A budget-friendly guide to decorating this Christmas

Have you ever thought of saving money over the holidays by spending zilch on your décor? Many of us may have actually tried that but eventually failed, especially since Filipino culture teaches us not to take Christmas lightly. As the season approaches, the temptation to decorate kicks in.

After an economic recession and given the deep introspections we have had over the course of this pandemic, it would be understandable to cut back on the budget for the season’s ornaments. Here are tips for those who want to spruce up their home and display some holiday cheer on a tight budget.

Yuletide fabrics

—PRISCILLA DU PREEZ/UNSPLASH

You can start sprucing up your home by covering the chairs and tables with Christmas-y fabric, adding some jolly carpets and maybe changing the pillowcases, curtains and rugs to fit in. The fabric you use to cover up the furniture and other surfaces should not necessarily have snowmen and reindeer printed over them. They just have to relate to the colors of Christmas or to a certain motif like red and green, blue and silver, and so on.

Christmas candles

—TIJANA DRNDARSKI/UNSPLASH

Bring out those transparent glass jars from storage, whatever their size may be. Decorate their exterior side with ribbons or translucent cutouts of Christmas symbols, then place them on a nice plate. Buy scented candles from the store—preferably those that remind you of Christmas like cinnamon, pine or peppermint—then place them inside the jars. (If you had taken those candle-making classes, go DIY!) Put the adornments on a conspicuous table and then light the candles up every time you want those smells to waft across the room.

Upcycled wreath

—ANNIE SPRATT/UNSPLASH

If you have an old garland from Christmases past, why not upcycle it? Get an iron wire and make a round frame for a wreath (you can also buy the ready-made ones from the store). Wrap the garland around the frame with wires or zip ties, and then add those holiday details—those pine cones you picked up during your last trip to Baguio, Christmas lights and balls, and red ribbons and cherries, among other things. Other suggestions abound online. You may use bamboo clothespins and burlap ribbons for a more native or rustic feel.

DIY tree

—PURE JULIA/UNSPLASH

Take inspiration from DIY Christmas trees from those online stores, social media posts and magazines. It isn’t hard to come up with your own tree these days if, you want a centerpiece for your home décor. You can form wooden sticks into a teepee and then wrap a burlap cloth or garland around it, and voila. With the right materials, you can create Christmas trees out of paper cutouts, slabs of wood or ropes and sticks.

Christmas booth

In Filipino culture, photo opportunities are a must whenever people come together. Give your loved ones and visitors a treat by making them a festive photo booth. Choose a corner of the room and buy the musts, like a foam poster board, maybe wrapping paper and some of last year’s ornaments. You can also make your own belen, parol or poinsettia using all sorts of paper. All you need to do is choose a theme and work toward it. Those years you spent making budget décor for your classroom when you were a school kid more than prepared you for this.