Holidays. Simple.

This post is dedicated to some festive decorations that didn't break the bank.  Versatile decor pieces are great because they can be used for so many different purposes and occasions (Read: they don't get put in storage for the entire year until December).

My December resolution: Any big decorations I bought this season had to be usable for the rest of the year. I  tried hard to look for Winter - vs. Christmas - decor that wouldn't be awkward to be seeing in the house at the end of January.

Check it out...

1. Table Centerpiece

This one was easy, as you can see. I love the fresh greenery & pinecones in this display, which came directly from our yard. The cake stand (on super-clearance and easily re-used for other decorations!), bells, and ribbon were all Hobby Lobby finds. This took all of 5 minutes to put together.

Total cost for this project: $12

Recycled glass cake stand-  $8

Bells - $3

Ribbon - $1

2. Mantel Display

I was lucky enough to repurpose some of the items from my Christmas last year. The only item I bought is the stocking holders, which were an amazing deal -- $15 for the set at Target.

Because everything else was pretty plain to begin with, I added some more color in the form of stocking holders, stockings, and red chalices. Excuse my artwork - the poinsettias at the base of the fireplace didn't make it into the picture today, but they balanced out the asymmetry of the stockings. 

That mirror and wreath were not intended for holiday decorating; Ben was the one who pointed out it'd look perfect on our mantel (and hide those ugly outlets)! The vases on the right were just filled with red and white mints.  Again, I used pinecones and ornaments for some color on the coffee table. All of the arrows below point out the items in this display that can be used year-round, even though they are outfitted in a Christmas-y fashion here:

 
Of course, there will be more added to this display next year, but we're off to a good start!

Total: $15
Stocking holders - $15 at Target

Everything else I had laying around:

Mirror - $25

Triangle serving tray - $0, wedding gift

Candlestick - ~$15 at TJ Maxx

Vases - ~$4 each at Ikea

Wine bottle - $0.... let's just say we know some winos

Berry Wreath - ~$10 at Michaels

3. Ornaments
Alright, this one's for all of you who have a tree and don't have enough ornaments to put on it! (There's a reason I never took a photo of our bare tree!  It's currently outfitted in a generic-but-tasteful red, white, and silver theme)  Since we're still newlyweds, we have plenty of years ahead filled with kids' homemade ornaments and decorations on our tree that have some personal meaning to us. In the past few years we've received some beautiful and thoughtful ornaments as gifts which we proudly display on our -- but, we have a long way to go.  Take a look at these:

I didn't actually do this, but this idea - pictured above - from DesignSponge is genius: it's contemporary, it's inexpensive, and looks great. These paper ornaments would also make great home-made gifts!! I love the thought that you could easily change the color scheme of your decorations from year to year with a simple project like this. Nice, huh?

So there you have it - happy decorating!