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Vintage Christmas on a Budget: Thrifty Tips for Creating a Festive Home

By Rachel

published 12/07/2023

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Last Updated on December 28, 2024 by Rachel Granholm

I’m sharing my top thrifty tips for decorating with vintage Christmas on a budget!

Are you looking for a more mindful way to get into the Christmas spirit? I’m sharing some of my top vintage and thrifty tips for creating a beautiful and festive home without emptying your wallet! With a handful of thrifted decor items, you can create an elegant holiday atmosphere that remains timeless and unique.

Table of Contents

Get the Look for Less: Christmas Decor with Thrifted and Vintage Items

I’ll show you how to style vintage Christmas decorations including where to find certain items and tips on arranging them in your home.

Whether you’re a fan of classic holiday styles or just want to incorporate a little nostalgia into your decorations, this guide will provide the information and inspiration you need to create lasting memories with vintage Christmas decorations!

Vintage Christmas Nostalgia on a Budget: Thrifty Decorating Tips

Everyone likes different things and has their particular decorating style. But, this is The Antiqued Journey and my heart adores vintage decor in all forms, no matter the season.

However, vintage Christmas decor in particular is, for me, something that can’t be put into words. The nostalgic and heartwarming feeling that these old pieces exude is so special.

Simply put, vintage holiday decor makes your home feel cozy, welcoming, and full of a festive joy that can’t compare to anything else.

Vintage Christmas decor is also a budget-friendly way to outfit your home for the holiday season. All of my vintage decor pieces have come from thrift stores or vintage shops.

Since vintage decor is purchased secondhand, the pricing reflects that and, as such, will be at least half the price from brand new retail prices. So, if you are looking to cut down on spending this season, vintage and thrifted Christmas decor is the way to go!

Lastly, secondhand and vintage decor is extremely environmentally friendly. Through the use of thrifted Christmas finds, you can decorate beautifully for the season while also keeping things out of the landfills. It’s like a Christmas present for the Earth!

Where to Find the Best Vintage Christmas Decorations

Vintage Christmas and holiday decor can be found at thrift stores, vintage shops, estate sales, and garage sales. You can also shop online for vintage Christmas items on sites like Facebook Marketplace, Mercari, e-Bay, and Etsy.

From experience, I have had the most luck finding vintage Christmas items from either thrift shops or antique malls. Those establishments have yielded the most selection and best prices.

Shop Favorite Christmas Decor

Vintage Christmas on a Budget: Thrifty Tips for Creating a Festive Home

Decorating with vintage Christmas items makes me happy and I hope, through these photos, that you will feel happy, too. May this bring you new inspiration for decorating your home this year and in years to come.

A Christmas Home Tour Using Vintage and Thrifted Decor

Without further ado, I am so happy to welcome you into my home all decorated for Christmas!

Christmas Cheer in the Entry

As we enter the front door, this small vintage scene greets us with festive cheer.

Filled with deep reds, greens, and warm wood tones, it’s a welcoming sight to behold.

To make each space feel connected, I tried to combine elements from every area of my home. Red velvet ribbon and milk glass is a common theme this season, as you will see.

So, to set the stage for what’s to come, I started small on this skinny little shelf with some red berries, a small pine tree, and vintage items including an antique holiday postcard. Decorating with vintage Christmas items is all about simplicity, after all!

The larger of two steps is anchored by this flocked Christmas tree. This is something brand new that I tried this year and absolutely love how it looks.

I decided to use this vintage wooden crate as a base for my tree. Then, I simply placed a lace tablecloth inside to act as a tree skirt. For tree decorations, I wrapped my DIY garland with vintage sheet music around it, hung some rusty jingle bells using twine, and finished it off with a strand of fairy lights.

For about $20, this little corner is small but mighty!

Embrace the Charm of a Vintage Christmas in the Living Room

Christmas Wall Shelf Decor Ideas

As we move into the living room, a milk-glass themed shelf is paired with vintage brass, winter textures, and other simple vintage holiday decor.

One of my very favorite Christmas decor combinations is vintage milk glass paired with vibrant red. So, I used a red plaid scarf, more berries, and some bright red vintage ornaments to bring that idea to life.

Flocked pinecones and green bottle brush trees add subtle texture to this Christmas vignette.

As we move down the shelf, a vintage green glass bottle makes a statement amongst the white glass and more vintage ornaments.

Decorating Tip: Bowls, of any kind, make for the best display vessels for Christmas decor. You can place ornaments in them, a pile of bells, pinecones, etc…Set it on a bathroom counter or on the bottom of an end table for instant holiday cheer!

I thrifted these brass candlesticks years ago and use them to add height to Christmas displays. In fact, I don’t even put candles in them!

Vintage brass makes a statement all on it’s own so you don’t need to do much to it to make it feel cheery for the holiday season.

Timeless Christmas Decor on the Credenza

As we move through the living room, we come to the credenza that sits underneath the windows.

Again, pieces of my vintage milk glass collection are prominently styled here with pops of red and green.

To add some warmth to this area, I filled this milk glass compote dish with rust and brass colored bells.

Using vintage looking bells is new for me this year and, have to say, I absolutely love them!

The deep brown color really ties in with the brass on the other shelf as well as the vintage brass lamp that sits on the right side of the credenza.

I used another one of those antique postcards here along with a vintage creamer. To finish off this small space, I simply tied some red velvet ribbon into a bow and placed it beneath the postcard.

Festive Christmas Touches on the Mantel

Next, we get a glimpse of the mantel.

The red and green theme is carried over here as well along with dark wood tones and a few velvet deer. More bells are strung on a ribbon and draped across the front to tie the two sides together.

This mantel always gives me trouble when it comes to seasonal decorating due to the shape of it. However, this year I went with an a-symmetrical placement of items and love how it turned out!

Embracing Holiday Memories on the Christmas Tree

Our tree doesn’t change much from year to year, mainly because I adore the nostalgia of using my grandma’s vintage ornaments each season. Her floppy fabric angel adorns the top of the Christmas tree, much like she’s watching down on us from Heaven.

When we have a larger home, I would love to have three Christmas trees to decorate but for now I’m completely satisfied with just this one 🙂

Utilizing Pinecones and Branches in a Thrifted Christmas Hutch

This is our dining area.

My hutch can be seen from all parts of the living area so I love to decorate it for the seasons. This is actually the first Christmas that I’ve had this piece of furniture so I was extra excited to style it for the holiday!

Months ago, I had the idea to place my two light up houses on the bottom shelf and create a ‘homestead’ type scene. The other two shelves would be neutral using ironstone, milk glass, and greenery.

And, I’m happy to report that, by decorating with vintage Christmas on a budget: thrifty tips for creating a festive home items, the vision in my head came to life!

The barn is just an unbelievable secondhand find from a few years ago. I get so excited to bring it out each year! For the most prominence, I placed it directly in the middle of the hutch so that it can be seen through the glass door.

Then, I placed the brick farmhouse to the left.

Flocked greenery and bottle brush trees add to the ‘Christmas in the country’ theme that I just adore.

To the right of the barn, I created a snowy, woodsy scene using more trees and faux cedar.

Someday soon I will have my dream house out in the country. For now, I can decorate and create small Christmas scenes with my decor, like playing in my dollhouse as a small girl 🙂 Dreams and goals are what life is all about!

Christmas Hutch Shelves with Vintage Holiday Decor

Anyways, as we move up to the second shelf of the hutch, you will notice the neutrals coming into play.

Using a combination of vintage ironstone and milk glass along with a few of my vintage creamers, I was able to create a winter wonderland scene. Small bottle brush trees add texture and movement while the red brings a pop of Christmas cheer.

I used a few more bells here to tie this area in with the credenza. The remaining antique postcard was used on this shelf as well. This one is vertical in shape which helps draw the eyes up in a space like this.

The beauty about using vintage decor is that it can be used in many different ways at many times of the year.

My green enamel teapot is a great example of that. I used this for Fall with the orange and rust colors. But, just by placing it next to a pine tree and some red accents, it instantly leans Christmas!

Lastly, the top shelf is adorned with a thrifted piece of winter artwork. This snowy scene, paired with more ironstone, a few butter pats, and some flocked green trees, has a peaceful feeling to it. It reminds me of walking out into the woods after a big snow fall where it’s just so, so quiet.

With the bright reds and greens that flood the rest of my home, I wanted this hutch space to be calming and serene.

It truly is amazing to me how vintage holiday decor can be used to illicit certain feelings and tell a story. It’s taken me years to figure out how to best do that but I feel like I finally achieved success with the pieces used in my Christmas hutch.

Closing Tidbits on Thrifty Vintage Christmas Decor

Decorating with vintage Christmas items is such a joy. I sincerely hope you found inspiration and a few new ideas here that you can use and tweak to fit your own space.

Vintage holiday decor is truly so special, full of character and sentimental memories.

Styling your home for the seasons is a journey to be embraced, not rushed. Take your time and enjoy the process of bringing love, hope, joy, and peace to others through curated holiday decor. At this festive season of the year, be encouraged to find happiness in the simple things.

From my home to yours, Merry Christmas!

Leave me a comment! Do you love to use vintage Christmas pieces in your holiday decorating? 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.

Here on the blog, you will find loads of inspiration for decorating with vintage and antique decor, simple DIY crafts and many thrifting adventures. If that interests you, I invite you to sign up for my e-mail. You will receive a free digital download as a thank you!

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