Our Top Picks for 2020 Holiday Decorating that Won't Break the Bank!

It's two days from Thanksgiving, and while my mind is on safely gathering with a small number of family members, I have been hard at work over the past few weeks to make my home dazzling for the holidays. It's my family's first holiday season in our new home, and to say I've been excited to decorate it for the first time would the understatement of the year! For weeks, I have been dreaming of decorating for the holidays, and now that the time is finally here, I am smiling from ear to ear!

I have looked all over the place for the best deals on decorations that I could find. Since we redecorated and purchased some new furniture over the past two years, we have had to switch all of our deep green, burgundy, and gold Christmas decor to white, silver, and blue. I never realized what an undertaking that would be! With a larger home came more space to decorate, so I had a few other ideas up my belle sleeves for this joyous holiday season.

I love sharing my finds, so that I might inspire others. I love good deals so much that I simply must share them! When I decorate, I always do it on a budget, so I find that whatever I have come up with is pretty affordable.

Start with the mantle

Choosing a focal point was so easy for me. I knew that our fireplace mantle would be the focal point of our themed holiday decor. Since our mantle and fireplace are white, I could have done just about anything, but with so many gray and blue accents in the room, I felt it was best to stick with accenting colors.

On the hearth, I used sparkling cone trees, which I found at Hobby Lobby (all Christmas decor at Hobby Lobby is 50% off). I also found this lovely lantern with a battery operated candle in it at Home Goods for under $25.00.

The mantle is adorned with Christmas garland ($4.00) from Michael's. I laid over that a eucalyptus garland with battery operated string lights (Hobby Lobby). The poinsettia picks (white and navy) came from Hobby Lobby, and the larger one in the middle, I found at Kirkland's for $7.99, though it was 25% off the day I purchased it. The wooden ornaments came from Hobby Lobby, and on sale, were $2.00/each. Additional picks and sprays came from Hobby Lobby, all 50% off.

I couldn't find a wreath that I likes (or was willing to pay $65.00 for), so I made my own from materials I found at Michael's and one of my extra wooden ornaments. The wreath was $4.00, and the ribbon spools were $2.50/each. The blue sparkling cone trees were purchased last year at Big Lots for $6.00/each.

Don't Forget the Shelves

Decorating shelves can be tricky, especially when you have a lot of items that don't go together! I find that placing like items of various heights and shapes work well together. All of the items shown above were tiny purchases from Big Lots and Target (Dollar Spot section).

Trees and more!

It's been a dream of mine since I got married, to have multiple Christmas trees in my home. This year, we have three trees. Two of them are slim trees, and the other is a full size tree. One of our slim trees is in our family room, and is decorated with an inexpensive set of coordinating colored blue, white, and silver ornaments. This was purchased at Hobby Lobby in 2019. The garland strung around the tree was purchased at Big Lots in 2019, $6.00 per strand. There are three strands on this tree. We also added in Chrismon ornaments, which are handmade by very special women from our church and passed out to the children every year. The idea is that each child will have their own complete set by the time they graduate from high school. The tree is topped with a clear snowflake topper which I purchased in 2019 at Kirkland's for $14.99.

Dining room

I knew I would have fun decorating our large dining room this year. I'm sure I could do more, but staying within a smaller budget, I did what I thought would work best. I purchased a new slim pre-lit tree from Michael's for $49.99. I wanted this tree to be decorated in a buffalo plaid theme, so I did wind up purchasing new ornaments, a tree skirt, topper, and mesh, all at Hobby Lobby, all 50% off. Other items were purchased at Michael's (wreaths for $4.00), Kirkland's (Bows for $7.99), Home Goods (Table Runner for $14.99), and table trees (Hobby Lobby).

Another spot in our dining room blends buffalo plaid with some of our older decor pieces, and stockings made by my mother-in-law. The only new piece here is the wooden Christmas trees sign, I purchased at Hobby Lobby for $7.00 (sale price).

The family tree

Perhaps the sweetest part of decorating, is putting up the family tree. While there's nothing fancy about the tree, it hold all of our special ornaments which have been given to us, purchased, or made by family members through the years. Our family's pewter creche sits underneath, and eventually, the tree will be filled in with one more string of lights (we ran out!), and craft ribbon in navy and white.

We have a few other spots to decorate inside- I can't wait to show you my finished staircase, and then also the outside decor when we finish getting it all up!

Taking small breaks to work on my decor off and on throughout the day has been a great way to enjoy a happy break! Everyone is smiling more now that the decor is up, so it's already doing its job by bringing us a lot of joy.

Have you decorated for the holidays yet?

Where are your favorite spots to find holiday decor?

Happy decorating and happy holidays!