Christmas Savings on Tree Decorations

Christmas savings are very important this time of year. Many ways to attractively decorate your Christmas tree do not cost a lot of money. I suggest themed tree decorations. You could opt to have a themed Christmas such as:

Collectibles:

Look around your home. Do you have a collection of something that you can hang by ribbons to use as tree decorations? Of course you will not want to use expensive items but how about a spoon collection, they make beautiful tree decorations when each spoon is attached to a colorful ribbon and then hung on the tree. People collect all sorts of things that would look wonderful showcased on a holiday tree. For Christmas savings just use your imagination and add some colorful inexpensive ribbon, bows, glitter, and icicles, whatever. I know of a family that saved the family baby shoes. They had baby shoes from several generations that she replaced the shoelaces on with ribbon and hung from the tree. It not only made beautiful tree decorations but a wonderful conversation piece not to mention the stories she could tell to her children about each set of shoes and who they belonged to. Look around your home and see what you can find.

Family Now and Then:

Just take small family pictures, inexpensively copied on your computer or take them to Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreen's, etc. to copy and then paste them on small paper frames. Make sure to include ancestors, pets, and friends. How about a theme of past Christmases or vacations in general, the possibilities are endless. Maybe there are a lot of children in your family, you could make a child tree since Christmas is to celebrate the Christ Child. You could jazz it up using paper of different colors and textures or you could even use fabric. The colors could be red, green and white in different patterns. What ever colors you like. If all you have is construction paper, then add inexpensive glitters and doodads that you can find at any Dollar store this time of year.

Nature themed:

This is one of my favorites. I live where there are a lot of pinecones. One year I gathered up all shapes and sizes (you can stick with one variety to make your tree decorations more uniform if you like) and then I bought glitter, ribbon and glue. I painted glue on the cones with a small artist paintbrush and sprinkled the glitter over each cone. Then I tied a ribbon to the top and decorated the entire tree with nothing but cones I had picked up outside free! Once again, the colors you use are whatever appeals to you. Go with an all gold tree maybe or all the colors of the rainbow. You could even take a spool of ribbon and starting from the top of the tree wind it around until you reach the bottom and then add the pinecones.

Origami:

One year I checked a book out from the library on Origami. I bought different textured and colored paper. Then one evening we sat down as a family and made origami tree decorations. I recommend finding a book that has many pictures; it makes it much easier especially for the kids. This project is best suited for older children. I would get something for the younger children to also make such as paper chains that they can hang on the tree. I even managed to make a star for the top of the tree. It was the hardest and took me several tries but we had a wonderful family evening together.

Old Fashioned Christmas Favorites:

Last but not least is the favorite of all. Strings of popcorn and cranberries, paper chains and anything else you can think of making. All you need is plenty of thread and a needle. I get out my old air popcorn popper for this chore but individual packaged popcorn will work if there is no butter or oils added. Combine these with any of the above suggestions for a unique and easy on the budget Christmas tree decorations.

Some of the advantages to any of the above tree decorations are they can be done by all members of the family and there is no need to put them in storage because they can be thrown away and the collectibles can be put back on the shelf when the holiday season is over. The Christmas savings are substantial since all the supplies you can buy at dollar stores and the sale isle at the fabric store.

Use your imagination and have fun