Wondering how to budget for Christmas decorating? I am going to show you how to use your thrifted finds in your Christmas decor.
If you have been following me for any time than you know I love to go thrifting. I believe you can find anything and everything you will need to make your home festive and ready for Christmas just from your local thrift store. This is a passion of mine because I know not everyone has the money especially this year to go all out for new Christmas decorations. You can create a warm and cozy home on a small budget while also decorating it for Christmas. Let me tell you a little bit of my back story on thrifting to show you what I mean.
My husband lost his job in October of 2019 and it took him a full YEAR to find another one thanks in part to the pandemic as well. During this year we had put ourselves on a super tight budget. I opened up a booth in my local antique shop literally a month later because I felt like this would be a good way to earn a little extra and it was something I loved. Well now I had to fill my booth and replenish what sold which led to thrifting. This opened my eyes to all the amazing things you could find at a thrift shop. Y’all I was the one that kept saying before that I could never find anything at the Goodwill. I am here to say now I have changed my mind but there are still days when you walk out empty handed.
Keys to Thrifting
The key is to go regularly and be open minded. Some items you find might not scream Christmas but if you think outside the box you may find it will work plus if it is a non Christmas specific item you can always use it year round! Dig around and look behind things don’t forget to look up and look down.
Don’t get too Specific
The thrift shop might not always have the exact thing you are looking for but they may have something similar so don’t limit yourself to being specific. I usually have a few ideas in mind when going of items I may want to find. This year for Christmas I knew my general theme of how I wanted my home to look was a mix of country, primitive and farmhouse. I looked for things that fit in that style and then I thought about how I could use them in my Christmas decor. Truly I never realized how much of the things I used this year was actually thrifted until I did a home tour.
My Thrifted Finds I used in my Christmas decor
Baskets topped my list this year as my favorite and most used thrifted item. I use them every season and they are timeless in my opinion. They look good with spring greenery, fall berries and winter greens. There is usually a basket for every style. I currently have pinecones from my yard and Christmas greenery in mine. Here’s a thrifty tip for you go to your local home improvement stores and ask where the real Christmas tree trimmings are. They usually have a box of FREE Christmas tree trimmings. These work great in baskets and wreaths. They are from when they cut and trim the Christmas trees that are for sale.
Quilts would be another thrifted staple of mine and when I say thrifted I mean I have found them at my local mom and pop thrift shop and on Facebook Marketplace. This is another piece that can be used year round as well. Let the weight and colors dictate what season you display them.
Thrifted vintage dishes like ironstone or other festive pieces work great on a seasonal table scape. These are great things to buy for a seasonal gathering. You can mix and match the dishes as long as they are in a neutral color like white. Do you see a pattern here, things that you can make look seasonal by how you use them. Those to me are the best finds of all. Ironstone are neutral and work with any color or fabric you pair it with.
Art is another great thing to search out and use seasonally. Look for winter or Christmas themed scenes or colors to incorporate with your other items. I am surprised at what beautiful pieces of art you can find. Thrifting has turned me into an art lover as well.
Rolling pins with red or green handles, cookie cutters, vintage thermoses and stoneware pitchers are all great things to be on the lookout for too. I have found all of the above at my thrift shops. These are perfect for fun vignettes and small holiday touches in your kitchen.
Wreaths have been another fun thing for me to find. I lucked into a couple grapevine ones and a red berry one. All were perfect for Christmas. The grapevine I had up in the Fall too!
Of course though don’t forget to actually look in the seasonal section of your thrift shop. I have found a vintage blow mold, small Christmas tree, fun handmade fabric candy canes, a fun stuffed primitive Santa, the elusive and favorite vintage Santa mugs and some cute handmade mittens on a wood stick that are specifically for Christmas.
Get Creative
This is the fun part in my opinion. You bring your finds home and then you figure out how you can transform them. Baskets that hang from a peg rack, a folded up quilt on a chair or bed, a rolling pin stuck in a vintage crock with the red handle peeking out. You want to know my secret for decorating….I use almost the same items but switch out how I use them. The way I use something in the winter will look and be different in how I use it in the Spring. Think too that thrifted items are so cheap that you can replace certain things and tuck them away for a season. I just prefer to focus mainly on items that can be used year round.
Also think how you can maybe take an item that has good bones or may be similar to what you want and craft it into exactly what you want. Look at my fun DIY thrift find here that is my all time favorite. I hope these ideas and tips have encouraged you to think of ways you can repurpose your thrifted finds into your Christmas decor.
