Holiday Decorating on a Dime

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been super busy recently! Between moving out on my own for the first time (Yay!!) and visiting family for Thanksgiving, time is just flying by!

In the midst of making pies and stuffing, I wanted to take a break and share my thought on Holiday decorating.
I'm very pro decorating for the holidays. They've proven that people get more excited during the anticipation of an event than during the actual event and that definitely applies to me. I love love love Christmas and New Years, but I get more excited about decorating and baking and wrapping and all the extras that go with the holidays than the holidays themselves. (Don't tell my minister...)

The downside is that decorating for the holidays isn't cheap and frequently being thrifty, quite frankly, looks thrifty.
So here I am with suggestions for decorating without breaking the bank!
(My apologies to readers of other faiths. I celebrate Christmas and don't want to try to pretend I know how to decorate for other December holidays.)

1. Real greenery.

Having real greenery in the house is my favorite way to instantly get ready for the holidays. Not only is the act of going and picking out a Christmas tree or a wreath so classic and festive, but the smell of real greenery removes the need for winter scented candles.
Real trees and wreaths are obviously something you'd need to purchase every year, but the cost of a real tree can range from half to a quarter of the price of an artificial tree.





2. Vases and Flowers
My favorite, favorite, favorite secret for vases is dollar stores.

This vase to my left is a very classic cylinder vase found in many stores across the country. Target sells this vase for $14.99. Dollar stores sell it for, you guessed it, a dollar. While it's not gonna be the same quality as a more expensive vase, if you're trying to decorate on a budget, it won't make a bit of difference.
Another great steal from dollar stores are vase fillers: stones, rocks, that kinda thing. I love to fill the bottoms of vases with fillers to hold up my flowers. Dollar stores sells bags of fillers for, again, a dollar, while Target and Michaels and similiar stores can sell them for $9.99.
On the same token, dollar stores are my worst nightmare when it comes to flowers. You will NEVER find me buying flowers from dollar stores. Those are one thing I will splurge on.

3. Glassware
I think one of the best parts of a holiday gathering is the cocktails and they deserve glassware worthy of themselves. Personally, I have a nice collection of wine and martini glasses... which are used frequently :) ... but I can understand that many people don't. Buying a set of plastic cocktail cups for a party just screams tacky to me. I'd rather drink out of a red Solo cup than a plastic martini glass where the base detaches from the top.

Dollar stores (again I loveee them) sell glasses! Rejoice! And good looking ones too! Target, my other go-to store, sells a set of funky, zig-zag stem martini glasses for $15.99. Dollar stores (specifically Dollar Trees) sell amazingly similar ones for $1 each. Can you tell which are which? (I'll give you a hint: Target's come in a set of 4.)

If you were to buy a glass for each guest at your soiree, you still probably wouldn't spend much more than Target charges for a set of 4. (Unless you're throwing a large holiday party and then red Solo cups might be a good idea.)

4. Wrapping Paper

So frequently we spend so much time and effort picking out presents and then wrap them pretty generically. After the age of ten, I think everyone is over flying Santas and dancing reindeer on Christmas morning.

My suggestion is to get a solid color of wrapping paper in a classic holiday color, red, green, gold, or my favorite, cream. Solid papers are often much cheaper than decorative papers and can be much more elegant. Wrap the package up in the solid color and then use ribbons and bows to make each box unique. Red and lime green ribbon would be perfect for a child, Crimson and gold for your grandparents and blue and silver for your Jewish roommate. (Doesn't everyone have one, or is that just me?) Much easier, and cheaper, than buying three different rolls of paper and your loved one will be able to tell you thought about the outside just as much as what's inside.

I hope these tips help you decorate for the holidays a little cheaper this year.

Once again: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!