How I decorated my Christmas tree on a budget this year

Gold ornament on my tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​I had many trendy ideas for decorating my Christmas tree this year…and until I checked my bank balance! Lol! Jokes aside, this year has been tough financially, and there isn’t enough money left in the pot to handle gifts, food, bills, Christmas dinner, AND expensive holiday decor. So, we scaled things back a little…

This year, I have challenged myself to work with what I have on hand for all my holiday decor…and it WAS a challenge. Some areas could use more “stuff”—if I wanted to go out and buy extra decor—but for this year, it has to be what it is.

Artificial pre-lit tree

So, this project started with a gorgeous pre-lit tree we bought a couple of years ago. This beautiful 7ft tree came with berries and pinecones, which made it easy for me to find faux florals to add to the branches.
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My artificial pre-lit Christmas tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

The faux red berries on my Christmas tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Assessing materials on hand

Besides the artificial tree, I collected all of the faux florals, greenery, ribbon, and ornaments from storage that I thought would work well with this year’s decor scheme. All this potential material somehow ended up on my dining room table and sat there for days until I worked everything out! Anyway, the point is that what you see on the table is pretty much all I had to work with to decorate my dining and living rooms for the holidays.

This year's holiday decorating stash. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Choosing a style and matching the faux florals

The first important task was to decide on color and style. Almost all of my existing Christmas decorations are traditional in style, so since we are using what we already have for this season’s decor, we are sticking with that theme. 

After carefully assessing how much material was available between all the florals and ornaments, I decided on a color scheme of green, red, gold, and white. All the floral picks for this year’s Christmas tree had to be red, white, or gold.

Faux white flowers being prepped for the tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Faux white flowers inserted into the tree branches. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Faux red flowers inserted into the tree branches. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Red and white faux florals in the tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

A bundle of white clematis inserted into the tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Gold fabric poinsettia attached to a tree branch. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Assessing ornaments on hand

There are some cool trends this year for Christmas tree decor, and one of them is using clusters of large ball ornaments. As much as I love that look, it simply wasn’t in my budget to go out and buy a bunch of large ornaments…sigh. Maybe next year. But I made the best of things and used the ornaments I already had in storage…and I think they look so classy on my tree!

White tassel ornament. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Red ball ornament. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Gold glitter snowflake ornament. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Decorated tree before the ribbon is applied. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Top of the tree before the ribbon is applied. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Choosing ribbon for the tree

The ribbon was another sore spot for me this year. I love the thick, voluptuous loops and bows on all the designer trees these days…but the ribbon is not cheap! I did splurge for one new ribbon because I needed a solid ribbon to help the translucent ribbons I already had stand out. I think over the year, I will keep my eyes open for some fancy wide ribbons for next year, but I made the best of what I had and dressed my beautiful tree in my best ribbons for the holidays.

My ribbon choices for this year's Christmas decor and tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Top of tree with a fabric bow. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

View of tree with fabric bow. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Closeup of the top of the tree with faux florals and fabric bow. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Tree wrapped in several types of ribbon. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

The white and gold ribbon on the tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Deep red berries with fancy white and gold ribbon on this year's tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Finishing touches

And the tree is done! Just a couple of finishing touches…This year, my tree skirt is made with white and gold fabrics from my stash swirled around the bottom. My son then decided he had enough room to set up his train tracks…so he could play with his train and reminisce about his childhood. (He’s 21!)

Finished tree with garland behind. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

This year's finished Christmas tree. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

This year's decorations may have been accomplished on a VERY slim budget, but the result was elegant. It was a challenge, but when there’s a will, there’s a way, right?! 

This tree was only one of several Christmas projects. I made three DIY wreaths, dressed up three rather sad garlands, and used leftover materials (which wasn’t much) to decorate four miniature trees. There are links to a few of these projects below.


So, I hope you enjoyed seeing this year’s tree here at Di’s Studio Designs! From my family to yours…Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

​Related blogs you may want to read:
How to make a simple faux floral wreath for the winter
How to make a super easy faux ivy vine wreath for Christmas
How to make cheap garland look festive for the holidays in just six steps
DIY chalk painted tray with chippy effect
DIY chalk painted tray with Celtic border
Tips for creating a floral spring wreath
A spring makeover for my small rental bathroom
How to care for faux florals
Nine hygge decor ideas
Eight ways to create cozy winter interiors after the holiday decor comes down

​This article may contain a few items or commercial mentions, but I only used them for demonstration purposes only. I am not endorsing any particular product or receiving any monetary gain for this blog.