Christmas Decorating Dave Ramsey Style ... Day 1.

I lurve decorating for Christmas.
I like to say that I love decorating for Christmas because I want the kids to think that they're living in a Winter Wonderland... but honestly - I want to think that I live in a Winter Wonderland!

I am a collector of all things Merry and Bright and hope to fill every room of our house with Christmas Trees one day.  But, this is not that year.

This is our Christmas Decorating Dave Ramsey Style (aka on a budget).  And yet, even on a budget I think that there are loads of ways that you can bring a fun festive atmosphere into your home.

My very first rule is always, always, always shop at home.  

What types of things do you have on hand that are already available to you?  Some simple transformation can almost always be turned into something Christmasy!

 Here's an example.  I have a few pewter and silver items around the house.  I think the gray silver tones  bring in a classic and elegant element to Christmas decor.

I added a few sprigs off of a pine wreath to the cup after they fell off.  I hadn't intended on keeping them in the cup, just needed a place to put them until I had a chance to throw them away.  I ended up taking a second look at them, next to the pewter bowl of ornaments and thought it looked pretty good!

The ornaments in the pewter bowl cost me $.50 at a garage sale this fall.  I ALWAYS pick up ornaments at garage sales. 

There is always something that I can add Christmas ornaments to that make an easy, cheap Christmas arrangement!  Here again I have my silver platters stacked on top of one another with a vase filled with red and silver ornaments.  Simple to put together and the look is really great.

The cloth that it's sitting on is really a basket liner, but helps add to the Christmas rustic charm that is carried throughout the house.

I added the star on top of the other ornaments to add to a little extra interest.  All round balls get a little uninteresting to me after awhile.

This pitcher with pussy willow lights is a staple in our TV room.  It's always here with twigs and I love the way it looks year around.

At Christmas time I add the red ribbon (which I bought a whole roll of for only $.90) and then if you look carefully you can see some greenery and pine cones.

I bought the greenery and pine cones for less than a dollar at a garage sale a few years ago.  I believe they were pieces of an old artificial Christmas tree that had lost several parts.

As a side note I used this same pitcher with lights and twigs at Halloween/Thanksgiving time and by adding a few artificial fall leaves it made a great fall decoration as well.

Here's another way to add simple Christmas/Winter touches.  This tray is another item that I use year around, but at Christmas time I fill it up with pine cones that the Turkeys and I have collected.  The pine filler is more the Christmas Tree Chop Shop leftovers!  I love this decoration because it's not overtly "Christmas" so it can hang around throughout the winter months!

This is more of my $.90 ribbon put to use!

 I love these candle chandeliers that we have in our dining room.  They already have a Christmasy feel to them.  All I did to create this look was to wrap the base in a garland by weaving it between the candles.  In years past I've hung snowflake ornaments (that we made for our winter wedding) but since they hang down over the table I found myself banging into them all the time and having to rip sections of my hair out.

The ribbon makes a beautiful, simple statement without causing balding. ;)

My next tip is to make your own if at all possible!

Every year I buy the kids a new Christmas decoration.  My hope is that when they leave our house that they will have a box of decorations over the years and will have fond memories of each one.

Since we have five Turkey's to buy decorations for each year this starts to add up.  Even if you find a great decoration at $5, once you've bought 5 and paid for tax you're looking at around $27 big ones!

This year I started a new tradition... called make our own!

I used a salt dough recipe to make these "letter" ornaments.  After mixing up the dough I rolled out "snakes" to make the letters.  Each Turkey received the letter of their first name as their ornament.  I know real original, huh?

After making the letters and baking them... and then remaking another one for Bean... after Lumpy had repeatedly been told not to touch them ... I decided to do something that is unheard of with me.

I let the Turkey's paint their own.

Let the twitching begin.

Then I decided NOT to retouch them no matter what!  I started to when our youngest was working on his "J".  But, then with all the will power that I had I stopped.  You can see the places that he "missed" and I hope that will add to the childlike charm that Christmas brings.  ;)

I have a few more tips, but so as to not overwhelm you (and because my pinched nerve in my back is telling me it's time to quit typing).  Check back tomorrow for some more tips!

And while you're waiting why don't you share any ideas that you have to decorate on a Dave Ramsey approved budget??