Tis the year to be thrifty

Decorating your Christmas table on a budget

With Christmas around the corner, we have put together a list of our favourite tips and tricks that will help you save money decorating your Christmas dinner table.

Pinecones and leaves

Nature is a great provider of free table decorations once jazzed up a little.  Pinecones can be found in gardens or bought in bulk from home ware stores for as little as £2. To transform your pinecones paint the edges with white paint or correction fluid. Once complete, leave to dry for an hour. Place these on your dinner plates or in a large bowl to use as a table centre piece.

Like pinecones, leaves are very easy to source.  Cover your leaves with a generous amount of Silver spray paint. Once dry turn over and complete the other side. Cover your chosen D.I.Y area with old plastic bags to avoid any stains.

Paper roses

You may have not made paper roses since you were in primary school but they are a great way to set the tone of your Christmas table.

Draw an even circle at the size of your choice (the bigger the circle, the bigger your flowers will be). Once complete, draw a spiral starting from the centre of the circle to the edge (as seen below).

Once this is done, cut along the drawn line and roll from the edge of the circle into the middle. This should leave you with a rose shaped cut out. Use a strong glue in the centre or the rose to keep the rose held together.  Repeat this with a smaller rose and glue into the inside.

D.I.Y Christmas crackers

To create your own personalised gift crackers you will need; leftover pieces of wrapping paper (cut into large rectangles), kitchen or loo roll cardboard cylinders, string or ribbon and your mini gift of choice.

Place your gift inside the cardboard cylinder (cut these in half if you are using kitchen roll inners).  Ensure your wrapping paper is larger in length and width than the circumference of your cardboard cylinder. Once you have done this place your cardboard cylinder at the edge of your wrapping paper. Roll the cardboard cylinder until all of your wrapping paper cut out is covering the cardboard cylinder.

Twist both of the ends of wrapping paper until you are left with the shape of a large sweet. Secure this all together with ribbon or string. You can further personalise these crackers by adding writing, such as names or themes.

Of course these will not snap like normal Christmas crackers but they make great table placename decorations.

Hanging lights and baubles

Hanging lights or baubles is a great way to make extra use of already purchased Christmas decorations from the year before.

Wrap a strand of battery powered fairly lights around a medium to large Styrofoam ball.  A small air football can also be used if a Styrofoam ball is not available. Once the ball is fully covered, create a loose knot to stop the strand unravelling. Tape the end of the strand to the ceiling. This can also be done attaching clear string to your favourite baubles.

Napkins

Instead of spending money on fancy napkins learn how to fold your own. There are several websites that show you step by step how to fold napkins. One of our favourites is http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2009/03/top_10.html who created the diagram below.