Your Very First Tree
December 13, 2008 by SP Bragg
Filed under Christmas Decorating Ideas
I was chatting with a few friends about this dilemma… it’s the couple’s very first Christmas, and there is very little money available for a Christmas tree. She wanted to know how one could decorate on a very limited budget. I remember how Mom and Dad decorated our tree when we were kids, but I want to hear from you guys. How would you decorate?? And don’t stop at the tree… if you have ideas for decorating anywhere in the house, leave a comment. We can all use a few new ideas.
And does anyone do the ceiling decorations anymore?? My Mom always decorated our living room with tinsel and crepe paper… and then people seemed to stop doing it??
Christmas themed scrapbook paper cut into strips and then made into paper chains would be cheap. Paper decorations of any kind would be easy and inexpensive. String popcorn. Collect pinecones, spray paint them and/or glitter them and hang them on the tree with a bit of wire. Oak leaves or laurel leaves glued onto small circles can make small wreathes to hang on the tree. They need to look around at what materials are plentiful. Bowls of fruit always look nice and are not wasted if eaten. Use what you have and hit the stores for the sales after Christmas for next year. ALWAYS remember each year you will add a little something new, so don’t buy everything the first year. The fun after the years go by is to remember as you put up each part. I still have some of the glittered pinecones my son and I made for the tree the year Dad lost his job and there was very little to spend.
1) I would put an ad on Craigslist and Freecycle stating that you need Christmas ornaments.
2) I would also tell family members the situation. I know each year there are some ornaments that I’m ready to part with. I certainly wouldn’t mind passing on a few to someone that needed them.
3) I would also try some of the preChristmas sales. Some stores already have their decorations marked 50% off.
4) Dollar Tree sometimes has some nice ornaments. It depends on what day you go in there. One year I bought all of my red beaded wood garland in there. Another year I found Hallmark ornaments.
5) I would also ask for decorations for Christmas gifts. When I know someone that just got married or just had a baby, I try to give them a first Christmas ornament. When my husband’s friend got married, I gave them a big box of Christmas decorations for their wedding gift. It’s hard to start out with nothing.
When we were kids we each had our own box of decorations to put up each year. When I got married I took my decorations with me. I had ‘enough’ for the tree. Plus my mother tends to buy ornaments each year for people (we got a first Christmas together, and a first Christmas in the new house ornaments last year for Christmas).This is our second Christmas as a couple and I still haven’t needed to buy ornaments.
For our first Christmas together (exactly 30 years ago!) we splurged to have a tree, then decorated it with candy candes and yard bows and strings of popcorn. We’d also received one ornament as a wedding gift, and we still have it to hang on our tree every year with fond memories of that first Christmas tree! I’ve also made my father small trees decorated with gingerbread men (that don’t usually survive until Christmas day).