The holidays are one of the busiest times of the year. Since your time is filled with prepping your home for guests, planning grand meals, and shopping for presents, no one can blame you if your schedule is too packed to devote a day to decorating. If you don’t have time to string lights on your house or decorate a tree, try a few of these ideas to give your home some holiday cheer, without a lot of effort.
Poinsettias can add a pop of color to any room. Pick up a few of them next time you’re out to brighten up your entryway or line your staircase.- This time of year you can find tons of inexpensive festive candles. Pick up a few different colors, sizes, and patterns to place in a foyer or on a table for some instant cheer. Just be aware of what's in the candles you buy.
- Take a few large vases and fill them with items of the season such as pine cones, ornaments or holly berries (fake of course!) These make great center pieces for your holiday meals.
- If you don’t want to hassle of a real tree, fake trees can be a great alternative. Many of them already come decorated!
- Since guests usually end up sitting around the fireplace before bedtime, make it a focal point by hanging a holiday wreath or garland above it.
- If you’re struggling with what to do with Christmas cards you are sent, try displaying them in a festive way. Pick up a holiday memory board you can easily slip them into and hang it somewhere everyone can enjoy.
- You can still make your home smells like Christmas even if you decide not to do a real tree with some festive potpourri. Strategically place it around your home to add aroma and color to any space.
Perfectly at home in a modern apartment or an Adirondack-style log cabin, pine cones lend a touch of the forest to any decor. Go for real cones or even pine cone candles to decorate a table or mantle. For an inexpensive wintry centerpiece, fill glass vases and large compotes of different heights with pine cones. Spray-paint them gold and silver for extra sparkle, or leave them as nature intended.- Don't have a fireplace? How about a roaring fire that isn’t a huge bother to get started. Simply slip a DVD into your laptop or use an online streaming video of virtual crackling yule logs on an end table. Some even come with holiday music!
- It's not all about the tree and the mantel―consider window ledges and empty bookshelves, too. Place pine boughs in a large vase and hang a handful of ornaments on them. Fill mason jars with nuts, winter berries, or red peppercorns and nestle a tealight on top. Or go for a seashore motif, assembling an array of starfish and shells sitting amongst silver or white painted driftwood or twigs.
