40-Day Christmas Challenge | Day 22: Decorate with What You Already Have • Everyday Cheapskate

Christmas decorations have an interesting ability to become invisible while they’re in storage. You can own six bins of them and still walk through a store thinking: Oh, I need that.

Then you get home, open the bins and discover you already own something remarkably similar. Possibly two.

So today, before we buy another wreath, pillow, ribbon, candleholder, serving piece or adorable little Christmas something, we’re going shopping. At home.

Today’s Challenge

Before buying any new Christmas décor, take a fresh look at what you already own. Not because you’re forbidden to buy anything.

If there’s something you genuinely want, it fits your Christmas plan and you’ll use it, fine. But let’s make sure we don’t already own the solution first.

Do This Today

1. Shop your Christmas boxes.

Go back to the decorations you decided mattered on Day 19. Now look through what you’ve already got.

Ornaments. Ribbon. Candles. Lights. Greenery. Wreaths. Christmas cards. Serving pieces. Baskets. Bowls. Throws. Frames. Anything else you’ve tucked away over the years.

Don’t empty every storage bin onto the floor unless you actually want to. We’re looking for useful possibilities, not creating an archaeological dig.

2. Look beyond the Christmas boxes.

Some of the best Christmas decorations aren’t technically Christmas decorations.

A glass bowl can hold ornaments. A basket can hold greenery or Christmas cards. A cake stand can elevate a small arrangement. A pretty pitcher can hold branches. A favorite red throw suddenly looks remarkably seasonal in December.

Before buying something made specifically for Christmas, ask whether something you already own could do the same job.

3. Use the good stuff.

Sometimes we own decorations we love so much that we carefully store them year after year. And then don’t use them.

Put out the beautiful bowl. Hang the ornaments. Use Grandma’s serving dish.

If something is too precious to use, that’s one thing. But don’t let perfectly usable Christmas things spend their entire lives waiting in a box for a more important Christmas.

Quick Win

Before buying one Christmas decoration you’ve been considering, look around your house for something that could fill the same spot or do the same job.

Give yourself five minutes. You may already own the answer.

Try a Different Job

You don’t have to use something the way you’ve always used it.

Those extra ornaments don’t have to go on the tree. Put them in a bowl. Ribbon doesn’t have to end up on a package. Tie it around a plain wreath, a vase or the back of a chair. Christmas cards can become part of the decorating instead of going into a pile. A few branches clipped from your yard can go into a pitcher you already own.

This isn’t about turning the house into a craft project. It’s about looking at familiar things long enough to see another possibility.

Don’t Buy a Craft Project Either

There’s a small trap hiding inside the phrase use what you have.

We start with an old wreath. Then decide it needs new ribbon. And berries. And floral wire. And perhaps a new glue gun. By the time we’re finished “saving money,” we’ve been to the craft store twice.

But today’s assignment isn’t to transform old decorations into impressive new ones. Sometimes moving the wreath to a different door is enough.

On the other hand, if you actually enjoy making decorations and you’ve decided that’s how you want to spend your time, have at it. I’ve got 10 affordable DIY Christmas ornament ideas that range from old-fashioned paper chains and popcorn garlands to dried oranges and yarn ornaments.

Just check the supply cupboard first. We are not buying $38 worth of craft supplies to prove we can decorate for less.

What About Decorations You Never Use?

You may find something else while you’re looking through those boxes: Decorations you haven’t used in years.

You don’t have to stop everything today and organize the attic. But notice them.

If you don’t like something, don’t use it and can’t imagine wanting it again, ask yourself why you’re giving it storage space year after year.

Why It Matters

Christmas shopping has a way of convincing us that the thing we already own isn’t quite right anymore. Wrong color. Wrong style. Last year’s version.

But your home doesn’t need a fresh shipment of Christmas in order to feel festive.

Sometimes the thing you’ve had for 15 years is exactly the thing that makes it feel like Christmas.

And sometimes using what you already have leaves money available for something you care about more.

That’s the point. Spend where it matters. Skip what doesn’t.

Your Turn

What’s something you already owned that found a completely different Christmas job? A bowl full of ornaments? Ribbon somewhere unexpected? An old decoration you finally brought back out? Tell us in the comments. I’m always interested in the ideas that make you wonder why you didn’t think of them five years ago.