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Decorate your home this Christmas without breaking the bank.

After years of unusual, designer-inspired Christmases, it seems that many people this year are looking to provide their families with a good old-fashioned traditional Christmas. Many families are opting to curb their spending habits and are looking to spend Christmas day on their living room sofas or around the tree, with their loved ones reconnecting and reflecting on the past year.

A real tree will always give that traditional feel to Christmas but many families will already have an artificial tree and will not want to incur the extra expense of buying a real one. With natural decorations, an artificial tree can look just as good as a real one. Of course, to create that really authentic look, we would all love to put candles on the tree, but a few simple strings of lights will look just as good and, above all, will be safe. Candles can still be used, because there is something really comforting about them, but they can be placed out of harm’s way and used under supervision.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, besides shopping for presents and food, it’s a good idea to think about homemade decorations; the simplest and cheapest of all will be natural organic things which you may even have in your own garden; things like holly and pine branches, fir cones, mistletoe, and so on. They can be sprayed gold or silver, or left untouched for a really traditional look.

The whole family can get involved in making things for Christmas, such as decorating plain brown parcel paper for wrapping, using home-made lino or potato stamps, collecting driftwood or branches which can be sprayed or painted in Christmas colours, and making paper chains and snowflakes. There are many things which can be made at very little cost. Those who are handy with knitting needles or a crochet hook can be set to work making simple things like miniature Christmas stockings and modelling dough can be made at home, cut or shaped, baked in the oven, and decorated with cheap paints or food colouring. Citrus fruits can be sliced and dried in the oven – strung together into a garland, with perhaps some popcorn sprayed gold and little bunches of cinnamon sticks, they will add an aromatic touch to the festivities.

Sometimes, the advent of Christmas can bring extra worry and anxiety but, if you start thinking early enough, and look at the things around you in a new light, there’s no reason why you can’t have an idyllic Christmas with your loved ones without having to worry about paying for it for months to come.