When December finally rolls through, it always brings holiday cheer along with it. If you’re living off-campus, decorating might seem too expensive or you might just be too busy, but it doesn’t have to empty your pockets or drain your day. Here are some do-it-yourself tips from Arts and Culture to help you make your humble abode a little more festive.
Lights:
There is not a single winter holiday that doesn’t decorate with lights, and they’re an easy way to give a room some warmth. Many landlords don’t want tenants nailing into the walls, as too many holes gives your room an unsightly appearance. Luckily, there are many alternatives to keep your lights on your wall or window. Command hooks come off the wall with no harm and are a secure way to keep lights from falling. Adhesive putty is a great option too and spreading it out between the length of the cord will keep it up. Alternatively, you can decorate a bulletin board with lights using thumbtacks for a picture-frame effect. If you need to hang something outside on a non-wood surface, a hot glue gun — which is easily removed with isopropyl alcohol — is a good option as well. You can also wrap green and red lights around decorations you already have and your Christmas aesthetic will be evident.
Wreaths:
A big pine wreath is always nice to see during the winter. However, real ones can get messy, as they tend to drop pine needles. Plastic ones from the store are nice too, but for an even cheaper alternative, you can make a wreath yourself. Take green construction paper and trace your handprint 10 times. Cut the hand shapes out and arrange them into a circle, along with some small circles from red construction paper for the mistletoe. It’s true that these are Christmas colors, though it could easily work with colors for other winter holidays. Instead of green, use blue and white construction paper for Hanukkah or use some black, red and green for Kwanzaa. And if you’re celebrating Festivus, go for gray.
Snowflakes:
Snowflakes give off a great winter vibe, and with just a few sheets of white paper, they can transform your room into a winter wonderland. Cut a circle from some printer paper, then fold it twice and use scissors to carve some shapes along the edge. When you open it up, you’ll have a unique snowflake you can put on doors, windows and any other surface you like. White, washable paint is a great option if you wanna paint a snowflake on your window as well. Try painting the bottom of your window with white paint for a snow-covered ground, and then drawing several small snowflakes falling above.
Baubles:
These are a Christmas tree classic, but who says they have to go on a tree? You can hang these up on your doorway by attaching them to some yarn or string. But be wary of glass baubles that break easily. Instead, try making them yourself. Take a balloon, blow it up to your desired bauble size and glue some white, red or green yarn to it. Then, mix one part tacky glue with two parts water until it’s a sticky combination and roll your yarn in it. Once dry, you can pop the balloon and your yarn will be dried into the shape of a bauble. Tie some more yarn around it to hang.
Candles:
Candles never fail to fill up a room with joy. Students living off-campus have the privilege to use these whenever they want. After picking a safe place to light a candle, place a holiday scented one anywhere you want to fill a room with a festive fragrance. A pack of tea candles is useful as well and you can make a holiday shrine by lighting these and placing some pine cones around them for decoration.
Stockings:
Lastly, stockings are a holiday staple. To make your own, you can use some red construction paper or felt if you want to make it more authentic. Draw two stocking outlines on your material of choice and then cut them out. Glue the edges together until a pocket has formed. Then, use some white or green paper or felt to cut some trimmings out. Glue these onto the stockings as well. After that, hang it over your bed or window. There’s no inappropriate place for a stocking in your room.