Low Cost Holiday Decorations

Holiday decorations are a first step toward creating warm feelings and memories that last a lifetime. The most effective decorations explode with color, are gentle to the touch and fit in more than one place in your home. Despite the rising cost of non-perishables, you can find low cost holiday decorations.

Handmade Holiday Decorations
Place hand drawn decorations in one room at your home. A den, family room or basement used as an entertainment center will work well. Use colored cardboard or construction paper to draw religious, cultural or historic figures. You can also draw and cut out events that depict historic events in your family or cultural history.

Let the children in your family help design the decorations. After all, you are doing more than decorating your home for the holidays; you are also creating memories. Cut out the decorations and hang them, using string you can purchase from a craft store for less than five dollars a roll, from the room ceiling.


During winter holidays, save several pieces of the homemade holiday decorations to hang on your Christmas tree. Use single sheets of construction paper to create holiday cards that you can place in each room of your house.

Type or neatly handwrite facts about your family (e.g. short bios on matriarchs and patriarchs in your family, talents and goals individual members have shared or displayed) on the inside of the cards. Feel free to cut images out of magazines that celebrate the holiday spirit and pasting them to the front of the cards.

Holiday Decorations Celebrate Family History
Use trays and dishes that have been in your family's history for two or more generations to serve holiday meals on. Instead of buying new ceramic, glass or crystal decorations, pull old flower vases out of the basement, attic or kitchen cabinets and fill them with fresh flowers.

You can also buy colored, scented candles from your local dollar or department store and two to three in each room of your home. Not only will the candles add color to your home, they will also fill each room with a welcomed scent.

Take advantage of existing household items and personal favorites (e.g. stuffed animals, cookie bowls) to create additional low cost holiday decorations. For example, you could take stuffed animals and place holiday outfits on them. Sit the stuffed animals on the top corners of chairs and sofas.

Save on door and window decorations by purchasing three or more sturdy wreaths that you can use for years. Wreaths or candles placed in the windows of your home can save you the money it would cost to string your house with holiday lights. If you do put up holiday lights, hook them up to a timer so that they are only on for a certain number of hours at night.

Baked Good for the Holidays
Cookies shaped to resemble your favorite holiday characters are tasty. They also make for great low cost holiday decorations. After you bake the cookies, put them on a serving tray. Place the tray in the center of your kitchen table.

Messages written on plastic print outs that stick to your window can be purchased for as little as five dollars at your local craft, department or dollar store. Consider placing poinsettias on your living room end tables. You can use the flowers for most holidays. Water and feed them plant food and they will last throughout the year.

Low cost decorations can be hand at home or store bought. Let children in the family help create handmade decorations and cards. Share facts about your family with the children while you create the decorations. Cookies, household items and personal favorites can also be used to add color and spirit to your home during holidays. Low cost holiday decorations that are created or bought with love help create memories that last a lifetime.