For a festive holiday home, recycle, re-purpose, and re-imagine.
You don't have to outspend Santa to dress your home for the holidays. Here are some very merry tips that will save time, money and mall-wandering.
- For a holiday display that costs next to nothing, pile fresh-cut pine and holly boughs on the mantel, over doorway arches, on banisters, or in large baskets throughout the house. Tuck in a few pine cones (try spraying them with “snow” or gold paint), and add other interesting natural elements like seed pods, cinnamon sticks, wheat sheaves and vines. Your place will look and smell wonderful.
- Apples and oranges look good among the greenery, as do other colorful fruits like pomegranates and persimmons. A pineapple is a traditional sign of welcome. For an elegant look, fill a clear glass vase or globe with cranberries and limes.
- Make a twig vase. Gather up some twigs or small branches of varying lengths and glue them to the circumference of a coffee can. Secure with twine, raffia or red ribbon, and fill with fresh greens and white mums.
- Book-lovers, celebrate the season by displaying a collection of Christmas classics on your coffee table. Invite friends over for readings of “A Christmas Carol,” “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” “The Gift of the Magi” and “Miracle on 34th Street.” Is there a musician in the house? Be sure to display the sheet music to your favorite carols, and encourage guests to try and out-Bing each other.
- Give old-fashioned charm to a room by gathering all the kids’ teddy bears, other stuffed animals or old-fashioned dolls and grouping them together in a rocking chair or little red wagon, along a sofa back, or on a sled.
- To dress a holiday tree at almost no cost, buy sheets of crepe paper in brilliant red and green. Cut the paper in broad strips, tie the strips up in big bows, and arrange among the tree branches. You can also string it as one continuous garland.
- “Recycle” those old Christmas ornaments by displaying them in bowls or vases. Add strings of beaded garland.
- Choose a theme and create a tradition, like the local artist who collected Santa Claus ornaments. Over the years, he acquired hundreds of St. Nicks, enough to fill an entire room of his house. The collection is a great icebreaker at holiday parties, and a legacy he will eventually hand down to his children.
- For a lovely place marker, all you need is a holly spring tied with a bit of red ribbon placed on a crisp white napkin.
Wrap It Up (Inexpensively)!
Americans produce 25 percent more trash during the holidays than any other time of the year—much of it discarded wrapping paper.
You’re no Scrooge, but why not save some money by wrapping your gifts in handy household recyclables? It’s the green thing to do.
- Here’s a time-honored no-cost gift wrap: the comics! Save the funny pages from your Sunday paper, and set off the wrap with a colorful bow. For sports nuts, use the sports page.
- Textured aluminum foil serves the same purpose, but looks contemporary and elegant.
- Use road maps to wrap gifts for your favorite holiday traveler.
- Wrap presents in brown paper bags, then add a raffia bow and sprig of holly for a naturally pretty look. For something more festive, buy glitter pens in gold, silver or other colors and draw simple snowflake or scroll designs on the brown paper wrap.
- Cover any gift wrap with paper doilies for a “snowflake” effect.
- Another way to wrap gifts inexpensively: use rolls of pretty wallpaper, which can be found in “seconds” bins at hardware and home supply stores.
- Instead of going to the trouble of wrapping a large box, spray paint it with metallic paint, then add a bow.
- Baskets of every size can be had for a song at your local 5-and-10 or thrift store, and they're perfect for gift giving. Fill the basket with colorful crumpled paper, add your gifts, and wrap the entire basket in colored cellophane. Top with a shiny ribbon.
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