Christmas decoration for one dollar and twenty-five cents.

A Christmas candle votive sitting on a vintage trivet that has been decorated for Christmas.
A vintage trivet laced with ribbon and fresh evergreen foliage.
*Adding the bits of fresh greenery here almost makes the trivet look like a Christmas wreath.

~Fabric Leftover From Bunting Flags~

One of the best ways to be budget friendly- is to save materials that you have extra of- as they could still be useful for future projects. Fabric is a material I use often. Scrap fabric is a handy thing to have stashed away.

There is just something sweet about digging through my old sewing basket- full of excess fabric swatches. A bit of yellow floral here, a pink polka dot there, and before you know it- you have a patchwork of fabric… ready to help you with your next project. 

Last year, I made Christmas bunting flags. Naturally I had some fabric leftover. This leftover fabric is the fabric I am using to make my time capsule ornaments. To see these other Christmas art projects (in the photo below) check out my recent post here:

Christmas crafts and art are decorating the hallway of my home.

~Sidenote: I Do Love a Hidden Message~

Now, I don’t know about you, but I love a hidden message. I find hidden messages intriguing and enchanting. My husband and I have made several hidden messages over the past decade or so. These hidden messages are in America, England, and Wales. 

Some of our hidden notes were left inside ancient stone walls. One day, we hope to bring our children to uncover these hidden messages. How romantic to think our notes may be discovered in a hundred years’ time.

~We Wanted to Make Our Fabric Strip Ornaments Extra Special~

Being a romantic myself, makes me encourage my children to be one too. I encouraged each of my oldest three children to write a little Christmas note or to draw a picture. After they signed and dated their work, they rolled their messages up, and placed them inside their ornaments. We then used our scrap fabric strips and Mod Podge to decorate and hide our messages.

The regular onlooker would have no idea a special message was hidden inside…but my children know. For, they will have that special moment locked away- inside the round walls of the Christmas ornament- that we made together.

One day when they are old, they may stumble across this ornament- and their hidden note- and remember a time they cannot go back to. A time where hopefully they felt loved and rejoiced over. A time of innocent joy spent with their mom. 

Creating a time capsule note to add to the plastic Christmas ornament.
*A piece of cardstock, a pen, a vessel, and a strip of fabric or ribbon- is all you need to create a special hidden message or time capsule.
The Christmas time capsule note being folded up.
*Whatever you do, don't forget to add the date. We like to add something significant from that moment in time. Maybe even a cheeky, "Hello, my future self."
The Christmas time capsule note has been folded and tied with a ribbon.
The plastic Christmas ornament has a note written on a piece of paper and placed inside.
*The note is now encapsulated in a clear bubble.
Craft supplies to create a thrifty Christmas ornament with children.
*We did this for all three of our oldest children. The baby was taking a nap so we will make one for her next year.

~Thrifty Ornaments that Ooze Vintage Charm~

~Thrifty Ornament Style One: ~

Before we begin, I would like to add that while the hidden note was my original idea- the fabric strips are something I have seen before. Naturally, we added our own twist.

The children and I cut 1/2-inch strips of fabric out (as long as the ornament was). After cutting our strips we added a little Mod Podge to our clear Christmas ornament (that we bought from the Dollar Tree). We then pasted Mod Podge over the fabric. And continued this process until the whole ornament was covered.  

Then, we let the ornament dry. We added a sweet ribbon and that was it. Our homemade ornament was made.

~How we did this: Our Simple Steps~

Strips of scrap fabric to be transformed into a thrifty Christmas ornament.
*I did not measuure these strips. I simply eyeballed them. Nor was I concerned about the frayed edges... as I thought they helped give the ornaments a rustic feel.
Fabric, paper and other sullies ready to create a time capsule Christmas ornament.
*Seeing as the children were eager to help with this project, we moved our supplies to the floor.
The strips of fabric, plastic ornament, mod podge, and a paint brush.
*Strips of cut fabric, a plastic ornament from the Dollar Tree, some Mod Podge, and a paintbrush is basically all you need for this fun project.
The supplies to make a fabric Christmas ornament.
*The cute little candle in the background was a fun thrift find, of course.
Mod Podge is painted on the plastic ornament before adding the fabric strips.
*Remove the ornament cap. Paint a single layer of Mod Podge onto the ornament wherever you would like to place your strip of fabric.
Mod podge is then applied to the strip of fabric to help to seal.
*Then, place the fabric strip onto of the Mod Podge. Making sure to flatten out any lumps with the paintbrush. Lastly, apply a thin layer of the Mod Podge on top of the fabric strip.
Strips of fabric being sealed with Mod Podge to the Christmas ornament.
*You can apply your fabric any way you like. I started out straight- and then when I began to get to the rounded bits- I started to wrap the fabric in less straight lines. Experimenting with this to find the look you like best.
All the strips of fabric are being gathered at the top of the ornament.
*As you can see, this job does start to get a bit messy. I gathered all the Mod Podge strips together at the top and trimmed off any strips that were too long.
The strips of fabric are gathered at the top of the Christmas ornament, and a rubber band is placed over the top to hold together.
*The rubber band at the top is not necessary, but it did make fitting the top of the ornament back on easier. If you place the rubber band just right, it will not show after the top cap is added back.
The fabric layered ornament drying on a stick.
*Top tip: anytime you are creating a craft that needs to dry, a Styrofoam block and a wooden skewer often prove helpful. This way all sides can dry without touching any other surface.
The finished fabric strip Christmas ornament hanging on a Christmas tree.
*The final touch was a ribbon bow that I simply hot glued to the top of my dried ornament. I also added a hanging loop that I made out of some green vintage ribbon.

~Thrifty Ornament Style Number 2: ~

This ornament was for my oldest son. We only used a few strips of fabric to create little separate segments. From there, we used the Mod Podge to add a bit of gold flake and some gold glitter.

Unsurprisingly, this ornament made a big, beautiful mess of glitter and glimmer… but in the end, it was a lovely result.

Strips of fabric being added to create segments on the Christmas ornament. These sgments will then be filled with gold flake paper and gliter.
Glitter, gold flake, and ribbon are used to decorate the plastic Christmas ornament.
A thrifty way to decorate a Christmas ornament with golf flake, glitter, and ribbon.
*Again, upon first inspection, no one would know that a hidden note was inside...unless of course you told them.

~Thrifty Ornament Style 3: ~

This was the simplest of the three thrifty ornaments. My youngest son helped me to place his note inside and then pour silver sequins and glitter on the top. He also added a few wooden hearts as his own little touch. 

In fact, he has enjoyed this ornament so much…. that he has carried it around for the last few days… and just gazed inside at his little treasure.

Homemade Christmas ornaments with glitter and a hidden Christmas note inside.

~All Hanging Together on the Christmas Tree~

And there you have it, three thrifty ornaments that we made in an hour or two. 

While simple, the real value is in the fun we had creating these little Christmas time capsules together.

If the children hold onto these, one day, they will smile opening these memory bubbles and reading about little things that were important to them at that stage of their life.

The completed handmade ornaments hanging on the Christmas tree.
Homemade ornaments hanging on a Christmas tree. A thrifty way to decorate.

~Until Next Time~

In conclusion to another blog post, I will leave with this. 

I once heard something poignant, and it has stuck with me ever since. It went something like this: “Today, your child is as old as they ever have been… but, also as young as they ever will be again.” Precious moments with young children do not last- and once they are gone they cannot be again. 

Therefore, I urge myself to stop, savor, kiss the little hand, get on one knee, look into their twinkling eyes, and gently kiss those velvety smooth cheeks. But I need the reminder as well.

I hope we all take the time to stop and rejoice in the precious gifts of the season. Remember, spending more does not mean providing more love. Time and love are the gifts. Jesus is the true gift of the season.

Join me again this Friday as I share that promised “almost too beautiful to be eaten- but too delicious to be wasted,” English inspired recipe. Please share, subscribe, and tune into my Cotswold Kitchen Mom Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576612642003 for more festive ideas.

See you all soon!

~Elizabeth~

A crackling fire in a Christmas fireplace with stocking hanging on the mantel.

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