Christmas Decor... On a dime!

Does anyone else feel as giddy about decorating for Christmas as I do?! I am already dreading taking everything down come January. Well, I have been on a mission... My cute husband handed me $20 and apologized that it would be all I had to spend on Christmas decorations this year.
We did get to buy a small Christmas tree on top of that. 

So... I took it as a challenge and you'll never believe how far $20 can go! 

Here is our cute LITTLE Christmas tree... Believe it or not it is my first REAL tree. We always had fake ones growing up in the desert because real trees would dry out to quickly. Our tree measures 3 ft. 10in tall. I put it up on my favorite crate so it doesn't look so small. I actually really love how it turned out and we honestly couldn't have fit a bigger tree in our little space anyway.

I decorated it using things I already had... old keys, postcards, burlap, and a few ornaments...

I made the star out of branches and wire... I was inspired by my bloggy friend, Melissa at Shabby Love. Check out her tutorial HERE to make your own too!

When we went to pick out our Christmas tree there was a bunch of scrap branches lying around.

 I asked the owner if I could take some and he was glad to get rid of them. 

Free decorations... Whoo hoo! 

I added a mini wreath with some fabric and pine banches and a little pine cone to these frames. I already had the frames hanging in the dining area... I spent $3 on the mini wreath. I added the free pine branches and.... voila! A $3 Christmas shelf motif. 

I have seen mason jar snow globes floating around the blog world... And I love them! I had to try some of my own. I bought a large jar at Michael's for $3.50 and used 2 smaller ones I already had. I used Styrofoam and Epsom salt for the snow and painted the (free) branches white on the edges. They turned out really cute... This project cost me $3.50 for the jar and $2.45 for the Epsom salt. 

Here are some pics of the rest of the house... Scented pine cones, more branches, mini Christmas trees from the Dollar store, and a chalkboard from a thrift store. A grand total of.... $18.67!!! 

I hope this will inspire others who are on a tight budget! I just had to get creative.... I do confess, I cried when we were picking out our tree... it looked so sad and small! But, we made it our own and hung our own memories and treasures on it... And, I had no idea what I was missing with a real tree...

 It smells SOOO GOOD! 

I feel blessed and I remember how God has been good to us this year despite huge changes and uncertainties.   I'm so glad Jesus was born to save me! Merry Christmas! Joy to the World! 

-- Kirstin Joy

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