Many houses are filled with Christmas decorations and winter or holiday items that fill the home with joy. What happens when kids move out and have to decorate their own residences? Here’s a little help on how to have festive decorations while on a budget.
Tip 1: Use family decorations
When going home, make sure to stock up on the Christmas decorations packed up in storage. Normally, there are plenty already and taking some wouldn’t hurt anyone. Ask for a string of Christmas lights to hang along the edge of the ceiling in your room. This will spice things up and add some ambiance to the room. If you don’t have the time to decorate yourself, you can call Naperville christmas light installation services by Ware.
CU students find it easy to get decorations from mom, or home .
“I live in an apartment,” said Caley Dunn, a 22-year old senior integrative physiology and math major “I have a mini tree and a few mini wreaths and a sweet Christmas choo-choo train candle holder and some fake holly. I got them all from home. My mom got them secondhand for me.”
Tip 2: Go to Goodwill and/or Target
Goodwill is an excellent place to find decorations for cheap. Sometimes there are miniature Christmas trees that are a good size for small rooms, like dorms. The stores usually have corny but cheap holiday decorations, including things to hang on door handles and Santa Claus paraphernalia for the walls. Most of the time, there are even earrings and jewelry with Christmas items on them.
Target is also a good store to visit for cheap prices on cute decorations.
“I bought my mini Christmas tree at Target and it was only $2.50, and it’s pink. I also bought Christmas lights and they were $2,” said Lupita Ortega, an 18-year-old freshman international affairs major.
Tip 3: Make use of simple things
Winter snowflakes can be made from paper, with just a bit of folding and some scissor cutting. No matter what the creativity level of the person might be, paper snowflakes cannot be messed up. They always end up looking like a snowflake and have unique patterns.
Make ornaments out of construction paper and markers. Ornaments need not be extravagant to be decorative and attractive. Homemade ornaments are often the best ones on the tree. Have friends write a little message on a piece of construction paper and make a Christmas shape with it, and hang it on the tree with a paper clip.
Homemade decorations are fun and easy to make. Some CU students decided to make decorations for their dorm room doors.
“All you need is felt, glue, and glitter. I made it when I went home over Thanksgiving break. It is a Christmas tree,” said Annie Frazier, a 17-year-old freshman psychology major.
Tip 4: Utilize wrapping paper and bows
While some may think that wrapping paper and colorful bows are just for presents, these items can also be used for decorating. In middle school, it was a trend to decorate lockers with wrapping paper on birthdays. Today, we can use this same concept, except on dorm room doors or apartment doors. Find some cute holiday wrapping paper and put it on the door. Add a couple bows for a Christmas present look.
“I thought [the wrapping paper] was cheap. I bought it at Target and it was only two bucks. A lot of people have said they liked it. On our white board we have a wish list for Santa. Oh, and I have a little mini stocking, and it was a dollar at Target,” said Ortega.
Tip 5: Use your Christmas cards
Most people don’t know what to do with all of the Christmas cards they receive during the holidays. Don’t just put them in a container! Use them as decorations around the house. Most of the time, there are good images of holiday things such as snowmen on the fronts of the cards.
According to hubpages.com, displaying the cards around the house and varying them in heights with books will make for a good decorating tactic. It also says to display them in a wooden bowl or basket.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Lynda Hutchinson at Lynda.hutchinson@colorado.edu.
