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10 Inexpensive Holiday Decorating Tips
by Kathleen M. Peters, www.KatieDidDesign.com
We all love to have our home
beautifully decorated for the holidays. But sometimes it's staggering to
total up all we could pay to get all those ready-made decorations! Besides,
half the time, they're not really what we'd prefer to have!
So here are some ideas to help you decorate inexpensively.
1. Replace the candles in your candlesticks with Christmas
colored candles. You can now get candles in almost any color of the rainbow
PLUS many other patterns and finishes.
2. Get several spools of wired Christmas ribbon in your
personal Christmas colors. Then have fun decorating with bows! Tie them around
your hall coat tree, your banisters, your candlesticks, your patio door handles.
Tie them under your doorknobs, on your doorknocker, on the back outside spindles
of your chairs. Just about anything can benefit by a tasteful bow. Be creative!
3. Pull out all the vases that you have. Then go to a fabric
or craft store and buy silk poinsettias to fill them. You can get them very
inexpensively in the last-minute Christmas sales, and you can re-use them
every year! Plus, you don't have to worry about kids or dogs eating them!
4. Place some table scarves in holiday colors around on
your side and end tables. You can buy these many places. If you can't find
any holiday patterns you like, try using solid red or green. Or better yet,
make some! Yes, even if you've never even sewn a button, you can do this.
Go to a fabric store and pick out a material that you like. Buy enough to
make the size square or rectangle you like. 1 1/2 yards will give you a nice
square to put over your little round side tables. 3/4 of a yard will give
you two 22" squares that will do nicely for your wooden or glass end tables.
Then buy a package of double-sided no-sew or iron-on hem tape. The clerks
can help you find it. When you get home, all you have to do it cut your sides
nice and even (if they aren't already), press the hem tape along all four
edges, peel off the backing, turn over your hem and press it down again!
You'll be surprised how easy it is to add such a nice look!
5. Cover your existing throw pillows with holiday covers.
I can sew these for you if you can't find them anywhere else. More
than money, this tip saves SPACE! Who wants to have closet space filled up
with holiday pillows all year long? This way, you just zip off the covers
and fold them up for neat storage!
6. Bring out some of those throw blankets you have! Get
one or two in Christmas colors. Drape them artfully over chairs and sofas.
This helps with the warm and cozy look and feel that we usually want at Christmas.
Besides, it's nice to have them handy on cold nights!
7. Decorate with your Christmas cards! Get some low-tack
tape (so you don't mess up your beautifully painted walls) and put them up
where you can enjoy them! Use only one piece of tape and hang them on a diagonal.
This way your vertical and horizontal cards can be hung the same way. Try
up and over your doorways, up the stair, around a hall mirror... there are
all kinds of places to pick from! Just find an empty section of wall and
have fun! Keep some really nice ones from year to year and put them in some
of your frames. It doesn't take any extra space or cost if you do this with
existing same-size pictures. For example, take that card-sized print of flowers
that you enjoy in the spring. Open up the back, and slide a Christmas card
between the front of the existing picture, and the back of the mats. Use
two small pieces of tape on the BACK of the mat to hold it in place. Keep
your flower picture in there so you don't loose it. Now you have a matted
and framed Christmas card to display and enjoy for the holidays!
8. Replace your curtain and drapery tiebacks with Christmas garlands.
9. Go get a few of those brass horns that are so inexpensive. Then tie some of your bows on them, and hang!
10. Play Christmas music at all times! Even if you have
hardly any visual decorations, this audio 'decoration' can make a tremendous
difference. This may sound like either not much, or too much, depending on
whether you like a quiet house or a merry one. If you like a noisy, merry
house, then you probably do this already. If you're one of those who like
a quiet house (like me) then go get a nice relaxing INSTRUMENTAL Christmas
CD or tape. I suggest those displays where you get to hear a sample of a
bunch of different selections. These displays are usually everywhere this
time of year, and they're not too expensive. Just keep it playing softly
in the background. It will actually help your home to feel MORE quiet and
peaceful during the hustle and hassle of the holidays!
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This article Copyright 1999-2004 - Kathleen Peters, KatieDid Design. Reproduced with permission.
Kathleen Peters - 'Katie' - is a custom window treatment and bedding designer, and owner of KatieDid Design, her online shop. She is also the editor-in-chief of Decor, Decorating, and Design, a free bi-monthly ezine filled with articles, tips, and guidelines to help with your home decorating.
http://www.KatieDidDesign.com
http://www.DecorDecoratingAndDesign.com
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