This Year We Did Holiday Decorating on a Tight Budget

Every December brings its own kind of excitement, but last year I let that excitement carry me a little too far. I walked through the holiday aisles, reaching for anything that sparkled, felt cozy, or promised to complete a Christmas look I didn’t even have a plan for. 

It felt fun at the moment, but once January came and the receipts settled into a neat stack on the kitchen counter, I realized how quickly everything added up.

When I looked at the numbers, I felt a mix of surprise and guilt. I had spent $110 on new ornaments, $67 on a pre-made garland, $48 on a wreath, $36 on tabletop decorations, $52 on new stockings, and almost $90 on holiday greenery that barely lasted through Christmas week. 

The total was more than I wanted to admit out loud. So when the holidays approached again this year, I made myself a promise. I would decorate with what we already had and enjoy the process rather than the shopping.

Finding Inspiration in the Most Unexpected Places

Once I decided to decorate on a tighter budget, I looked for ideas in places I had never paid much attention to before like simple Facebook groups, community crafting pages, and old-fashioned tips shared by people who decorate because they love the season, not because they want everything to look perfect.

What surprised me most was how many people decorated beautifully without buying anything new. They used branches from their backyard, transformed old ornaments, turned scrap paper into garlands, and pulled out decorations from years past with a sense of pride.

I also realized that holiday decorating isn’t about filling every corner of the home. So instead of covering the whole house, I decided to focus on three meaningful spots: the Christmas tree, the mantel, and a small Christmas countdown display on the coffee table.

The Christmas Tree That Felt Like a Memory Book

Instead of buying a new tree, we brought out the same one we used last year. It still held its shape, still smelled faintly of pine from the scented sticks I tucked into its branches, and still carried the memory of past seasons. 

I didn’t want to spend money on new ornaments, so I gathered everything we already had including wooden stars, glass baubles, strings of popcorn the girls helped make last year, and a few metal bells I bought ages ago.

Additionally, I found old music sheets in a drawer and folded them into simple paper angels. The paper was thin enough to shape gently, and once I added tiny string loops, they hung beautifully on the tree.

We also sprinkled in tiny stars we made from leftover cardstock, letting the girls decorate them with crayons and small stickers.

The Mantel That Carried the Heart of Our Family

The mantel became my favorite project of the season. I pulled out the stockings the girls decorated when they were younger, each stitched and marked in their own imperfect way. I hung them across the mantel using twine we already had. 

Above them, I arranged a garland made from simple greenery we cut from our backyard. The branches shaped themselves easily, and the deep green color felt fresher than anything from the store.

The girls placed small figurines we had collected over the years such as Santa, a reindeer, and a little sleigh that had chipped paint along one side but still looked sweet.

And then came my favorite part. My youngest daughter suggested making something new from things we never use, so we took cardboard pieces, covered them with bits of scrap paper and markers, and turned them into tiny holiday characters. 

She laughed the entire time, proudly handing each finished piece to me as though it were a masterpiece. Those little creations now sit proudly on the mantel, reminding me that decorating can be as playful as it is beautiful.

A Coffee-Table Countdown Made From Simple Toilet Paper Rolls

The last part of our budget decorating project and the one the girls were most excited about was creating a Christmas countdown for the coffee table. Instead of buying a new advent calendar, we decided to make our own using the most ordinary item in the house: empty toilet paper rolls.

We gathered twenty-five rolls from the recycling bin, lined them up on the dining table, and the girls began decorating them with colored paper, crayons, bits of ribbon, and whatever leftover craft supplies we could find. 

Some rolls had tiny drawn snowmen, others had uneven stars, and a few were covered in stickers that didn’t match at all.

Once the rolls were decorated, we filled each one with a small activity or treat – nothing expensive, just tiny moments meant to bring us together: a piece of chocolate, a handwritten note saying “movie night,” a slip of paper telling us to make cookies or read a Christmas story. 

I sealed the tops with thin pieces of paper and tied them gently with leftover twine so the girls could open one each morning.

We arranged all twenty-five rolls inside a wooden tray and placed it on the coffee table. It looked cheerful and homemade, the way Christmas should feel when there are children involved. 

Every morning, the girls rushed toward the tray to choose that day’s roll, peeling open the top with the excitement of discovering something small but special.