DIY Free and Cheap Christmas Decorations

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You made the big move, you decided to live in an RV. That means tiny living with tiny storage. Now here it is Christmas season and you don’t have that attic full of ornaments anymore. Maybe you had to sacrifice your Christmas stash, so winter clothes could fit or maybe you’re just getting started or starting over. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a beautiful holiday season.

Dollar Store Christmas

I know dollar stores these days have tons of Christmas décor and a lot of RV’ers go the one time and done ornament route. Buying cheap decorations at the dollar or second-hand store then trashing or donating them after Christmas. That’s not my style though.

How about another way

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If you’re even a little bit crafty, you can decorate beautifully with found and recycled items. Magazines, brochures or old books can take on a whole new life as great paper decorations. Like these easy and quick snowflakes.

Twigs, branches and pine cones lend themselves to super chic rustic style.

Maybe you’re a cook, salt dough ornaments are cheap and easy and, I mean, who doesn’t like decorating with gingerbread cookies?

I remember one Christmas when my mother was determined to have fresh cranberries strung and decorating our tree. She worked for hours with crimson stained hands making yards of garland. The tree looked beautiful. The cranberries not only smelled good but reflected the Christmas lights. But there was a flaw in her grand vision. You see, yards of fresh cranberries are terribly heavy. That tree fell over a least daily. Breaking the other ornaments and scaring the heck out of the dog. The poor cranberries lasted about a week before they were replaced with much lighter, but also quite fragrant, popcorn.

Are you inspired yet? Get out that glue gun and get to decorating

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Woven Paper Snowflake

• Paper-  How much depends on your desiredfinished size. 8 ½” inch strips make a snowflake about 8 ½” across.  Heavy paper or cardstock works best for larger snowflakes
• Scissors or a paper cutter
• Ruler-Won’t need this if you have a paper cutter
• Gluestick or glue gun
• Thread, string or ribbon to hang your snowflake

That’s it! You can make several smaller ones from a 12” x 12” piece of scrapbook paper but I like to use plain white or scraps for a unique look.

For a 6-inch snowflake, cut 12 strips of your paper 6” X ¾”

Find the center of each strip. I fold them in half but don’t crease too hard.

Place one strip down on your work surface, put a drop of glue in the center and glue a second on top in a + shape

Glue a strip on either side of the first, making sure to put them on top of the second strip. Remember you’re going for a woven pattern.

Weave two more pieces into those and tack with your glue

Fold the ends of adjacent strips together, overlapping like this.

Repeat for the other corners so that it looks like this.

Next, repeat these steps with the other strips, making two identical shapes.

To connect the sides, stack them by putting one down on the work surface and inverting the second so they fit together.

Now thread the remaining flat strips through the loops on the other side and glue them

Once the glue is dry, attach a thread, ribbon or string and hang. They look great on the tree, as a garland, or hanging in a window. Experiment with different lengths and widths of paper for some beautiful variations.

Enjoy!