Christmas is all about spending quality time with family and friends, as well as taking part in festivities – and what better way to get into the festive mood than to start decorating your home? While re-using the Christmas ornaments you’ve saved from the past years is budget-friendly, decorating your home the same year everyday can get boring. But just because you want to up your Christmas décor game doesn’t mean that you have to shell out money. Here are two DIY Christmas ornaments that you can make with discarded materials:

Recycled Paper Christmas Balls

Christmas balls are some of the ornaments that get lost or broken easily, unless you buy high-quality ones which could be quite expensive. Instead of splurging on new ornaments, put old greeting cards, cardboard or pamphlets to good use by turning them into 3D decorations. Start by cutting four similarly-sized circles from old greeting cards (they need not have the same design). You can make the circles as big or as small as you want. Fold the circles in half, with the plain side facing out, and run the side of your hand or a boning folder along the fold to create a neat crease. To assemble the Christmas balls, glue the half-circle panels to each other so that the fold of each circle is gathered in the middle of the ball and the design is facing outwards. You can punch a hole on top of the Christmas ball and loop a piece of yarn through it.

Coffee Filter Mini-Christmas Tree

Not only do coffee filters help in brewing a good cup of coffee, they also make great craft materials. To create a Christmas tree out of coffee filters, take around 9 or 10 coffee filters, fold each in half, and cut out the center circle. Cut along one side of the filter rings, so that you end up with long strips of softly-pleated filter paper. To assemble the tree, get a foam or cardboard cone (which you can get in a craft store) and start gluing the filter paper on it, starting from the bottom. Make sure not to stretch out the filter paper so as to keep the pleats. Continue gluing until the ends of the filter paper meet and cut off the excess. Glue another layer on top of the first ring, making sure that the layers slightly overlap. Repeat the process until you reach the tip of the cone. Once you’re done gluing the filter paper strips on the cone, you can start decorating. Try gluing old buttons or bead to the filter paper to create the ornaments on the Christmas tree. To complete the set-up, gift-wrap small boxes and place it at the foot of your coffee filter Christmas tree.

Whoever said that the best things in life are free wasn’t exaggerating. Just because Christmas is a festive occasion doesn’t mean that you have to spend so much money to get into the festive mood. With a little creativity and some scrap materials, you can prep your home for the season’s festivities.

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