Christmas Decor on a Budget: Affordable Ways to Make Your Space Festive

While I love decorating for all seasons, I think that Christmas decor is the culmination of celebration and fun!

However, since the holidays are typically pretty expensive, figuring out Christmas decor on a budget can be a bit of a challenge. In this post, I’m going to dive into affordable ways to decorate for Christmas and share a few ideas for how you can make your space festive without breaking the bank.

This post contains affiliate links that earn me a commission. For more information, read my disclaimer.

General Tips for Christmas Decor on a Budget

First, let’s go over some general tips for styling your space on a budget.

Determine a Realistic Budget

Regardless of how much you can save, decor isn’t free — it does cost a certain amount of money. Figure out what you can spend and do a bit of research in advance to see what things cost, so you have realistic expectations about what you can afford. 

Something I do is try to save a little bit on grocery shopping every week, especially in the weeks leading up to December, and then put that money toward a decor budget. Spreading out your spending throughout the year and allocating money for decor can help make November and December a little less stressful.

Once you’ve figured out your budget, knowing how much you have to work with will help you prioritize which decor elements you need to find cheap options for and which ones you can splurge on. This brings me to my next point…

Choose One or Two Things to Splurge On

Just because you’re decorating for Christmas on a budget doesn’t mean everything needs to be cheap. While there are many things you can save money on, you may run into one or two decor elements that you just fall in love with. 

For example, I get a lot of my decor from Amazon or Target, but one Thanksgiving, I discovered some gold sparkly bottlebrush trees at a boutique store and absolutely fell in love with them. They were more of an investment, but they really elevated my decor and allowed me to spend less in other areas.

Decide which decor you love so much that you’re willing to spend a bit more on it, and then plan to spend less on your other decor items. Treating these tradeoffs as a choice instead of something you’re being forced into will help you feel freer to enjoy spending your decor budget.

Be Patient & Know Your Christmas Decor Collection Will Grow

I’m a sucker for immediate gratification, so this one is hard for me — but be patient! Investing in Christmas decor is a long game. You can reuse it year after year, and you have plenty of time to grow a collection. Here are a couple of practical, budget-friendly ways to grow your decor over time.

1. Ask for decor for Christmas!
   • If your loved ones need gift ideas for you and you can’t think of anything, this is a great option. You might not be able to use it for the entire season this year, but you can use it on Christmas Day and for many years to come.
2. Shop the post-holiday sales.
   • Another tip that requires patience is taking advantage of post-holiday sales for decor. Ideally, if you can plan ahead you will save a lot of money. 
   • Often, everyone’s a little burned out after the holidays, so it takes a bit of extra energy to go looking for decor. Instead of treating it as a chore, treat it as a fun group activity to keep the holiday celebrations going and search for Christmas decor on sale.

How to Decorate for Christmas on a Budget

Now that we’ve gone over some general tips on budgeting for Christmas decor, let’s dive into the practical specifics of some ways you can make your space festive on a budget!

1. Decide on a color scheme for your Christmas decor

In my fall decor post, I shared that a neutral color scheme is important for achieving a minimalist look. Although I love the look of minimalist neutral colors for Christmas decor, I also think bright and festive colors are fun. 

Regardless of what color you choose, sticking to some sort of unified color scheme is important and will help make your decor more budget-friendly! Adding small, inexpensive elements throughout your space that have the same color scheme will be more effective than large, expensive elements that are not cohesive.

When choosing a color scheme for Christmas decor, take a look at your space and figure out what colors are already present and what colors would complement it well. That will not only help tie together your decor but will save you money since you can rely on some of your existing decor to help make your Christmas decor cohesive. 

For example, my usual color scheme is white and gold, and for Christmas, I also add a few pops of red. That means my decor elements can be either white, gold, or red, which gives me some flexibility to use many of my existing decor elements, such as my candles, bud vases, and more! I’ll dive into some of those details later in this post.

One note on colors: while you can opt for a red and green color scheme, in general, red and green together tend to look a little bit cheesier, so that color combination is not my first choice. However, there are certainly ways to pull it off well.

If you use both, choosing to focus more on one of the two colors helps make it seem more natural. You can also choose different shades of red and/or green if you want something more nuanced. 

Other options for colors can include neutrals — such as cream, beige, or grey, or metallics — such as silver, bronze, and gold. If you’re feeling really bold, you can choose a non-traditional Christmas color such as blue or purple, but you may have trouble finding decor elements.

2. Get creative in using things that are already around your home

When decorating for Christmas on a budget, identifying items that you already own is key. You might have decor elements that might not necessarily be specific to Christmas, but can help you implement your vision. This is where your color scheme comes into play. Some of these items might include:

• Books
• Blankets/Pillows
• Vases/Planters
• Picture frames
• Candles

For example, if your color scheme is green and silver, locate decorative books or blankets you already have that are green and use those in your decor. Or, if you have a silver serving bowl, fill that with some vase filler or pinecones. 

The key is to get creative. Sometimes things in your home don’t appear to be Christmas decor at first glance, but can be used as part of your decor if you just look at it differently and add a little something extra. 

One of my favorite decor hacks is using picture frames and simple printed designs to help tie decor together. I create my designs in Canva — they have a huge selection of typography and graphics if you don’t feel comfortable creating your own from scratch. 

You can also download graphics on Etsy for a reasonable price and then print them out yourself. I print my designs out on cardstock, but regular typing paper can also work.

3. Capitalize on Christmas ornaments

I am a big fan of using classic round Christmas ornaments for decor! Ornaments are cheap and easy to decorate with. And, many are now shatterproof, which is handy from a practical standpoint (we have a very mischievous cat).

Last year, I displayed a holly arrangement on my coffee table — but that was before said cat entered the picture. Now, I display ornaments in the same glass jar I’ve used for other seasonal elements, and put the holly arrangement out of reach.

You can also leave ornaments in small clusters on surfaces around your home, or put them in jars, bowls, or shallow serving dishes. The possibilities are endless! Just ensure that you have some slight variations in color and sizing to add some visual interest. I used a combination of mini and regular-sized ornaments, and it helped create continuity without looking too uniform.

Another pro tip: using a few of the same ornaments that you put on your Christmas tree also helps tie your decor together and make everything cohesive. There are tons of options for great ornaments at Dollar Tree, Michaels, Amazon, and Target. You can also check out stores like Ross or Home Goods for some bargain options.

4. Decorate with Poinsettias & DIY Pots

At a time of year when it’s cold and there isn’t a lot of “life” in nature, incorporating living things really brightens up your decor. I love using poinsettias to decorate, especially since I have red in my color scheme. For Christmas decor on a budget, poinsettias are a great option.

While they aren’t cheap, you don’t need very many of them, and they add a lot of value. I got mine for a reasonable price at Trader Joe’s, but if a set of poinsettias is out of your budget, even one large poinsettia really brightens up a room. Or, invest in the mini ones, which are quite a bit cheaper and take up less space. These are great to place on surfaces around your home.

DIY Pots

Although most poinsettias come with decorative foil wrappers, they’re not my favorite, and this year I really wanted to find some Christmas pots or planters. Little did I know just how much time and work it would involve! Apparently, locating planters or pots of a particular size for potted plants, including poinsettias, is incredibly difficult (and expensive). 

For sizing, you want to make sure the pots are not too short or too tall. The width is a bit more flexible, but the height is really tricky. Although the width is provided in the pot measurement, the height is not, so I ordered multiple pots and took them to the store to see if the poinsettias would fit. 

After doing all this research and figuring out the sizing, I decided to proceed with the DIY route and find planters that I could spray paint! It took a lot of time to figure out, but it was very cost-effective. If you’re interested in DIY planters, hopefully my research saves you some time and money.

I ended up ordering these 7x7x6 galvanized buckets from Joann’s that work well for 6.5″ wide poinsettias (medium size at Trader Joe’s) and these 9x9x7 buckets on Amazon for 8″ wide ones (large size at Trader Joe’s). My husband used pliers to remove the handle from the larger buckets and bend the metal pieces inward. I spray-painted all of the buckets gold using this inexpensive metallic spray paint from Amazon, and it was so easy!

I wasn’t able to find buckets for the mini poinsettias that I was happy with, but I discovered these cute mini brass planters at Target for the 4″ poinsettias (small size at Trader Joe’s). They fit perfectly and are just $5 each!

How to Spray Paint Buckets/Planters for Poinsettias

Follow these simple steps to DIY your own buckets/planters!

1. Put down a dropcloth in a well-ventilated, preferably outdoor area. 
2. Prep your buckets and ensure all price tags/stickers are removed, then place upside down on the drop cloth.
   1. Note: I had the hardest time with the stickers on a couple of my buckets. If stickers are on the bottom of the bucket, they don’t matter, but they do if they’re in a visible area. I used a combination of Dawn dish soap, rubbing alcohol, a sponge, and heat from a hair dryer to loosen the adhesive. 
3. Shake spray paint until the ball rattles, and spray the bucket back and forth in a sweeping motion, holding the can level about 10-12 inches away from the bucket.
   1. Note: If you want to use a primer, you can, but it’s not necessar,y especially if you’re keeping your planters indoors. 
4. Rotate the bucket and continue spraying until one coat has been applied. Keep the first coat thin — it’s okay if some of the metal still shows through. 
5. Allow to dry for 10-15 minutes and apply a second coat.
   1. Note: To make sure the bucket doesn’t stick to the drop cloth, it’s good to move it around a couple of times while it’s drying — just be careful not to leave fingerprints.
6. Once dry, turn the bucket over and touch up any spots that were missed or need a bit more paint. I wasn’t planning on spraying the inside, but I ended up doing that as well. It’s not strictly necessary, but it prevents any of the metal from showing. 
7. Allow to dry completely. The spray paint directions say it will dry in one hour, but I left mine overnight before putting plants inside to be safe. 
8. Place poinsettias in planters (leave them in their plastic buckets) and position them around your home!

Some additional options: You can easily leave your buckets silver or spray paint them another color to go with your color scheme if that’s your preference. Or, if you don’t want to use poinsettias, you could also use mini potted Christmas trees instead.

Poinsettia Care

One note: if you’re intimidated by plants, don’t be too stressed by poinsettias. I have a brown thumb, but I’m usually able to keep them alive for at least the entire month of December! I like to use them both inside and outside, but I have found that they die a lot faster outside, so just keep that in mind.

They seem to do well in warm environments, as long as they get some amount of light and don’t dry out. You also want to make sure that the soil is able to drain after you water them. Since my DIY planters don’t have drainage holes, I just check to make sure the plants aren’t sitting in any water. I usually water them about once or twice a week, depending on how dry the soil is.

5. Use mini trees

I got into mini bottlebrush trees last year and discovered that they’re a decor game-changer. First of all, they’re so cute! Additionally, having multiple elements that you can space out throughout your home helps create the illusion that your decor is more extensive than it really is.

Bottlebrush trees can transition to winter decor as well (stay tuned for a post on that after the holidays!). And since they’re small, they’re also very space-efficient and easy to store. When you’re decorating for Christmas on a budget, a set of adorable mini trees is your friend!

As mentioned earlier, my bottlebrush trees from a boutique store were my splurge item last year, but there are also great options online or at stores like Michaels and Target. Just be sure to check the dimensions when ordering online, because they are often smaller than they seem.

If you’re not into bottlebrush trees or would like some variety, you can also look into other decorative tree sets. Since our kitten is now a total menace, I have to put my bottlebrush trees out of reach. This year, I supplemented them with some ceramic trees from Target that are thoroughly cat-proof! 

There are small, medium, and large options. The small ones are only $5, so if you’re trying to save in this area, invest in more of the smaller ones and only one or a few of the larger sizes.

6. Make your Christmas decor sparkle with twinkly lights

Have any leftover lights from your tree? Use them around your home! It’s fun to put them up around the ceiling in your space (we have these LED ones from Amazon that we leave up year-round), but you can also hang shorter strands around mirrors, furniture, or bookshelves. 

Tip for hanging your lights as a renter: I’ve had the best success using very small nails to hang lights. They’re sturdy enough to hold the lights securely, but they leave very minimal damage. You can also use command hooks, but I’ve had issues with these falling off the wall, which brings your lights crashing down — very frustrating!

Another tip is to invest in a couple of sets of battery-operated fairy lights and place these on surfaces around your decor. These are amazing value and are a great way to get the most bang for your buck. 

• Smaller strands
• Longer strands

7. Take advantage of firelight

There’s something about the magic of firelight that makes it feel like Christmas. I talked a lot about the importance of candles and warm light in my post about ambient lighting. Candles are just so cozy! 

While I love using candles in my decor year-round, there’s no better time than around the holidays. And since my year-round colors are white and gold, I can use my usual white candles for Christmas decor, although colored candles are fun too. I use mostly unscented, but try to have at least one scented, since it adds another sensory element to your decor. 

Pillar candles are so elegant, and having them in vases helps reduce mess and potential fire hazard. Generally, candles are pretty budget-friendly, although they’re cheaper when purchased in bulk. I got a couple of sets of pillar candles and glass vases from Yummi Candles for my wedding and kept quite a few. The quality is amazing, and they were an investment that has really paid off over time!

For a smaller quantity, you can purchase pillar candles elsewhere online or at stores like Target or Michaels. You can find a wide selection of glass vases to put the candles in at Michael’s, Goodwill, or Dollar Tree for a bargain. 

Just ensure that the pillar candle diameter is at least ½ inch (preferably ¾ or 1 inch) smaller than the vase diameter at its narrowest point, or the candles may not fit.

Taper candles are also fun, especially around the holidays. I get my favorite white taper candles for a deal on Amazon. I have a set of tall brass candlesticks from Crate & Barrel, and another set of shorter ones from Amazon. Tealights are another budget-friendly option, since they’re inexpensive and you can spread them out. 

Candles are great, but the more firelight, the better! If you have a fireplace, making an actual fire is an easy, inexpensive, and functional way to make your space feel cozy. It also makes your home smell like Christmas. 

8. Display natural elements

Again, living things are a great way to brighten up your space. Natural elements are great for Christmas decor on a budget because you can utilize year-round vases/containers to display them.

I think that holly feels so festive! Even though I love living holly, I’ve had a hard time finding it, and it doesn’t live for the entire season. Additionally, using faux holly is more budget-friendly since it can be used year after year. My faux holly is from Michael’s and Target. 

To display my holly stems, I have my set of white bud vases that I use year-round and swap out with whatever is seasonal. The ones I got are out of stock, but this set is almost exactly the same. Especially if you’re incorporating red into your color scheme, then holly is a great option!

If you’re not a fan of holly, you can also use greenery or other florals (real or faux) that tie into your colors. Pine cones/pine cone sprays are another very cost-effective natural element.

One of the best opportunities for displaying natural elements is using a Christmas wreath! I’m a big proponent of wreaths because they help tie together your decor and give guests their first impression of being welcomed into your home. 

There’s a wide variety of budget-friendly wreaths, both real and fake, available at grocery or craft stores. I use a faux holly wreath from Target on my front door!

Decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite parts of the season, and it doesn’t need to be stressful. You can pull off amazing and affordable Christmas decor that still brings some holiday magic to your home.

By making strategic tradeoffs on spending, investing in key decor elements, using things you already have, and sticking to a unified color scheme, you can make your space festive without breaking the bank.

More Ways to Make Your Home Festive