Christmas Decorating Ideas & Tips

Christmas Wreath Ideas

Don’t spend money on elaborately decorated wreaths. Instead, choose a simple base from the garden center at Lowe’s. Add in your own greenery, dried flowers, herbs, ribbon and more. It saves you so much money and it’s fun to put a truly unique spin on your wreaths.
Stop! Before you put a hole in your door or over your mantel, use removeable adhesive hooks to hang your wreaths.
Create the look of a floating wreath using fishing line. It’s strong enough to hold a sizeable wreath and disappears into the background when you step away.
Wreaths don’t have to be made of just greens. Put your own stamp on it and make a wreath out of ornaments, ribbon, pinecones, bells, newspaper or anything else that feels holiday appropriate.
To save money on oversized wreaths for a barn or the outside of your home, cover a hula hoop with greenery using floral wire. They’re a great reuseable wreath base.

When picking out a tree at the lot, when they trim the bottom branches, ask if you can take home the clippings. They work beautifully on your mantel or to add greenery to porch planters and window boxes.
Instead of a tree skirt, use a Christmas tree collar to hide your tree stand. Blankets are magnets for needles and never stay in place thanks to kids and pets.
Check out our Christmas lights how-to for everything you wanted to know about adding string lights to your tree.
Use a smart outlet to plug in your tree lights, then flip them on and off right from your phone. It saves you from crawling under the tree every night looking for the plug.
Place a small rubber duck or other similar floating bath toy in your tree stand. It helps keep track of the water level without putting your hand into the tree stand base. If you can see the duck your water level is good, otherwise it’s time for a refill.

Avoid putting holes in your mantel to hang your Christmas stockings with these playful stocking holders.
Use removeable hooks to hang heavier garlands. Make sure to balance the weight with multiple hooks and place loops of string or wire on the back of the garland to give you a place to hang from.
A simple garland with extra pieces of greenery tucked in adds instant elegance to your holiday mantel.
If you’re worried about burning candles on your mantel, use LED pillar or taper-style candles. The technology has come so far that they’re able to cast a realistic glow in your space.
For ornaments that don’t fit on the tree, hang them with mismatched ribbons from the mantel. It’s a great place for those beautiful stand-out ornaments that might get lost on your tree.

Do yourself a favor and get yourself a gift wrap organizer. Not only does it keep paper, gift bags and ribbon organized, more importantly it keeps it in one place so you’re not re-buying things you already have.
You don’t need to use wrapping paper. Wrap gifts with newspaper, brown paper bags, tissue paper, extra pieces of wallpaper or scraps of cloth.
No need to top gifts with a bow. Instead tie on an ornament with a piece of ribbon, tuck greenery on top of a gift, use washi tape to make an interesting design or add dried herbs, orange slices or a cinnamon stick.
Want to make your bows look like a pro did them? The secret is wired ribbon, the wire helps the bow hold its shape and makes it easy to create movement and volume that stays intact.
Get great deals on wrapping paper by buying it at the end of the holiday season for next year.

Cable zip ties help you hang garland effortlessly on railings. They’re easy to use and hold a lot more weight than hooks or fishing line. You can also cover the zip tie with pieces of greenery to hide it. When the season is over, cut them loose.
Garlands can be made of many other materials besides greenery. Beads, bells, ribbons, paper chains and more, all look festive come holiday time.
Think beyond the mantel. Adorn the tops of doorways with garlands using this clever hack. You can use a tension curtain or shower rod to wrap greenery around and it allows you to hang garlands without damaging your molding.
Make your garlands do double duty. Use your design to hold holiday cards from loved ones or turn a garland into a reusable Advent calendar. These multipurpose ideas work well in small homes that don’t have room to display or store extra décor.
To save time, artificial garlands offer a base that you can add in extras each year or use on its own. If you’re looking for illumination, some versions are even pre-lit.