A DIY Christmas At Our Humble Abode

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We'll begin the tour from where I'm sitting relaxing by the fire.

Small Upcycled Wooden Christmas Sleigh

I found the wooden sleigh at Goodwill for $15 and it was U.G.L.Y. First I had to eject a dusty Santa and his sack of toys from the sleigh. Then all I did was lightly sand the glossy finish with 150-grit sandpaper.

Next, I painted the sleigh a festive red and stenciled the top with part of this Christmas Blend Hot Cocoa stencil. To give the sleigh an aged patina, I applied a dark antiquing wax and removed the excess with a lint-free rag.

An easy peasy little holiday sleigh makeover that cost next to nothing and took an hour at most of my time.

Vintage Skating Couple Stenciled Pillows

The Skating Silhouette Pillows pictured above was also a DIY holiday decor project. I made them during a sleepless night after consuming one too many coffees earlier in the day with a good friend. That's how easy they were to make!

Sentimental Christmas Village Mantlescape

Every year I set up our Dicken's Christmas Village and this year I displayed it on our fireplace mantel for the first time. The trend these days is to update these miniatures with paint but most of my buildings and figurines are inherited and have such sentimental value that they remain untouched by a brush.


If you love these nostalgic miniatures like I do, I've included a link to my narrated Old Fashioned Christmas Mantelscape Video Tour.

Decoupage Music Sheet Christmas Church Birdhouse

On the bookcase flanking the fireplace mantel, I've displayed the adorable wooden church birdhouse that I made. I found the birdhouse at the dollar store and used Mod Podge to decoupage it with sheet music paper. To add a festive touch I brushed Snow Tex on the roof and around the base.

I found the caroler figurine at the dollar store as well and hot glued it inside the doorway. The miniature tree beside it has sentimental value too because it was made by our kids many years ago during our annual sleigh ride at the historical Fort Edmonton Park.

DIY Holiday Glass Cloches

On another shelf, I filled one of the DIY Glass Cloches that I made with gold-glittered Christmas ornaments for a little sparkle. The cloches were so easy to make with glass domes and furniture knobs!

The small wooden sleigh pictured beside it is another Goodwill find that I quickly updated with red paint. I found the wooden blocks at the dollar store and gave them a quick festive makeover with holiday red, metallic gold, and white acrylic craft paint.

Easy DIY Chenille Christmas Pillow Covers

Pictured on the Upcycled Second Hand Parisian Armchairs that we reupholstered are festive DIY pillow covers that I made with leftover chenille fabric from handmade stiletto stockings I made for gifts one year. I have a tutorial on how to make envelope-style pillow covers and I simply hot-glued some white pompoms in the shape of a Christmas tree on the front. So cute, right?

Eclectic Sentimental Christmas Tree

It's far from designer and has no theme, color scheme, or matching ornaments but our  eclectic Christmas tree is covered with vintage, homemade, or gifted ornaments that have so much sentimental value.

Mercury Glass Holiday Ornament Chandelier

Let's move into the dining room where I've hung mercury and milk glass ornaments from the chandelier with red and white ribbon. While not homemade, I thought I'd include them for inspiration on where to hang ornaments other than the family Christmas tree. 

The mirror on the wall behind it is a DIY Antiqued Mirror that I made with an inexpensive full-length mirror from Walmart.

DIY Chalkboard Wall Decorated For The Holidays

Now we moved to the kitchen where I had some fun decorating our DIY chalkboard wall for the holiday season.

I'm no chalkboard artist so I cheated by using parts of these Homestead Blend Coffee and Christmas Blend Hot Cocoa stencils. I think I found the idea for the hanging mini ornament Christmas countdown on Pinterest.

Gallery Wall Festive Decorating

I added a festive touch to our hallway gallery wall with handmade ornaments gifted to me over the years. The wreath on the mirror came from my friend in Germany and the felt banner by a friend from the UK.

DIY Stockings Hung On A Banister

As you head down the stairs to our front entry, I decorated our banister with lighted evergreen garland and hung the handmade hockey skate and stiletto stockings that I made for gifts. The hockey skate stockings have been very popular with my readers who like to sew.

Inexpensive Thrift Store Christmas Wreath

On the mirror in our entry, I hung a thrift store wreath that I upcycled with a collection of holiday picks and ornaments that I found second-hand, on clearance, or at the dollar store. Christmas wreaths can be pricey so this is an inexpensive idea for making your own at half the cost.

DIY Scrap Wood Holiday Lanterns

Just outside our front door are the large DIY holiday lanterns that we made inexpensively with scraps to welcome guests during the holiday season.


Well, that is the end of the DIY holiday decorating tour of our humble abode. I hope you found some inspiration here for simple and inexpensive ideas to decorate for the holidays on a budget.