Christmas Ideas
14 Quick Tips for Christmas Decorating & Entertaining
The season of joy can also become a season of stress if we’re not careful to pace ourselves and look for easier ways of doing things. To that end, here are 14 quick tips for Christmas decorating & entertaining.
Buy a cheap ceramic soap dispenser at the Dollar Tree. Round would work as well as this squared one. Measure, cut and wrap a piece of Christmas window cling around it to create an instant holiday soap dispenser. You can seal it with waterproof Mod Podge, but I did this last Christmas and found that the window cling stayed on all season without using Mod Podge.
After Christmas, I just removed the decoration and continued using the plain soap dispenser.
Because these polyresin ornaments are free-standing, these little birds can be used as place card holders on your holiday table. All I did was print out all the names of family members I expect at my table on a plain sheet of printer paper, picking a font and colour I liked. Leave a couple of spaces between each name.
Next, I cut out each name in the shape of an envelope. Use a small square of two-sided tape to attach the “envelope” to the bird, making sure the “flap” of the envelope looks like it’s being held in the bird’s beak. So cute and family can take home a keepsake ornament!
Here’s an idea for place card holders that use decorations you may already have on hand. This snowman’s “hands” make the perfect place to insert a name card. Plain cards can be embellished with a bright Christmas sticker.
Ornaments with flat bottoms and that have a bit of weight to them work best, but don’t limit yourself; try other types of ornaments as well, until you find something that works for you. Place names can always be glued to an ornament’s surface. You could let your guests take them home as keepsakes, too.
An easy way to dress up a plain dollar store Christmas sign is to add embellishments to it like this gold pick. In this way you add more colour and dimension to a flat sign.
Leaving a battery pack hanging may result in the wires pulling out of it, making your lights unusable. If you’re using battery-powered lights on your windows and wonder what to do with the battery pack, try using two 3M Command Velcro strips (the kind used to hold pictures on the wall) to secure the battery pack to the inside of the window frame. After hanging the lights, place the first strip on the back of the battery pack, push the second Velcro strip onto the first one, peel the paper off the second strip and attach it to the window frame.
There are enough Velcro strips in a package for the four corners of a picture frame, so you could potentially hang four battery packs with the same package of Velcro strips.
Use cardboard gift-card holders from the dollar store to make inexpensive party favours for your Christmas guests. Filled with treats or a small gift, they’re like Christmas crackers, but without the snap!
Often, cupcake liners from the dollar store come with decorations to stick in the top of the finished cupcakes. Instead, you can put them in a shot glass to use as appetizer picks. Besides being useful, they’ll help to dress up your buffet table this holiday season.
Use cellophane treat bags as you would basket wrap for small gifts like this mug filled with candy treats. This would make a good party favour, too. Instead of tying the ribbon, I used a mini clothespin decoration to hold it on.
BONUS TIP – Dollar store ornaments often come in packages wrapped with ribbon. Save that ribbon to use for small projects like this.
If you’re using battery-powered lights in your decorating this year, you can make the battery box less conspicuous by wrapping it in a bit of Christmas paper, leaving the end with the switch open, of course.
Traditional mistletoe seems to have been ousted by the “why-beat-around-the-bush” kissing ball. I’ve seen these made entirely of glued together pinecones. My version is easier.
Just fill a large plastic ornament with mini pinecones, sprinkle in some Christmas confetti for a little sparkle and use a colorful ribbon for a hanger. I also added some pine pieces to the top.
A single pretty Christmas pick takes on new beauty when highlighted under glass. See more ideas for using your vases like this: Christmas Under Glass
An easy decorating idea is to hang mini stockings on a wire garland strung along a wall. By adding stick-on numbers to the stockings, you could easily turn a garland into an advent calendar. I found a variety of mini stockings at Dollar Tree in packages of two.
It’s easy to dress up a plain candle for Christmas. Just add a seasonal lapel pin.
Easily update a plain dollar store Christmas stocking with a few simple supplies. For this stocking, I glued a row of 2 ½ inch wooden shapes down the middle of the stocking. A row of smaller wooden shapes, evenly spaced, also looks great. The kids will like this one.
See 4 Ideas for Decorating Plain Christmas Stockings, for more ideas.
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