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Decorating the Tree on a Budget

by Amelia on December 10, 2009
category: Finances,Fun time & Toys

DSC_0054 When we moved to England 3 months ago we left our Christmas decorations behind.  We are only planning on being here for 4 years and we live in a small flat with little storage.  We only brought the necessities and Christmas decorations didn’t make the cut.  As Christmas was approaching the kids started talking about getting a Christmas tree and hanging up stockings.  My husband is in graduate school and we are living on a pretty tight budget. I didn’t want to spend very much money on buying a tree, ornaments, stockings, lights etc.  We wanted to keep with tradition and make Christmas in England feel like “home” but spend as little as possible.

I asked my mom if she could find the storage box and send our stockings to us from the US.  She didn’t want to mess with digging through our Christmas boxes so she generoulsy ordered some stockings online for the kids and sent them to us.  We bought the cheapest reusable Christmas at a store (costing $11!) so we can use it for the next 4 years, one strand of twinkle lights, and 2 boxes of candy canes.  Everything else we had at home.

Here is what we have on our tree:

  • Paper chains
  • Homemade salt dough ornaments painted by the kids
  • Candy Canes
  • Sparkley red ribbon left behind from the previous flat-renters
  • Twinkle lights
  • Stringed popcorn (still in the process)

DSC_0053 I like it when my tree looks pretty with full lights and is decorated with my pretty ornaments. But I gotta tell you, our kids LOVE their home decorated tree! They are so proud that everything on it is something they helped make or find in our flat to decorate it with. Our tree has lights on the top half and has ornaments unevenly distributed everywhere.  The paper chains are not cut evenly either.  But it has lots of flair and personality and it brings a smile to my face when I look at it.  We all worked hard to put our tree together and I love that they love it.

We spent very little money–especially since we can reuse everything except the popcorn and maybe the candy canes.  I have found that I don’t need fancy decorations for Christmas to feel like Christmas.  Spending time with my family and remembering why we celebrate Christmas in the first place has been a great reminder for me this year.

What fun things to you put on your tree?  Favorite homemade decorations?  Best Christmas budget ideas?

9 Responses to Decorating the Tree on a Budget

  • Gravatar
    Comment by Trina
    December 10, 2009 @ 8:27 am

    I love it!! Plus these are the years your children will remember the most of the family Christmas tree. It is wonderful idea. We just found out we are moving out of state on the 30th so we are not wanting to spend money on a tree and doing very little decorations. These were some great idea’s I am going to try with my almost 3 year old.

  • Gravatar
    Comment by Jennie
    December 10, 2009 @ 9:13 am

    How cute!

  • Gravatar
    Comment by Breanna
    December 10, 2009 @ 11:00 am

    That is great! I love that everything is so personal and hands on, and THIS is absolutely what your kids will remember. We’ve done a lot of the paper chains this year and I love that they’re so cheap and that my kids LOVE making them!

  • Comment by Amanda
    December 10, 2009 @ 11:35 am

    This is great Amelia! We opted to not have a tree this year, because my 9 month old eats EVERYTHING on the ground and is pulling up on everything. I really didn’t want the stress of vacuuming and watching my baby that closely this year. I may still get a small Rosemary tree to put on the fireplace mantle. I think I will let my 2 year old decorate that one! :)

  • Gravatar
    Comment by Amy
    December 10, 2009 @ 4:26 pm

    We were looking to change it up this year. Not because of budget, but because we knew we wouldn’t be able to keep our 18-month-old out of our nice decorations. Thanks for all the suggestions…

  • Gravatar
    Comment by Cassandra's Mom
    December 11, 2009 @ 4:57 pm

    These look like great ideas.

    I found this great Santa’s Workshop that I kept on while we were decorating the tree ~ because my son has ADD and I need to provide constant stimulation for him. It’s a great site!

    Happy Holidays!

    http://k103.com/pages/xmas/webcam.php

  • Gravatar
    Comment by Meghan
    December 12, 2009 @ 9:31 pm

    I’ve bought a couple packs of ornament kits from Oriental Trading Company. You can buy two packs of kits for less than $10 and have hours of craft time fun with the kids and end up with 50 foam or wood ornaments. Enough to decorate the tree AND give as gifts…

  • Gravatar
    Comment by Janet
    December 13, 2009 @ 7:41 pm

    I love the tree and so I can just hear the kids decorating the tree and showing it off to whoever comes in! Love it…may be the best tree ever!!!

  • Comment by Sharon M
    December 14, 2009 @ 2:05 am

    I remember making ornaments growing up; we never had the fancy, decorated-for-a-department-store look in our house. It was always a bit hodge-podge, but I loved it! I plan on doing something similar this year with my kids.

    I like the Cinnamon Dough Ornaments. They smell so good and the smell lasts for a few years!

    For older kids, the Makit Bakit kits are so cool (either the painting or baking kind, although the baking kind is better IMHO)! You can usually pick them up at craft stores, although I bet many of them are sold out by now. Some of the ornaments on my parent’s tree are from those kits that we did like 20 years ago.

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