With the holidays just around the corner, it's time to think about decking the halls with festive decorations. Holiday decorating celebrates the season, but you don't have to spend much money to get beautiful decorations. For budget-friendly decorating ideas, tap into your creative genius and fill your home with holiday style.

• Make a Holiday Wreath
  During the holiday season, wreaths make lovely decorations for doors, windows, and fireplace mantles in Alexandria homes for sale. Instead of buying an expensive wreath, why not make your own with unique items you find in the house or around the backyard? You can buy a simple Styrofoam or wire wreath and decorate it to compliment your home's style with a variety of items:
  
  
  • Leaves, berries, and pine cones
  • Greenery and tiny pumpkins
  • Colorful ribbons and bows
  • Pom-pom garland and candy canes
  • Holiday ornaments and bells
  • String twinkle lights
    
    
• Create a Festive Table
  If you're planning on holiday dinners and parties, you need a festive table to celebrate the season. You'll find many Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations at stores, or perhaps you want to make your own. You likely already have the dinnerware, utensils, serving bowls, and glasses, and you can make your own table decorations. For Thanksgiving, carve out a couple of pumpkins and fill them with greenery, pine cones, and battery-operated candles. For Christmas, find several red or gold vases and fill them with greenery, seasonal flowers, and large candy canes.
  
  
• Decorate with Candles
  There's no shortage of beautiful candles these days. You can find a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors at retail stores and unique hand-made ones at specialty candle shops. Lighting groupings of candles in Arden Hills Lake homes for sale creates a warm, cozy atmosphere during cold weather and sets an intimate mood for dinners and parties. During the holidays, use candle groupings in your entry and on your fireplace mantel, coffee table or end tables, and bookshelves. If you're concerned about the open flames, use safe battery-operated candles.
  
  
• Customize Your Decorations
  If you enjoy creative activities and saving money, consider making your decorations with customized touches. With paint, a paintbrush, and stencils, you can create beautiful holiday decorations that look like they cost a fortune:
  
  
  • Create a table runner with decorative holiday borders
  • Stencil your initials on wine glasses and dinner napkins
  • Fill clear Christmas tree ornaments with wrapped candies
  • Paint holiday scenes on windows and mirrors with removable paint
  • Make burlap Christmas stockings with customized names and decorations
  • Create unique wrapping paper for holiday gifts

• Repurpose Existing Things
  If you're like most homeowners, you probably have a lot of things around the house you no longer use. Rather than throwing them away, think about using them for holiday decorations. You can make new stockings for the mantel out of old throws and quilts or use double-sided tape or fabric glue to add fur trim to old stockings. Fill mason jars with old ornaments or string lights. Turn old metal containers, clay flower pots, and wooden candle holders into holiday shades of gold and silver with spray paint.

• Shop During the Off Season
  If you want to save money on holiday decorations, shop during the off-season. Retailers offer deep discounts to clear out their merchandise after a holiday ends. You can also find a great selection of holiday decorations at local thrift stores. People often donate their holiday decorations after the holiday so they can buy new decorations next year.

If you're interested in Minnesota homes, call today for information on available properties and prices that fit your lifestyle.