There’s nothing like transforming your home into an enchanting, festive wonderland to get you in the Christmas spirit. But don’t panic, filling your home with light, sparkle and jolly displays this holiday season needn’t cost you a fortune. No matter your style, we’ve brought together the best DIY Christmas decorating ideas to help you deck the halls without breaking the bank. Click or scroll on to get inspired…
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Create a wreath display
Wreaths are not just for the front door – with an array of styles available, you can use them indoors to transform a vacant corner into a festive focal point. Have a go at making your own with natural foliage and then use them to decorate a wall or a chimney breast above the hearth. Make them extra-special by wrapping delicate, battery-powered, fairy lights around them for a twinkling effect.
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Design your own wrapping paper
Fun for all the family and good for the environment, why not create your own unique wrapping paper by decorating recyclable brown paper with your own designs? From basic potato printing in festive shapes with the little ones to more advanced hand-painted motifs that show off your creative skills, this is a craft that everyone can get involved with. Your designs will look great under the tree too!
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Personalise your stockings
Elevate a simple budget-friendly felt stocking by adding your own unique touch. With basic sewing skills, you can embroider family names or patterns to personalise this Christmas essential. If you’re feeling super crafty, you could even buy your own material and sew a stocking from scratch – a relatively speedy project if you have a sewing machine.
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Experiment with an unusual wreath
Make the most of materials from around the home to create striking outdoor decorations. Combining an array of tactile materials in muted hues, this rustic Nordic-style wreath is made from wool, wire and dried foliage. Seasonal berries and foliage bring colour, while the addition of wheat ears adds an unusual earthy twist.
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Add colour with Christmas flowers
Poinsettias are the go-to Christmas flower thanks to their rich red or snowy white hues and star-shaped petals. Fill the house with colourful Christmas cheer and a pine-like fragrance and opt for pretty poinsettia centrepieces on your dining table or sideboards – you can even create mini displays for smaller spaces.
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Construct a card tree
If you need to forgo a Christmas tree altogether this year, fear not, there are other affordable alternatives. Why not stick your favourite festive cards on the wall to create the outline of a tree? Then simply pop all the presents at the foot and highlight the seasonal silhouette with a string of fairy lights to frame the cards.
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Get creative with Christmas tree ornaments
Most of us harbour a junk drawer filled with bits and bobs with no particular home. Take those leftover gift bows, curling ribbons and buttons and use them to spruce up old baubles. Not only will you create a unique ornament, but you’ll also be decluttering the process. This adorable fillable glass bauble has been customised with faux moss, dried berries and Scrabble tiles.
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Decorate a door arch
Embellished and elaborate Christmas door arches are all the rage right now. You can follow the trend by making your own DIY budget version: safely secure a faux garland around the door, intertwining fairy lights with the foliage if desired. Attach baubles in various sizes evenly across the arch, then fill in the gaps with white poinsettia flowers and finish with woodland pine cones.
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Upcycle old baubles
Transform old or plain baubles with a little creative thinking – it’s amazing what you can do with a glue gun and acrylic paint. Simply use permanent metallic markers to personalise your ornaments with names or quotes and then adorn with decorations, from faux gold leaf to sequins, gems and glitter. A great project for recycling old baubles, it’s also a perfect way to get friends and family involved in some crafty fun.
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Fill up a fireplace
Give an empty fireplace a festive retro feel this Christmas by filling the disused hearth with paper honeycomb decorations. An inexpensive investment, pack out the large space and arrange them as though they’ve just tumbled down the chimney. These designs in red, white and teal almost look like oversized baubles!
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Stick up a tree
Brighten up a plain wall with a modern, graphic Christmas tree sticker. This fun polka dot version can be customised to fit the size of your available space and can be removed without damaging the paintwork so you can pop it back up year after year.
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Fill jars with sweet treats
Throw on your apron and get making some festive confectionary offered in decorative jars. Whether you choose gingerbread, fudge, or chocolate truffles, temp your guests by filling pretty glass containers decorated with ribbons and place them in the hall to welcome guests or in the dining room for an after-dinner treat.
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Create a Christmas card gallery wall
One thing that’s sure to happen in the lead-up to Christmas is the arrival of festive cards on your doormat. Use them to decorate your home by stringing them up to make a standout display. Or, be inspired by gallery walls and create a beautiful display with your Christmas cards. Frame each card with festive washi tape to tie the display together.
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Hang up a handmade advent calendar
Countdown to Christmas with a simple but colourful advent calendar made of rainbow luggage labels. Tack up 24 hooks and hang with a different decoration to add to your tree each day leading up to the 25th. If you’d prefer not to hammer hooks directly into your wall, you can purchase adhesive weight-bearing hooks that won’t damage the plasterwork.
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Style up the staircase
Highlight the hallway with a colourful garland wrapped around the bannister. Embellish the looped foliage with twinkling fairy lights and string up bright paper lanterns to hang down from the greenery. For a playful touch, add a few festive friends at the top of the stairs like this charming gnome.
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Wheel in a backdrop
If you don’t have the facilities to hang a foliage arrangement over the Christmas table or room for a large centrepiece, why not wheel in a frame to create a showstopping overhead display? Wrap half the structure with foliage and fairy lights, then hang ornaments from the framework at staggered levels.
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Make twig wall hangings
The next time you go for a country or coastal walk, collect fallen twigs, driftwood and small branches. Once you’ve left them to dry out, put them to use as rustic Christmas decorations. You can simply display them across sideboards and bureaus or even lean them in the corner of the room, or for something for crafty, create a hanging festive tree by attaching them with rope in ascending order of size, then embellish with fairy lights and a wooden star ornament at the top.
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Chalk up festive messages
If you have a chalkboard wall or framed blackboard, drawing festive chalk art costs practically nothing. Take a look online for inspirational festive messages and brush up on your calligraphy skills to get scribbling. Crafty marketplace websites stock pages of Christmas overlay to trace or if you’re artistically inclined, you could buy a ready-made personalised chalkboard that you can bring out every year.
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Wrap present props
Nothing looks more inviting than a Christmas tree once presents start to stack up underneath. Spread the cheer into other places of your home with faux present props. Save empty boxes in various sizes throughout the year and then wrap them in beautiful paper and ribbon. Be sure little ones know there is nothing inside or they might try to unwrap your hard work.
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Decorate mini trees
If you don’t have the room or budget for a large Christmas tree, you don’t have to go without – mini versions look endearing and country chic. Dress them with natural elements like pine cones or hessian wrap, give them some bling with colourful tiny baubles or make them glow with delicate fairy lights. Group them in threes or with other foliage to create an endearing elf-sized forest display.
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Upcycle homewares
Get upcycling and use louvre-style doors or an antique clothes horse to make a DIY advent calendar with paper envelopes. Fill each one with well-wishes, thankful messages or even small treats to discover each day. Frame the top with real foliage and hanging mini baubles. This idea also makes an attractive Christmas card display with tiny pegs to hold cards in place.
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Perk up with pom-poms
Colourful pom-poms are a simple folk-style festive embellishment that makes everyone smile. Choose natural materials like wool and felt and match the colours to your Christmas décor or a feature wall. Hang them as garlands or stick them onto a ring of card to make a cheery wreath for an authentic Scandi feel.
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Cluster baubles together
Here’s a pretty use for leftover baubles that’s easy to do; hang them together in groups from ribbons. Choose complementary colour sets and hang them at different lengths in a swag shape. They make a bright and shiny alternative to wall wreaths or will jazz up the back of chairs at the Christmas table.
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Freshen up your home with pomander balls
If you’re a fan of traditional Christmas decorations like Grandma used to make, you’ll love these spiced pomander balls. Take some firm citrus fruits, carve the skin into elaborate shapes and stud with cloves. Experiment with patterns to create different effects and tie with ribbon to hang them up, scenting the air with citrus and spice.
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Create an alternative tree
If you don’t have the space for a traditional tree, but still want somewhere to hang your favourite baubles, go for a twig design. You can buy one from most high street retailers and supermarkets, but better still you could repurpose a real branch or tree. Bring it indoors and let it completely dry, then spray paint it either white or silver.
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Make snow globes
Snow globes are ultra magical at Christmas time. Make your own miniature scene with floating snow and glitter for the fraction of the price of one from a shop. Use a craft shop kit or make a vintage-style version using an upside-down jam jar and glycerin then disguise the lid with a ribbon.
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Fold origami stars
Sustainable decorations like paper stars are simple to fold and make a mindful Christmas choice. Use leftover gift wrap for a colourful contrast to a white backdrop or brown paper looks rustic and cosy. Look for online tutorials or cheat and buy one ready-made like this dainty version.
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Make your own crackers
DIY Christmas crackers are a great way to use up spare bits of wrapping paper and curling ribbon. You’ll need toilet or kitchen roll tubes (start collecting now!), wrapping paper, ribbon and whichever fillers take your fancy. Cut the cardboard barrels into three sections, wrap and tie up. Don’t forget to add the fillers before you tie the knots!
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Hang photo decorations
Make your holiday tree look extra special by decorating it with personalised ornaments filled with family photographs. Insert DIY Polaroid-style photos into fillable frames or hang printouts in wooden ornament-shaped frames. These also make wonderful keepsake gifts too.
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Find foliage for candle holders
Create elegant and eco-friendly candelabras. Insert festive foliage such as fern, eucalyptus, holly or bay sprigs into empty glass bottles. Fill with water up to the neck and add candles in colours of your choice. Then place on a mantel, table or windowsill, safely light and enjoy the wintery glow.
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Use holly as a table display
What a simple but effective way to add some life to the Christmas table. Once you’ve set the table – red placemats with a white dinner plate on top – tuck real holly (or faux) around the edge of the plate. Position it towards the top and not all the way around the plate, for a festive touch that doesn’t get in the way.
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Decorate the windows
Cut paper snowflakes or stars from shimmering gold or silver paper and stick them to the window with Blu-Tack (a staple at Christmas!). Really easy to make, just fold a paper square several times, snip shapes and reveal the snowflake’s design. If that sounds like too much work, position a festive window film in place, instead. Easy!
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Make mistletoe bouquets
Mistletoe is a fun and pocket-friendly way to decorate your home. Create beautiful bouquets of mistletoe with leftover wrapping paper or newspaper, mix in some evergreen cuttings and secure with yarn. Hang them above doors and wherever people like to congregate if you’re feeling mischievous. These can then be dried and used again next year.
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Bring in outdoor elements
Think creatively about your dining table decoration and give something like this a try. You don’t need to go massively over the top, but see if you can find a fallen branch outside; it won’t cost you anything but will take some effort. Dry it off, clean it up and you could even spray paint it. Then securely affix it to the ceiling before hanging baubles and fairy lights from it.
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Make your own table light
A few jam jars, some black card, chalk and fairy lights are all you need for this simple hack. Decide how many jam jars you need to spell out a festive phrase – go for an odd number if you can, as it gives a better aesthetic. Cut out the relevant number of tags from the card, then chalk out the letters. Stick to the fronts of the jam jars, arrange together, drape with fairy lights and pop in some natural foliage to finish.
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Bake festive family treats
Have a go at baking your Christmas decorations this year. Gingerbread is a sturdy biscuit that you can shape and assemble into just about anything. Cut out trees, stars, reindeer and gingerbread men from the dough and pierce a hole through the top. Bake, decorate and string up onto the tree. Why not have a go at making a gingerbread house as well?
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Craft your own gift tags
Trim tag shapes from card and decorate with simple red ribbon and dried natural leaves, glued into position. Choose seasonal winter foliage – fir, holly, ivy and eucalyptus, they’re perfect for making your own decorations!
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Hand-tie cutlery with ribbon
Setting a lavish table doesn’t need to cost a fortune – simple touches can really make a difference. Tie cutlery with ribbons, handwrite place cards, entwine fairy lights down the length of the table, and dot faux flower petals around. You can pick up coordinating dinnerware sets like this at budget prices from most supermarkets.
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Use fairy lights in new ways
Why limit yourself to hanging fairy lights on your Christmas tree? With a bit of imagination you can transform plants, fireplaces, pictures and mirrors into a twinkling lighting feature. String them along windowsills, around doors or up the bannisters. Drop a bunch of fairy lights into a glass vase to add a glow to empty fireplaces. And a simple effect is to drape them along the centre of the dining table for a twinkly look.
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Sew your own hanging decs
For those brave enough to reach for the sewing needle, these heart-shaped felt decorations are a delightful way to decorate your home. Cut felt into shape, ensuring you make two identical shapes per decoration, and sew together using embroidery thread, leaving a small hole to fill with stuffing.
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Crack out the candy canes
Feast your eyes on these sweet decorations. A festive necessity, candy canes usually make an appearance every year and they’re cheap to use. Try arranging a bunch of candy canes into a vase for a DIY centrepiece that’s good enough to eat or add them to garlands and wreaths, crossed at the base, to make the shape of a heart. They also make great gift toppers.
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Sew a felt garland
Create a length of bunting with cheeky gingerbread men as the star. Cut an outline from a piece of card to streamline the process. Stitch them, evenly spaced, along a length of ribbon and finish with black sequins as eyes. Use them to decorate areas in your home, such as above the mantelpiece, up the bannisters or hanging from wall mirrors and pictures.
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Faux the fireplace
If you don’t have a real fireplace then it’s time to get creative. You can pick up a wooden fire surround free from sites such as Facebook Marketplace, which you can affix to a bare wall in your living room. Fill it with wood, fairy lights or candles to bring it to life. It’s the perfect spot to hang your Christmas stockings, add more decorations and gather around.
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Make a bauble feature
If you live in a small home and don’t have a lot of space for elaborate decorations but still want to create impact, then have a go at this striking craft idea. Here, a branch has been used but you could use any stick or pole – a sturdy cardboard tube from finished wrapping paper would work well. String as many baubles as possible onto the pole at varying lengths, then hang up on the wall; above the sofa would look great!
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Start from scratch with wooden ornaments
Customise unfinished wooden ornaments with stencils, paint and glitter. These plain decorations are available from most craft stores and come in a number of shapes and sizes. If you don’t want off-the-shelf decorations these are a thrifty way to achieve a unique look in your home.
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Repurpose leftover Christmas decorations
Who says baubles should only be hung on trees? Give your coffee table, shelves and mantel a festive makeover this Christmas by filling up flower vases and bowls with leftover baubles. Opt for different sizes and shapes or stick to one style of bauble for a more coordinated look.
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Arrange a pine cone display
Gather pine cones on a forest walk and use them as a pretty table display. Spritz with cinnamon and pine room spray or position in a bow with potpourri. Tie them with twine and you could hang them on the tree or just leave in a bowl – it’s free and wonderfully festive for the season.
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Make long paper chains
You can buy paper chain kits with ready-cut lengths of paper, or go old-school and start from scratch and make your own. Simply trim equal lengths from coloured paper or Christmas wrap. You could even use up old magazines or newspaper. Then, with a glue stick, assemble them into a long chain. Make it any length you like and then drape around your home.
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Decorate a ladder
If you don’t have a tree then bring in an old wooden ladder that you can lean against the wall and decorate with baubles, garlands and fairy lights. You could paint it white, but if you leave it bare it’ll give your room a rustic Scandinavian feel.
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Knit mini tree jumpers
Get those needles tapping and work up a pair of cute Christmas jumpers. Miniature in size, these will look sweet hanging from the tree or dotted about your home. Make them in traditional colours or go for bright neon wools for something more modern. These also make a lovely gift for a loved one.
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Try new wrapping styles
You don’t need to splash out on expensive luxury wrapping paper, just go and buy yourself a roll of brown packing paper from an office supplies shop. Next is the fun part. Decorate the brown paper any which way you please, with ribbons, natural foliage, paper tags, stamps, calligraphy and stickers.
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Make your own wreath
Create a warm welcome by hanging a wreath on your door. Have a go at making your own from natural foliage, snipped from the garden. Take a piece of soaked flower oasis and push sprigs of holly, fir and eucalyptus into it. Get creative by customising your wreath further with lace, mini baubles, silver stars and winter berries. Don’t stop there, get to work on a DIY garland, as well!
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Draw your own greeting cards
Design your own greetings cards using colouring pens. Using a pencil, lightly sketch a design onto the front of a blank card and then go over the top with coloured pens. It’s much more thoughtful than buying shop-bought packs and you can make them personal.
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Create a Scandi forest
Make and decorate modern Scandi trees like Hester of hestershandmadehome.com has done with balsa wood or thin plywood and craft paint. Cut out and slot together triangle shapes and then decorate each however you wish. Group different sizes together in amongst LED fairy lights and foliage to create a minimalist Nordic forest display. Check out the full tutorial here.
