Christmas decor

I absolutely love decorating for Christmas. I start early, and I don't stop making things and putting things up and arranging things until Christmas day! I have a weakness of wanting to spend more on Christmas decor than I do on the necessities, so every year, when we make our Christmas budget, part of my allotment is put toward allowing me to buy some new things. Needless to say, I'm TERRIBLE at sticking to that. I do try to shop frugally or make a lot of my own things though, and so far I'm really happy with how our place is looking!

My "mantel"... I'm liking lots of red accents this year.

I like to decorate by putting things in jars- peppermint candies and a random assortment of craft bells I've collected over the years...super cheap and simple!!
I love my little reindeer I painted last year- it started off as a cardboard type do-it-yourself craft from Hobby Lobby (I miss that store!!!). For just a couple dollars, he's one of my favorite decorations to put on display.

This is my favorite ornament on my tree. It's a Jim Shore ornament I picked up a few years back. It makes me happy :)

I love nice nativity scenes- not too fond of the cheap/affordable, porcelain painted ones. I always like the sets that seem to run in the price range of $60+ (yikes). It's the one Christmas decoration I really want a really nice one of, but why oh why do the nice ones have to cost so much?? This year I found this cute little "holy family" set for $6!!! Joseph stands about 8 inches tall and the details are really quite nice. And at that price, it's just perfect for now!

I usually HATE the stuff, but this year I was craving some GLITTER and SPARKLE! A couple years ago, I picked up a HUGE jar of Martha Stewart fine crafting glitter in "antique silver" for $2 (I know this b/c the price tag is still on it!). This stuff usually retails for over $10 a bottle. I'd never used it, because I usually don't like glitter. I bought it because it was a good buy, and I'm so glad I did. People, if you want to try glitter, but hate the cheap, grade school type stuff, this is fabulous. It is cut so finely, I think it's more like a "dust". And even better, it cleans up soooo easy! Not once have I found random glitter bits hanging around, and I promise you, I am NOT a clean crafter. I also love this color because it's sort of silver, sort of gold. So of course, I've been glittering everything I can get my hands on lately!

I saw some cute glittered votive candle holders at Michael's for $6 a piece. I went to the next aisle over and found some plain glass votive holders for 2/$1. Brush some mod-podge on them, sprinkle with glitter, and there you have it. The same thing for way less!

I bought this ceramic bird at a cute little home decor store. It was rather vintage/chic and not really my style. But it was only $1.50, so I brought it home and glittered it!

How's this for frugal glittering... I mod-podged these letters with scrap book paper a year or two ago. I decided this year I didn't really like them and thought about putting new paper on. Then I realized another layer of mod-podge and glitter was much easier! I'm all about the quick and fast outcome crafts! (seriously- I attempted a slow craft a few weeks ago and it has been put away for next year!)

I've also glittered some pine-cones from outside, cinnamon sticks, and the base of some red candles that were just missing something.
*I've been asked a few times how I glitter so much without having the glitter rub off the final project. I'm sure you could use some sort of expensive crafting spray adhesive, but I just do a fine mist of the hairspray from my bathroom. It holds it on like a charm!

So there you have it. A few of my inexpensive decor ideas... At least a few to make it more shiney and bright!