Christmas tree ornaments can certainly be expensive. A single ordinary ornament can cost on average $5! Many fancier ornaments cost up to $25! At these prices, you may have to chose between decorating your tree and paying your mortgage for the month.
There are ways, of course, that you can decorate your Christmas tree without spending a lot of money. Try some of the following ideas. I’ve included generally ornaments and even some that would be great for a theme. Just think, you could have a designer tree without the designer prices.
For no-fuss tree decorating, just hit your local dollar store. You won’t find any hand-blown glass ornaments here, but you can get a tree fully decorated for very little money. I once found bunches of little cloth snowmen that along with some ordinary blue balls created a nice winter theme.
Hit the thrift stores for some inexpensive ornaments. A Victorian tree can be had very easily. Just purchase some pretty tea cups (they may even discount them further if you buy a lot of them). It is nicer if they don’t match, Add some pink or rose ribbon and some inexpensive baby’s breath (some florist will even give you a nice bunch for free) to complete the look.
You can go old fashioned by stringing up cranberries and popcorn, making paper chains and cutting stars out of shirt cardboard covered with aluminum foil.
For the cost of a can of gold or silver spray paint, you can have a nicely decorated tree. Go out to the woods and gather up a basket of pine cones and spray them with the paint. Hang them from the tree with ribbon. I did this one year adding some burgundy bows made from discount ribbon, and it looked very pretty. You can also leave the pine cones natural.
Would you like to see more frugal decorating ideas?
Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.
Christmas Scrooge or Holiday Angel?
5 Ways to Save on Christmas Cards
Choosing a Frugal Christmas Tree
Frugal Gift Ideas: Free Personalized Stationery
Eight Frugal Things to Do for Christmas
Trendy Home Made Christmas Gifts
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