Thrifty Gifty - Organised for Christmas and all ocassions 2009- Santas Challenges

sarahf191979

10 Simple Christmas Decorating Ideas Using Stuff You Already Have

by Shari Brown

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It's Christmas time again, and, even though you've strung lights outside your house and "decked the halls" inside with boughs of holly (or cedar, or pine.), it just doesn't feel festive!
You need something else. Something new.
But you don't really want to spend your hard-earned money on new holiday d!cor- after all, you still have gifts to buy! What can you do? Here's ten simple (but VERY effective) ways to use common Christmas items you already have to add that special holiday touch.
1. Take some of your old glass ball ornaments (you know, the ones that look so drab compared to your other tree decorations!) and arrange them in a bowl. Clear glass bowls are especially striking, as the ornaments show through. If you don't have an appropriate bowl, use a basket.
I've also used small crystal candy dishes to display the small ornaments that were passed down to me by my grandmother- mostly tiny orbs that had broken at the top and had lost their hooks, but still had beautiful pearly finishes.
2. Use your ribbon (C'mon, `fess up- you weren't going to put in on the packages anyway!) and some bows to "wrap" unlikely items. Like the refrigerator. Doors. An end table. Your kitchen cupboards. The dog. Okay, maybe not the dog.
3. While you've got the ribbon out, grab your curling ribbon and make some curly "pom-poms". (Simply cut several lengths of curling ribbon, curl them by sliding the lengths against a scissor blade, and tie them together at the center.) Keep in mind that the curling ribbon will be much shorter after curling- figure on about half its original length.
Tape or tie the "pom-poms" wherever you have a dull spot- they can be tied to the end of your banister (inside or out), hung on doorknobs, or even attached to the tops of your dining chairs.
4. Recreate the Nativity with your children's toys. I admit that you probably will get some interesting comments- especially if you don't have kids! - but this can be a great way to reinforce the Christmas story. Arrange them on a small table, using a sheet for the ground if you'd like. Just make sure any Barbie dolls you use are dressed. (Helps if they have their heads attached, too.)
5. Make a holiday candle garden. Use a Christmas-themed plate or tray, or even a plain metal one and arrange 3 or 5 candles of varying heights (odd numbers look best). Tuck some greenery (artificial or real) in between the candles to give your candle garden an extra festive touch.
This is also a great way to accent a special candle with a holiday theme- surround it with plain pillar candles in a complementary color.
6. Recycle old tinsel garland by cutting shorter lengths of it and using it to accent your current d!cor. You can cut out any matted or thin sections, using the "still-good" pieces as filler in your wreath, candle accents, or as a basket handle accent (wrap around the basket handle in a spiral pattern, leaving some of the original handle showing.)
Re-frame a mirror with gold, red or green garland. Tie a bow and attach it to the top of a present or homemade "goodie" tray.
7. If you have access to free pine cones, gather some up and display them in a basket. You can spray potpourri oil on them (cinnamon is traditional, but vanilla, apple, or gingerbread would be very festive also) or spray them with silver or gold paint. Another great idea is to dab a bit of glue on each "point" of the cone and then sprinkle with glitter.
If you don't have any pine cones in your area, you can usually find them (most likely pre-scented) at your local craft store.
8. Cut out the patterns- Santa, snowmen, penguins, etc.- on your leftover wrapping paper and use them to decorate. Spray adhesive (found at your local craft store) will enable the cutouts to stick to your walls, wooden boxes, bottles. pretty much anything you can find! And the best part- it's not permanent! (Check the adhesive instructions.)
9. Have any uncomfortable or worn-out Christmas socks? Stuff them with a bit of batting, sew the tops closed (insert a little ribbon loop in the corner first), and "string" them on yarn or thin ribbon. Hang on the wall or mantel, or even the tree!
10. The simplest, yet most beautiful holiday decoration? Paper snowflakes! Relive your childhood and create a few. Or a whole blizzard. If you're feeling generous, you can ask your kids to help. When you're done, tape them on your windows- whenever you look out, you'll see a white Christmas (even if you live in the tropics!)

Coutesy of: http://www.allthingsfrugal.com

fedupandskint

sarahf191979 wrote: »

Does he travel abroad or just in the uk??

you can loads of travel bit in the £1 shops at the moment but mainly for going abroad. If its just the UK they probably wouldn't be any use.

Hi Sarah,

A very Happy Birthday to you! Have a great day!

He travels around the uk only, I thought about some nice pillow mist spray, a nice travel alarm clock (uses blackberry alarm for this atm). I've got some travel size bubble bath to go in then go a bit stuck after this

scattymam1

For those of us doing Grand plan on organized...

It starts today!!!!!!!!!!

I was meant to start this a month early so I could be finished early, I've done a few things on the lists but need to catch back up and get on with the cleaning, better get up and atom...

http://organizedchristmas.com/holiday-grand-plan

cyclingyorkie

happy birthday Sarah!

rainmac

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!

:bdaycake:

scattymam1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH

:dance::bdaycake::dance:

sarahf191979

scattymam1 wrote: »

For those of us doing Grand plan on organized...

It starts today!!!!!!!!!!

I was meant to start this a month early so I could be finished early, I've done a few things on the lists but need to catch back up and get on with the cleaning, better get up and atom...

http://organizedchristmas.com/holiday-grand-plan

Ohhh thanks for reminding me I forgot all about it starting today I must get on organising LOL... got to get through my birthday tomorrow:eek: and the party on wednesday (thanks to OH) then i can get stuck in

Got far too much planned, and too many ideas, but hey thats all part of the fun.

sarahf191979

Thank you for the birthday wishes everyone, I'm just enjoying my last day in my twenties today. And trying to organise everything for wednesday.

rainmac

scattymam1 wrote: »

For those of us doing Grand plan on organized...

It starts today!!!!!!!!!!

I was meant to start this a month early so I could be finished early, I've done a few things on the lists but need to catch back up and get on with the cleaning, better get up and atom...

http://organizedchristmas.com/holiday-grand-plan

Printing the reams of lists as I type!!! Meant to do this ages ago when I bought the binder but forgot, cheers for the reminder Scattymam

lmb4wcb

our next main purchase is dsi for dd1 - its a bit out of our budget of £100-120, but she is doing her 11+ exams around that time so we are being a bit more genorous, i am a bit worried about it being so pricey (at mo cheapest is amazon at circa £135), she has said she will take dslite it the dsi is too pricey, but i might ask my mum dad to help pay for dsi, so that we are not out so much money ... I am also going for any competition mentioned on the forum that has a dsi or dslite as a prize ... would be just fab to win one and not have to pay out so much on 1 item


HI,
Littlewoods direct were doing a Dsi for £119.00 if you use one of the discount codes that are usually found on here. I googled 'best deals on Dsi' and thats what it came up with.
HTH
Lisa-Marie