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The Magic of Secondhand: Best Christmas Decor Ideas from My Thrift Haul

By Rachel

published 11/20/2025

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Stop overspending and discover the magic of buying secondhand! Come see the best Christmas decor ideas from my thrift haul to learn why thrifted items are the best!

Let’s face it…holiday decorating is downright expensive! And, new, store bought items often look generic. But, through thrifting, you can achieve a one-of-a-kind yet high-quality look for your holiday home. Learn how to easily decorate your space on a budget this season using the pure magic of secondhand with these best Christmas decor ideas from my recent thrift haul!

Vintage Christmas Decor Ideas Using Only Thrift Store Finds

This year, I set out to source holiday decor, but with a catch…I wanted to see what all I could find without spending more than $50! I achieved that and so much more, which just goes to show that you can curate timeless Christmas decor for cheap.

Here, I’m sharing my best thrifted holiday haul, revealing why secondhand items offer the best value and character for your festive home. I’ll also offer practical, simple, and tangible Christmas decorating ideas for any space!

Table of Contents

So, grab a cup of hot cocoa and join me for some cheery Christmas thrifting!

Thrifted Goodies Volume 41- The Magic of Secondhand: Best Christmas Decor Ideas from My Thrift Haul

Hello, guys!

Welcome, or welcome back, to the blog and to the next installment in the ‘Thrifted Goodies’ series! If you are new around here, welcome!

This is a monthly series where my friend MaryJo from the blog Master’pieces’ of my Life and I share thrift hauls, thrifting tips, and general thrift shopping advice.

MasterPieces of My Life

My partner in this series, MaryJo, is sharing a post all about how to use thrifted collections in Christmas decor. How great is that?!

After you are done here, head over to her post and say hello! You may find just the thing you are looking for.

MasterPieces of My Life Social Channels:

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Shop Vintage Christmas Decor

Why Thrifting is the Best Source for Budget Christmas Decor

I’ve said it time and time again, but there is just no match to what thrifting can do for the environment as well as your wallet. Thrift shopping is SO much fun because you never know what you’re going to find for just a few dollars.

Below are a handful of other reasons as to why thrifting for Christmas decor is always a good idea:

Unmatched Character & Nostalgia: Thrifted ornaments, ceramic Christmas houses, and vintage glassware exude patina and history that new items lack. These elements immediately make your home feel cozy and collected, brimming with that nostalgic Christmas feel!
Low Budget: I’ve witnessed it over and over…you can buy several beautiful pieces secondhand for the price of one retail item, making it the most budget-friendly option.
Curating the Vintage Look: If your desired aesthetic is vintage, like me, thrift stores are a reliable source for finding authentic items.
Sustainability: The environmental benefit of choosing pre-loved decor over brand new is un-paralleled. When buying used, you are purchasing items that already exist, which reduces landfill waste and cuts down on pollution.

In my book, there is a no greater Christmas gift than taking care of the environment, while purchasing pretty decor for yourself in the process!

Christmas Thrift Haul Reveal + Styling Ideas for Thrifted Holiday Decor

You guys…you are in for a treat because holy cow do I have a haul for you today!! I’ve been back at it, thrifting and antiquing my little heart out, and, girl, has it ever paid off.

Christmas time is my very favorite time of the year to go to antique stores because I love looking at all the booth displays. I find so much inspiration, and peace, within those walls! While most of the items I’m sharing today have come from my local thrift store, a few of them I’ve found antiquing, too!

As always, the goal of these hauls is to show you that you don’t have to buy generic Christmas decor from big-box stores to decorate your home for the holidays. Many of these thrifted pieces are everyday items that are so perfect and festive for the season! Let’s get into it.

3 Green and White Restaurantware Platters

First up on the list today are not one, not two, but three vintage restaurantware platters! I have a growing collection of the green and white striped variety and I just adore them. These are some of my favorite vintage dishes to decorate with for Christmas and winter.

I found all three of these platters at my local thrift store! The larger two were found together and I purchased them for $2.99 each (though the lady at checkout only charged me for one of them…she was so nice!) The smaller one was just $1.99.

I know many of you like to see the stamps or markings whenever possible, and I’m happy to oblige. The small platter is stamped ‘Victory china’, a company that I’ve not seen before.

And the larger ones are stamped ‘Lynn’s’ stoneware, which is also a company that I’ve not seen before. This is yet another benefit of thrifting…I learn new things and discover vintage companies all the time!

I haven’t started decorating for Christmas just yet. But, for the season, I will be using my thrifted platters either in my hutch or in vignettes around the house.

Platters make for lovely background decor accents. Another thing I love to do with vintage platters is stack them up and fill the top platter with vintage ornaments! The sky is the limit with these vintage beauties.

Shop Vintage Restaurantware

Antique Christmas Postcard

Vintage Christmas ephemera is an all-time favorite around here!

There’s just something innately special about these antique postcards…I mean, they were lovingly sent to someone as an act of love and have somehow survived all this time. It’s miraculous, really!

The one below I found on e-Bay for a whopping $2.00 with free shipping…that’s such a good deal. You can guess what drew me to this one, right?? The pretty, snowy barn in the center, of course!

For Christmas, I’ll use it just as I have it displayed here…perched up with my green flower frog and tucked amongst other vintage decor.

I love reading the old handwriting and seeing where these cards originated.

This one is dated 1922 and was originally mailed from New York. The short sentiment on the card harkens back to simpler times, doesn’t it?? (also, can we take a second to acknowledge that the postage was just one cent?!)

2 Shiny Brite Ornaments

When I go thrifting or antique shopping, I usually always have something specific on my list that I’m looking for. This time, it happened to be vintage ornaments, specifically Shiny Brite’s! Luckily, I was able to find a few that spoke to me.

I’ve been slowly building up my collection of these delicate beauties for a few years now. However, I don’t pick up just any old Shiny Brite…I’m very picky and I gravitate towards ornaments that are in shades of muted gold or frosty silver. Because of that, I don’t find ornaments too often, so when I come across one that fits my criteria, I snatch it up!

This one has more of a marbled look to it in shades of icy silver and gold. These have gotten fairly popular over the past few years and unfortunately have gone up in price, but this one was $4.00, which I thought was fair.

When sourcing vintage Shiny Brite ornaments and want to make sure that what you are buying is real and not a reproduction (which there are a lot of these days), look for the ‘Shiny Brite’ letters around the top of the metal hanger. Conversely, on rare occasions, you might simply see ‘Made in USA’, which also signals an authentic ornament.

The other Shiny Brite I found is so stunning!

I’ve never seen a Shiny Brite that has a scene on it like this one does. The graphics are very worn off in some places but from what I can gather, it’s a snowy scene with a barn, pine trees, and some people ice skating. Isn’t that just so pretty?! This one was also $4.00.

For the Christmas season, I’ll either hang them on my tree or use them for vignette displays around the house, such as the one below.

Shop Vintage Shinty Brite Ornaments

Antique Green Book

Next up is this massive antique book, which has a copyright date of 1945!

I believe this one is the largest book in my collection now and I’m not mad about it! With my deep love for fly fishing, I think that a book about a river road deserves to be the biggest:)

Green vintage books are a favorite color of mine to use for decorating, especially at Christmas. Now, I haven’t had much luck finding old books for reasonable prices lately. However, this one was only $3.00!! I couldn’t believe it.

Books such as this one make for such versatile pieces of decor. For Christmas, I will most likely use this book on the mantel, alongside garland, small trees, ironstone, and milk glass.

Pair of Small Trees

Though not vintage, I had to show you these pretty trees!

I found these sparkly trees at my local thrift store the other week and fell in love with them in an instant. The deep gold urn bases are so unique…I don’t come across trees such as these often, especially at the thrift! They were marked $3.99 each, which I thought was a really good deal for how high-quality they look.

Small-scale trees like these are so useful anywhere, really. They can be styled into a vignette for height, used in a hutch or open shelving display, or even placed on a bathroom counter! And, the beauty about neutral green trees is that they can continue to be used for the winter season, which doubles the decor time. Woohoo!

Green Custard Cup

I LOVE when I find these green Hall pottery cups! This is the fourth one I’ve found at my favorite thrift store and I get SO happy each time.Tip: I have found all of my Hall cups mixed in with the coffee mug selection at the thrift store. If you are looking for these too, I suggest picking through the coffee mugs to see if there are any hiding in there!

The previous cups I’ve found are tea cups but this one is a tad shallower and wider, so I’m thinking it’s a custard cup. Priced at just .99 cents, I obviously had to bring this one home for my collection!

I not only use this green pottery for Christmas decorating in my hutch, but keep them out to use for winter, as well. I’m all about thrifting items that can be used for multiple seasons…because why not?!

Red Transferware Christmas Plate

And, finally, we’ve come to the last item for this haul!

A few weeks ago, as I was doing my weekly thrifting trip, I noticed a stack of red transferware plates in the Christmas section. I’m not normally one for red transferware, but as I started digging through the stack, this one popped out at me.

You see, 1987 is my birth year and I thought this was just the sweetest scene! It is vintage, marked ‘Staffordshire England’ on the back and the pattern is ‘A Happy Holiday to You’.

For just $1.99, I had to bring this home and find a way to use it for Christmas. I actually think this plate is perfect to serve Christmas cookies on…how cute!

Your Coziest, Most Affordable Christmas Yet

Phew! If you made it all the way to the end of the haul, thank you!!

As stated in the beginning, my goal was to stay under $50 and I came in at just a hair over $25. Isn’t that just SO crazy for all these beautiful things?!

I love sharing my thrifted finds with you…it brings me immense joy. I truly get a kick out of sourcing such pretty things for so cheap and I hope that these finds encourage you to do the same.

This just goes to show that thrift stores and antique shops yield timeless, beautiful, and high-quality Christmas decor for such amazing prices. Yes, these things are gently used and pre-loved, which makes them not as perfect as brand new, but that’s what makes them special. Truly, the imperfections are what draw me to them time and time again.

Closing Tidbits on The Magic of Secondhand: Best Christmas Decor Ideas from My Thrift Haul

I think it’s safe to say that the best Christmas decor ideas don’t require high spending; they require a good eye and a thrift store road map.

It’s my sincere hope that the tips shared here today motivate you to start your own Christmas thrift shopping excursion. Shop now and go often before the best items are gone!

Be encouraged to thrift your way to a festive holiday home, finding a sense of gentle living along the way.

Leave me a comment! What is one thrifted item you hope to score for your decor this Christmas? I love hearing from you!

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If you are new here, I’m Rachel, the writer and content creator here at The Antiqued Journey. I’m so happy to have you! I encourage you to stop by the ‘about me’ page to get to know me a little more.

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