Fact: Christmas is the best.
Other fact: It can also be insanely expensive. By the time you've decked the halls and made your way through the naughty or nice list, chances are you've spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $6 million*.
*ish.
We decided to hit up a local dollar store (where, naturally, most things cost more than a dollar) in order to decorate a co-worker's apartment for less than the cost of a moderately wild bar tab.
We also bought and decorated gifts intended for four people: two parents, a teenager, and a young child. Clearly you can mix and match these ideas as befits your family/friend group/Secret Santa/Illuminati gift swap.
We also bought and decorated gifts intended for four people: two parents, a teenager, and a young child. Clearly you can mix and match these ideas as befits your family/friend group/Secret Santa/Illuminati gift swap.
We also bought and decorated gifts intended for four people: two parents, a teenager, and a young child. Clearly you can mix and match these ideas as befits your family/friend group/Secret Santa/Illuminati gift swap.
Here's everything we got for $100:
The crowning glory of our mantel was this gigantic bow.
Use tape to block off geometric patterns on inexpensive jar candles, then paint them.
Ta da!
To make this pillar candle special, we used tiny letter stamps and gold paint.
The only stockings we could find were a little tacky and didn't fit with our color scheme (aka GLITTER EVERYWHERE), so we gave them a makeunder.
After turning each stocking inside-out, we trimmed along the edges to even them up. Then, we cut out trim from this funky textured placemat and glued that to the top. Lastly, we traced and attached felt letters to make each stocking a little more personal.
After turning each stocking inside-out, we trimmed along the edges to even them up. Then, we cut out trim from this funky textured placemat and glued that to the top. Lastly, we traced and attached felt letters to make each stocking a little more personal.
After turning each stocking inside-out, we trimmed along the edges to even them up. Then, we cut out trim from this funky textured placemat and glued that to the top. Lastly, we traced and attached felt letters to make each stocking a little more personal.
Pro Tip: Fishing line is the perfect way to hang stockings without having to drill any holes.
Just wrap the line around the mantle (we did it twice for extra strength) and tie it tightly on the end.
We used fishing line to secure a glittery gold ornament to the top of the tree.
Draping individual pieces of tinsel on the branches gave our tree some subtle sparkle.
For the tree skirt, we cut a gold placemat in a straight line to the center and wrapped it around the base.
This was the fun and slightly up-to-chance part; we found a lot of fun, inexpensive gifts at the dollar store, but also found some simple items that we punched up with easy DIYs.
Sticking the gifts in the stockings meant that we didn't have to fuss with wrapping paper.
