Make The Most Of Your Holiday Decor This Year

One of the most exciting aspects of the holiday season is the opportunity to decorate your home in lots of beautiful, creative ways. Buying new décor every year can get expensive, though, especially if you’ve decided to change your holiday theme.

Now that the holiday season is passing by, it’s time to figure out what you’ll do with your decorations. You can toss them out or throw them in the storage until next year, or you can make the most of old holiday decor by creating new items to decorate your home year-round.

You can use much of what you already have on hand to create breathtaking displays throughout your home. What you don’t have, you may be able to make out of free or cheap supplies. Here are a few ideas.

Citrus Wreaths

There are a couple of approaches you can take here. You use a pre-made wreath from most craft supply retailers, or you can make your own by using a wire clothing hanger. For an inexpensive homemade wreath form with a bit more depth, use foam pipe insulation by taping the ends together in a circular fashion. Your leftover holiday wreath will do as well.

The first citrus wreath option is to slice oranges, lemons, limes, and/or grapefruits into thin rounds and dehydrate them. Once dry, layer the slices around the wreath form and secure them either with hot glue or by tying with a wire. You can always pick up fake fruit from the dollar store as well.

Add a festive bow, and you’ve got an aromatic decoration to liven up any room. The wreath should last 2-3 months if you dehydrate the fruit and longer if you use artificial fruit.

The second approach is to use whole, fresh citrus fruits. You’ll need either a Styrofoam or floral foam wreath form for this one, along with some good floral picks. Insert the pick into the whole fruit about halfway, then push the other end of the pick into the wreath form.

This makes a beautiful wreath, especially when you use a variety of citrus. However, it will only last for a few days before the fruit begins to rot. You’ll either have to plan on replacing fruit a couple of times every week or save the wreath till right before Christmas.

Pine Cone Centerpiece

Photo Credit: Flickr (Bretislav Valek)
If you live in or near any wooded areas, then you may have access to as many free natural decorations as you could want. If not, pine cones can usually be found at most craft stores for a decent price.

Find a pretty bowl and arrange your pine cones in it. Seriously, there’s not much to it. If you find pine cones outdoors, first, you should wash out the pine cones and stick them in the oven for a few minutes to get rid of any critters that might be hiding in them. Then, you can paint the tips of the cones or spray paint the batch, and add glitter for shine, but this is about as simple as it gets.

Wrapping Paper Wreath

Photo Credit: Good Housekeeping
Still have used or unused wrapping paper lying around the house? Make a decorative wreath out of the scraps. You can make a beautiful wreath just by using strips of wrapping paper. Cut strips that are ½ inch to 1 inch wide and about 3 or 4 inches long. Form a loop, then secure it to a wreath form with glue or straight pins. Continue until you get it as full as you want.

You can make your wreaths monochromatic using all the same paper or mix it up. You could use several types of paper blocked together by style or even spiraled around the wreath. The options are limitless. Go as elegant or as festive as you want simply by choosing the appropriate papers.

Ornamental Banisters

Sure, garland draped along the banister is lovely, especially when it’s intertwined with beautiful ribbons, strands of pearls, and dainty lights, but it certainly isn’t the only way to decorate the staircase. Using just a bit of ribbon and a few of your surplus ornaments, you can adorn your banister with a much more festive and much less time-consuming display.

What are some of your creative, unique, or thrifty holiday décor solutions? Do you plan to try one of ours? Let us know!