Decorating on a Budget: DIY Holiday Dcor Ideas

This season can be quite expensive between purchasing gifts and hosting holiday parties. Save a little money by creating a few decorations yourself. Here are several DIY ideas for making your home look fabulous without breaking the bank.

DIY Ornaments

Ornaments are a holiday staple. Try these.

• The Scrabble Ornament - If you have an old Scrabble game lying around or can pick one up at a yard sale or thrift shop, create festive words out of the game's letters. Glue the letters together and apply a ribbon like so:

  
  

  

  Source: Pinterest, via CraftsByAmanda.com

  
  

• Peppermint Candy Ornaments - You'll need some wax paper, a baking sheet, wire ornament hangers, a hot glue gun, glue sticks, decorative candies, and a bag of peppermint candies. Better Homes and Gardens notes: After preheating the oven to 350 degrees, arrange candies on waxed paper in desired shape so they are touching. Bake the candies for three or four minutes until they get slightly soft. Don't over bake! Then, remove them from the oven and press the candy decorations into the softened peppermints. Next, add the wire ornament hanger to the top of the ornament. Cool and remove from wax paper. For more detailed directions, check out Better Homes' Easy Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make pin on Pinterest.

  
  

• Light Bulb Ornaments - How many times have youthrown out a light bulb that stopped working? Each time you did so, you threw out a valuable cheap ornament supply! All you need to make light bulb ornaments are old light bulbs, some ribbon, glue, and either paint or Sharpies.We found these fun little guys on Pinterest via WooHome.com.

  
  

  

  
  

• Star of David Ornament - All you need are some Popsicle sticks, a hot glue gun, hot glue, string, and paint. Each ornament requires six sticks. Paint them in the color of your choice and while they are drying, heat up your glue gun. Add a few drops of glue in applicable positions such as on the ends of each stick, and then press firmly. For the full directions, visit Pinterest.

  
  

  

  
  

Dollar Tree Salt and Pepper Shakers

This clever idea comes from eBay on Pinterest. Go out to your local dollar store and pick up a salt and pepper shaker, ribbon, and a Sharpie to make these functional and original table decorations.

Wine Bottle Christmas Craft

ThroughoutTheYellowDoor.com inspired us with their wine bottle Christmas craft, as shown in the photo below from Pinterest. Aside from old wine bottles, the project requires Mod Podge, glitter, and wooden letters. While we love this idea, if you want to save even more money while still creating a cute decoration, skip the Mod Podge and glitter and just purchase some festive colored paint. Instead of painting on glitter then applying wooden letters, apply two layers of paint. Grab some old cardboard to draw and cut letters out from. You can pick up the flowers to place inside at your local dollar or art store. Look for bouquets. Cut the flowers to separate.

Sock Snowmen

What you'll need: White socks, buttons, rubber bands, stuffing (tissues, cotton, paper, or rice inside of a plastic bag will work), pins, and extra fabric. Visit Darkroom and Dearly on Pinterest for detailed instructions.

If you make any of these, we'd love to see how they turn out. Head over to our Facebook page and upload your photos.