We’re all worried about the cost-of-living crisis this Christmas. So, this year, we’ve created some top tips for affordable festive décor! You’ll find affordable dupes, DIY’s for the crafty, and top-budget picks.

DIY’s

As always, The White Company is our favourite for gorgeous Christmas décor, but this year, their prices may be too high for some.

As one of our favourite pieces from their collection, Foraged Winter Swag, costs £145, we are confident you could create an affordable alternative yourself.

1. Starting with some Wooden Dowel, £1.30, cut two pieces to the same length (you can customise this depending on how long you want your piece, a guide size would be both pieces to be 20cm long).
2. Make a plus sign with your dowel, and then tie them together with some Jute Twine for £2. Continue wrapping the twine tightly through one length of the dowel, covering the entire area. At the top, create a loop (to hang your piece!), and wrap it back down to the center, then tie it off (and secure it with some glue!).
3. Now we have the base to stick our foliage to, and here comes the fun part! Keeping your loop at the top of your piece, we can begin to build up our design from the centre of our dowel outwards. This is where you can really play around with your design to make it the size, shape, and length you’d like it to be! Just make sure you use enough foliage to cover the frame.It’s difficult to recommend how much foliage you need, as this will vary depending on the size and shape you wish to create. We’ve linked some top picks here, here, and here! But you should also check stores like Hobbycraft, and TK Maxx, and even see what you can collect in your local park! For this, we’re proposing an average spend of £30, so you can collect a mix of pieces.
4. Add some white berries, linked here. £10 for 5 stems!
5. To finish the piece, tie a bow using some Hessian ribbon. We love this Hobbycraft one featuring a festive snowflake print, available here! £4.50.

And you’re finished! Our costing brings this DIY in at £47.80 total. Therefore, for around £50 you can create your own Foraged Winter Swag and save yourself £95!

If this is a bit bigger of a project than you’d like, we also have a super quick and easy DIY for you!

Using some mini pine trees (We love these Amazon ones for £3.99), and some magic snow for £2.99, you can create a festive Christmas scene on a windowsill or table centrepiece for just £6.98!

We’d love to see your DIYs! Share your photos on social media and tag us on @newhomesadvice !

Affordable dupes

We know DIY projects aren’t for everyone, so we’ve found some affordable dupes for our favourite festive pieces!

Now we’re not saying we’re obsessed with the White Company Christmas, but we love this Fir Tree Wreath for £95!

Instead, we’ve found this very similar piece from TK Maxx – available here for only £16.99, which is a huge saving!

If you wanted to take it a step further, you could add some white berry foliage, and even add some spray-on snow.

For some of us, Christmas is about decorating, baking gingerbread cookies with the family, and seeing the children’s faces light up. For some of us, it’s all about eating and being merry!

We love this Next bar cart for entertaining over the festive period, but for £130 that could blow our budget!

Here’s a great, affordable dupe from Asda, available here for only £20 on sale currently, that you can jazz up with festive décor, but also keep year-round by switching out the décor seasonally. (It even comes with a handle, so you can wheel it over to your auntie Pat when she’s already had one too many sherries to navigate across the dining room herself)!

Budget finds!

We could look at DIYs and dupes all day, but this article would be longer than Santa’s naughty list. Therefore, we’ll leave you with a few of our favourite budget pieces, listed below!

Charlies – Garlands – £4.39 – Available here.

There’s something about nutcrackers that always gives a traditional Christmas vibe, and 5 for £22.99 make a statement on the tree without being too pricey.

The Range – 5pc Nutcracker tree decorations – £22.99 – Available here.

Hosting Christmas this year? Welcome the family this Christmas with this adorable front door mat for only £3.99!

Home bargains – Festive Door mat – £3.99 – Available here.

Nothing gets us in the festive spirit more than sparkly string lights, and we love these star ones for only £3.99, and available in white or rainbow!

Home Bargains – White £3.99, available here, or multi colour for £3.99, – Available here.

We hope the cost-of-living crisis isn’t affecting your festive cheer, and we know these times can be worrying for families. Don’t forget we are here for you. If you have any worries about your mortgage or insurance policies, please call us on 01543 464 144, or or request a call back here.

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