Green & Frugal Tips to Help Moms Prepare for the Holiday Season

Hi everyone and happy Thursday! We are just one week away from Thanksgiving! Whoa, this year has FLOWN BY! Today I have a post from guest blogger, Caroline Smith, who shares some money-saving tips. Enjoy!

Green & Frugal Tips to Help Moms Prepare for the Holiday Season

The holidays are the perfect time to have friends and family over to catch up on what’s been going on the past year. In an ideal world, wouldn’t it be great to give the house a new look while saving money and helping the environment at the same time? If you’re a busy mom, you may be wondering where to find the time, energy and spare cash to transform your home ready for your guests, let alone do it in an eco-friendly way. But, hopefully the following suggestions will show you that giving your home a holiday makeover is within reach, with little impact on your budget or the planet.

Lights

For much of the fall and winter, daylight is at a premium. The nights are longer and often lights are turned on sooner, adding to your electricity bills and increasing your carbon footprint. However, there are a few ways to keep your electricity consumption in check and give your home a seasonal look.

*Candles – While they look great even when not lit and come in a variety of seasonal scents, lighting some candles, combined with normal lighting, will provide a softer glow for guests while sitting around chatting. The shadows thrown may also cause guests and hosts to gather closer together. While many candles come in bright colors for the holidays, even plain ones can be dressed up using ornaments, ribbons, pine cones collected from outside, or garlands. However, always be sure to blow out unattended candles and keep them out of reach of children.

*LEDs – When shopping for new decorative lighting, try to purchase LED lights. They last longer than normal holiday lights and use between 80 percent and 90 percent less energy. Plus, when a bulb goes out the rest of the string will stay lit.

Brighten your rooms and protect your furniture

Cheap loveseat slipcovers in holiday colors can be used over the top of worn-looking couches to give a room an entirely new look without the need to buy new furniture. They come in several styles and patterns and are easy to use, and can be reused again and again for many more holidays to come. They will also serve a few other purposes.

*Spills – Food or drink can always accidentally be dropped onto furniture when entertaining guests, but especially if smaller children are going to be involved. Slipcovers are washable and will help protect the actual furniture from being stained.

*Fine dining – Slipcovers for dining room chairs add color and style to the family meal. Covers can also be purchased for folding chairs if those need to be used to provide additional seats for a large family gathering.

Gifts of nature

To decorate in an eco-friendly and frugal way, use whatever natural items you can find in your own backyard and the surrounding area, or visit local tree sellers.

*Garlands – Wrap the front entrance to the house in garlands made from evergreen foliage and berries. Garlands can also be decorated with spare holiday ornaments left over from previous years.

*Potted trees – These can be placed either outside or inside the home and if looked after correctly can even be used again next holiday season.

*Branches – Tree farms often will give away excess branches trimmed from the products they sell. These and pine cones or other nuts can be placed in decorative baskets or vases. Not only does this keep them from a scrap heap, they look great and add a scent of pine to the room.

If you start thinking creatively, there are a variety of ways, including literally decorating with boughs of holly, to save money when preparing your home for the holidays, while also saving the planet. These ideas show it’s not difficult to be frugal and green while still giving your house a holiday makeover.

This post is by guest writer Caroline Smith, who enjoys finding thrifty ways to decorate her home by reusing old things in creative ways. She runs a site that sells a range of slipcovers for sofas and offers advice on how to give your rooms a new look for less.