Cheap and Easy Ways to DIY Your Home for the Holidays

This trick is ultra simple, ultra inexpensive. Head to your local craft store and buy a bag of tea lights and cranberries. A couple of glass decorative trays are also a good idea to pick up. Otherwise, a dinner plate or serving tray will do. Spread out the berries on your tray, nestle in tea lights and light up for a cozy night in.

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This is a classic decorative strategy that dates back to the olden days. Actually, we don't know how far back it goes, but whoever came up with such a simple idea was brilliant. Fill clear glass vases, serving platters, and any manner of bowls you choose with plain ball ornaments in favorite colors. Voila!, instant holiday style. These are perfect to place on an entryway table to spread cheer to arriving guests.

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These days, decorating with an eye toward bringing the beauty of the outdoors in is tres chic. Cheap lights and tacky tinsel garlands belong to your parents' era. Buy some real poinsettia flowers, snip off the big open buds, leaving a couple of inches of stem. Place water and stem in plastic floral water tubes and nestle the flowers in amongst branches of your tree. The floral tubes will keep the flowers fresher longer.

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Here's another natural idea. If you live in an area that gives you access to pine cones and pine branches in their natural habitat, take a brisk hike with a basket and pair of garden shears. Gather up these outdoor gems and fill vases with them. They'll not only call to mind the holidays in a subtle, non-denominational way, they'll bring in a fresh woodsy smell that's simply lovely. City dweller? See if you can snip off a few of the bottom-most branches on a friend's Christmas tree.

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Want something that glitters, but not in a disco ball sort of way? Here's your answer: buy styrofoam balls in whatever sizes you like, paper clips, and brass tacks — the kind you use at the office. Unfold the paperclip, until you have a U-shaped piece of metal, snip it to make it shorter on each end. Place a length of the string in the "U" and push it down into the top of the ball all the way. Tie the string together and you have a means to hang your new ornament. To finish, push in those tacks so they completely cover the ball.

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All you need here is a stapler and a bag of wrapped hard candies. Staple the ends of the candy wrappers together. You'll end up with a string of attached candies that double as a garland for your tree, your mantle, bookcase, door frame, or wherever else you can think to hang it.

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Crocheted doilies abound at craft fairs, outdoor markets, and vintage shops. You might even know someone who has a few laying around they don't mind parting with. The more variety you can get, the better. Create a table runner by sewing the edges of the doilies together with a needle and white thread.

Image: Good Housekeeping