This is our first Christmas together as a married couple! We didn’t think we would really decorate too much since it can get pretty expensive, but then my husband’s sister loaned us her Christmas tree and we caught the bug! Although we still didn’t want to spend too much money; so this is our crafty combination of borrowed decorations and dollar tree finds that might give you some fun ideas of your own!
We started off with the tree from his sister and a combination of the bulbs that she lent us and his parent’s beaded garland. The trick to the garland seemed to be to position it around the tree branches so that it would hang freely and in the background of the ornaments. We had a minor mishap with a section of lights not working on the pre-lit tree, but we covered it up with a string of lights and I think they ended up blending together pretty well!
Next we created a make-shift tree-skirt out of a throw blanket that we usually keep slung over the back of our couch. No one would ever notice after we put all the gifts on top of it.
To create a put-together look for the presents (and to save money by only having to buy one color ribbon), we stuck with a blue-paper theme. It was hard to get them all in the picture, but it looks nice to have them all match under the tree.
Dear Jolly Old St. Nicholas, You are more than welcome to enjoy looking at our stalkings from the dollar tree, but please do not place anything in them.
These stalkings are a pretty, silky material and came in silver as well. We didn’t want to splurge on stalking hangers this year, so our solution was to use a push-pin to pin it straight up to the underside of the mantle. It makes for pretty decoration, but I would suggest setting them on the floor in front of the fireplace after they’re packed with stuff on Christmas eve.
Next we ran a table runner from the dollar tree down our coffee table to spice it up a little bit. It’s not the best of quality, but it does fine placed on a surface that we usually put our feet on!
For table runners that our too long, fold the center of the runner on top of itself and place a centerpiece on top to hold it in place. If its a neutral color fabric it should blend in really well. Ours is hardly noticeable when looking down at it!
I have a really difficult time spending tons of money on stuff that only gets to have a life once a year and then gets stuffed back into a box for a year. That’s why we hit the dollar store so hard! These place mats are a similar material to the stalkings we got, and they work great for setting a festive mood while still being easy on the wallet.
Last but not least: time-less mistletoe hanging from the arch into our dinning room. We just so happened to have this spiky, green-leafed, red-berried tree outside our house! Although I am quite sure that it is not mistletoe, no one else needs to know that…
To hang it I wrapped two small branches (one facing one side of the walkway and the other facing the opposite direction so that both sides look like the front) together with the same ribbon I used on the presents and made sure to loop it through some lower branches so that the ribbon wouldn’t just unravel when I hung it upside down.
Then I pulled up the end of the ribbon and push-pinned it to the top of the arch. Standing on a chair, I curled the hanging ribbon on the other side of the push-pin and then tied 4 additional strands of ribbon around the push-pin (2 with the bow facing front and 2 with the bow facing back) to disguise it and to make sure that you saw frilly ribbon no matter which side you looked at it from.
Good luck with your decorating endeavors! And have a Merry Christmas celebrating Christ’s birth while spending time with family and friends!
ellafullerton 