Deck the Halls and Decorate for Christmas While on A Budget

Millions of Americans love to celebrate Christmas. When asked, the majority of individuals respond that Christmas is one of their favorite holidays, if not their favorite. If you love to celebrate Christmas, there is a good chance that you may also love decorating your home for Christmas. Unfortunately, if you're not careful, decorating your home can become quite expensive. However, if you want to decorate for Christmas, but you, like so many others, have had to downsize due to our country's unfortunate recession, and you do not have an unlimited amount of money to do so, there are ways that you can deck the halls and decorate for Christmas while on a budget.

 

Deciding ahead of time can be a good way to save money on Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, a large number of shoppers, perhaps yourself included, have a difficult time with impulse buying. However, if you are on a limited budget, it is advisable not to give into any impulse buying urges. This is why you may want to determine ahead of time what you'd like to buy. It's possible that you're uncertain exactly what you would like to buy, which of course is fine, but it may be a good idea to concentrate on which rooms that you want to decorate for Christmas and which rooms you do not. And perhaps have a color theme in mind to help narrow down your choices, using this method, will make it easier for you to eliminate unnecessary purchases.

Once you have an idea of which type of Christmas decorations that you would like to buy, you can start your shopping; but, it is important to remember your goal of saving money. As much as you may enjoy decorating for Christmas, you do not want to spend more money on decorations than is within your budget. Keep in mind, the less money you spend on Christmas decorations, the more money you will have to put towards Christmas gifts or other festive events.

 

When shopping for Christmas decorations on a budget, perhaps one of your first stops should be to your local dollar store. While many individuals assume that the items sold in dollar stores are of poor quality, that's not always true. In fact, around Christmastime, you can get some really nice Christmas decorations for a dollar or less. Depending on the dollar store you choose to shop at, you should be able to walk away with Christmas pictures, Christmas wall hangings, Christmas tree decorations, Christmas lights, and even Christmas towels and potholders for your kitchen. When choosing a dollar store, keep in mind, not all dollar stores are created equal. For instances, Dollar Tree one of the largest dollar store franchises, has a location in Oak Park, MI on Nine Mile Rd. which is quite large, well stocked and always clean. And they have a huge selection of gift bags and Christmas decorations to choose from. On the other hand, the Dollar Tree store on Jonesboro Rd. (exact location will not be provided) in Georgia does not even compare; it's small, cramped and ridiculously under stock. So, do your due diligence. Just because you're decking your halls on a budget does not mean you should be subjected to a substandard atmosphere.

In addition to dollar stores, you may also want to check out a few discount stores as well. Discount stores, in most cases, tend to carry a wide variety of different products, including Christmas decorations.

One discount store in particular where you will be able to find a huge variety of wonderful and affordable Christmas decorations, is Big Lots stores. Inside tip: Not only does Big Lots offer some of the best bargains during the holiday season – to help you maintain your budget, but after the Christmas season they offer some super mark-downs on their Christmas decorations - anywhere from seventy-five to ninety percent off.

For the largest selection of Christmas decorations, you will want to shop early, but for the best prices, you may want to wait until it gets closer to Christmas. In fact, let me repeat this tip; the best bargains are normally found right after Christmas and the discounts can range anywhere from seventy-five to ninety percent off. Although shopping right after Christmas won't help you this year, it may very well help you get a jump on gathering some super cutesy decorations that you can use to affordably deck the halls of your home, next year.

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Weekend Wedding Activities – Woohoo!

It has become increasingly trendy to host a weekend gala event for couples-to-be, because a wedding is not just a celebration of their love; it is also a way to thank the special people in their life and have them participate.

As a number of families are geographically spread further apart, it is becoming more popular for couples to opt for weekend weddings. The festivities generally begin Friday evening, with the wedding being held on Saturday and a post-wedding breakfast or brunch concludes the activities on Sunday.

Rest assured planning activities for weekend-long celebrations does not have to be a nail-biting, hair-pulling difficult task, but planning the activities for the long weekend is essential. And it can actually be quite a bit of fun. First, consider everyone's needs. It's important that during the wedding weekend, planners keep in mind that the weekend itself might be expensive for some guests, particularly those who had to fly in for the occasion therefore; many of the activities should be free, or inexpensive. However, if planners choose more expensive activities to include the entire group, they should be paid for by either the bride and groom or their families and not the guests.

Of course, there are plenty of activities that don't have to be expensive, such as a scavenger hunt that incorporates the Bachelor and Bachelorette party activities. Simply draft a list of meaningful items and split the guests into two teams. Players can use digital cameras (or cell phone cameras) to photograph the crazy things on their scavenger hunt party list.  Since you are using pictures instead of collecting the items the list can be really crazy! The list could include items like, "Dancing with a Stripper" or "A member of the groom's party wearing women's underwear" or "A picture of a penny with the year of the Bride or Groom's date of birth on it." You will need to tailor the scavenger hunt list to the location and the guests who will participate, but the possibilities are endless.

Another suggested activity is to replace the formal rehearsal dinner with an informal barbecue dinner or picnic – this does not have to be catered, it's best to get family members involved for this shindig – every family has their own grill-master, and they should be used during this particular function. If you're lucky enough to be near a lake and the weather permits, consider planning the events for Saturday at the lake. Activities can include, swimming races, beach volleyball, canoe racers, and/or jet skiing.

An additional activity that's popular during weekend weddings is a competitive type sport activity, such as volleyball, flag football, baseball, softball or horseshoes. Again, add a unique twist. Offer prizes for performance (first touchdown gets a kiss from the bride or groom, first score the best man has to sing to, hug, or kiss maid of honor) or you can make-up ridiculous rules, like members of the bridal party have to wear veils while playing volleyball and/or members of the groom's party should have to wear tiaras.

You can even offer prizes for the team that wins the scavenger hunt or any of the other activities, such as gift certificates to Edible Arrangements, local sporting events, or wine baskets.

Although it might seem an obvious choice to divide the teams into groups who know or are related to the bride and teams who know or are related to the groom, think about how exciting it would be to mix it up a bit, by creating teams of friends versus family, youth versus aged, or men versus women (always a popular choice).

There are so many unique activities that the problem isn't what to do, but which of the number of activities to do. And with the large variety, there's bound to be one that fits into your budget and theme.