25 Best Holiday Hacks for Around the House

With the holidays fast approaching it can be a stressful time of year for you and your family--so here are twenty-five hacks to use around your house to make your life easier.

1.  Use two different sized lights for the tree. This is an easy way to make your tree look fuller and more dynamic without having to complicate the decorating process.

2.  DIY Christmas Lights. Get a bag of ping pong balls, cut a small “x” in them, and put them over existing christmas lights.

  

3.  Repurpose generic ornaments. Get generic ornament bulbs and place them in bowls and vases around the house. If there are any left place them on the tree to fill the empty spaces.

4.  Use command strips. Never underestimate the value of using command strips instead of nails--in the long run you will thank yourself. Use them to hang lights, banners or flip one upside down and use it as an inconspicuous way to hang a wreath on your front door.

5.  Use clothespins. Another way to avoid drilling into the walls and hammering in nails is to use clothespins. They are typically cheaper than command strips and they can be used indoors or outdoors.

6.  Use what you already have. Make sure to go through storage before going to the store to purchase more decorations. Also, as a fun activity go outside and gather up various leaves or pine cones with the children to place around the house.

7.  Decorate with LED lights. Whether inside or outside LED lights can be used all around the house to provide holiday spirit--not to mention they last longer and use less energy which saves you money in the long run.

8.  A lazy susan is great for tree decorating. Place a lazy susan underneath the tree stand in order to easily access all sides of your tree--it’ll save you time and energy.

9.  A plastic snow saucer could save your floor. Is your only option to put your tree over your hardwood floor? Save yourself from worrying by placing a plastic snow saucer underneath the tree stand.

10.  Use burlap as decoration. Burlap is an easy and inexpensive way to dress up a tree or hanging garland.

  

11.  Create your own family Christmas banner. Glue your favorite family photos to brightly colored card stock and hang from a string with clothespins. This particular decoration allows you to change out the pictures, rearrange the banner, or go with different color schemes from year to year.

12.  Reuse old Christmas cards. Arrange old Christmas cards in the form of a Christmas tree on the wall or create a Christmas card collage as a fun way to go green with used cards.

13.  Hang lights outside with picnic table clips. Picnic table clips are an easy way to get lights up with minimal effort and they do not cause any damage to the house.

14.  Turn your refrigerator into a snowman. Decorating the fridge can be a cheap fun way to decorate while also getting the kids creatively involved in the decoration process.

15.  Purchase second hand decorations. When shopping for decorations, unless you are looking for something specific, your first stop should be a the local Good Will or Salvation Army. There are usually cheap, worthwhile finds and the proceeds may even go towards a good cause.

16.  DIY snowflakes make great window decorations. Fold up a coffee filter 2 or 3 times, cut holes as you desire and tape them up on the windows for a cheap and effective holiday decoration.

17.  Don’t forget about zip ties. Zip ties are a quick and easy way to securely hang lights and garland around the house--and it saves you from damaging your home.

18.  Make your own ornaments with trinkets or souvenirs. This is a cheap, creative way to use what you already have. Go exploring around the house to see what lost trinkets/souvenirs you have forgotten about and repurpose them into ornaments.

19.  Make your own Christmas chandelier. Hang ornaments from a light fixture with ribbon in order to create a fun, decorative Christmas chandelier.

20.  Use a toilet paper roll as a vase filler. Don’t have enough ornaments to fill up a bowl or vase? Simply stick an empty toilet paper roll in the middle or under the ornaments and it becomes a convenient filler.

21.  Repurpose your paper towel holder. Put various strings of ribbon or tape on your paper towel holder to save you time and effort while decorating or wrapping presents.

22.  Last minute wrapping paper. Flip a potato chip bag inside out, wash it and use it as wrapping paper. It’s a cheap, creative hack that will save you in a pinch.

23.  Store lights on hangers. When packing up your house after the holidays make sure to wrap all your lights around a hanger in order to keep them from becoming tangled.

24. Use creative ornament storage. Use plastic red cups or egg cartons as a safe and smart way to pack up all your precious ornaments.

25. Make your own hot glue snowflakes. Take your hot glue gun and apply the hot glue straight to your window. You can make your own unique and inexpensive snowflakes with what you already have!