Upcycle home decor for Christmas decorating on a budget with our easy tips and tricks. Watch how we decorate our Christmas mantel.
The holidays can be stressful and costly, between the gifts, the celebrations, and the decorating. We all want to give our children the best and make the season as festive and fun as we possibly can, but it’s hard. I’m a single mother of three, and my budget each month is so tight it squeaks, so I find this time of year particularly difficult.
If everyone can get over their head colds, we’ll be heading to the Christmas tree farm to cut down our own Christmas tree later this week. This is one of the highlights of the holiday season for me. I’ve found that having traditions makes the holidays that much more special. My daughter picks out a tree, and her brother cuts it down. We load it up on top of the car, bring it home, turn on Christmas movies, make hot chocolate, and put out a few festive treats while the kids decorate the tree.
Each year, we’ve built on our Christmas decoration collection. We pick out a couple of new things before decorating, and then a couple more at the sales after Christmas. Or sometimes we just make our own decorations. This year, things are a little tighter than normal, so we are relying on a lot of DIY.
How to upcycle home decor for Christmas decorating on a budget
I see a lot of people impulse-buying at big-name stores, but did you know that stores such as Goodwill have a lot of options at this time of year, too? There are so many treasures that can be crafted from Goodwill finds, and I’m going to share a couple with you that I did this week for decorating the mantel above our fireplace.
At my local Goodwill store, I found this frame and ‘believe’ metal sign for under $10. Watch how I transform them to decorate our mantel.
Believe metal sign upcycle
I really loved the idea of putting the word ‘believe’ above the fireplace, just not in these bright colors, and it was only $3.99. All I needed was some spray paint, which I already had at home.
Over a couple of days, I sprayed three coats of white spray paint, then laid a strip of painter’s tape down, and sprayed the sign again with silver glitter spray paint.
It looks so much more festive now.
Upcycle a frame for Christmas cards
The next item I found was the large frame. I loved the wood and the detail on it, and thought it would be perfect to turn into a card or photo holder, plus $5.99 was a pretty good price considering it was in excellent condition. We’ll be putting Christmas cards on it, but you can also add holiday photos of your family to it.
I removed the glass, picture, and staples, and then sanded the back side of the frame. Then, I used the same white and silver glitter spray paint on the frame as the sign.
I gave the white section a slightly weathered look by pulling tape off the paint as it was almost dry, and then laid painter’s tape over the decorative section so I could paint the surround with the silver glitter paint.
Then, it was time to add wire to the frame. I found a small roll of wire at the local hardware store and used wire cutters to cut it to size, then a staple gun to attach it to the back of the frame.
And now I have a frame that I can not only use for the holiday season to display Christmas cards, but I can also use it year-round (or should I say Marisol has already decided she’s having it) for photos.
I also picked up this large pinecone ornament that was already painted and in great condition, for 99 cents.
So, now we have some fabulous new pieces to add to our holiday decor collection.
So, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to decorate your home this holiday season. All you need is a little imagination and a trip to your Goodwill store. Plus, the items that I’ve re-purposed can be used year-round in our home.
