How To Save Money On Christmas Decorations
We decorated the house for Christmas the other day, I was back for a couple of days, so we busted out the faithful toys, battered tinsel and collection of fat and thin Santas to strew around the place.
On went Frank Sinatra, out came the Siena cake, and up went a frightening amount of gold and red items. It’s great, and easy to accrue a lot of decorations over the years. If you’re lucky enough to be fully equipped, then you can ignore this altogether. If you’re looking to bolster your collection, or maybe are setting it up for the first time, here are some tips.
Budget
Before you do anything, a budget for your Christmas decorations is essential. Your budget could be to spend nothing, or you might have been saving for your decos for a long time. Regardless of your circumstance, knowing how much you want to spend will ensure you don’t completely blow other parts of your Christmas budget on what is- essentially- trimmings. Cool trimmings, but trimmings nonetheless.
Buy Early (Or Late)
I moan and rail every year about how early Christmas decorations appear in the store. I hate early Carols, and Christmas colours appearing sometime in early spring. That said, it can be a great time to stock up your decoration collection, before the mad rush for Christmas begins. Prices are sure to spike once the season kicks in properly, and you’ll be left footing an unnecessarily high bill. Save yourself even more money and buy decorations after Christmas is over, and prices are completely slashed.
Get DIY
I get teased about my Christmas decorations every year. The chopping board I decorated in Christmas colours (blotched of green and red, completely unappetizing). Book holders, with appalling versions of Santa Claus. It’s as much of a tradition to tease me about them as it is to use them. Why not get some teasing rituals of your very own? Christmas decorations are so easy to make, and there are a million suggestions for some good ones on the web. Set up a day for making Christmas decorations, and have a working bee. Or turn your latest project- carpentry or sowing- towards making Christmas items, like a wooden star or Christmas tea towels. Really, as my efforts clearly show, anything will do.
Vintage
Deck out your tree with something special. Check out vintage stores and Vinnies for some kooky older Christmas decorations. Why not have a retro angel at the top of the tree, or make your rather battered-looking wreath a talking point (or a running joke) as opposed to fronting up a lot of money for a new one? Creating your own Christmas ‘style’ will be guaranteed to make your decorations envied or emulated for the years to come.
Get Modern
Or you could do the complete reverse, and fly in the face of tradition. Do you need a traditional tree? Why not save money on a plastic one, so you only have to invest once? Or, better yet, have a ‘different’ kind of tree? Fantastic Furniture had these brilliant bendable lights that look wonderful with decorations on them. Or pick up a big branch that’s fallen, and decorate that instead. It’s a classic Australian look, and much more fitting for what is sure to be a 30+ Christmas Day.
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