As Christmas time draws near, people often find their stress level growing every day. People are scurrying to fulfill their gift-giving obligations, their additional cooking and baking duties, and their schedule of social gatherings. To top it all off, buying gifts, feeding the extended family, and traveling to get-togethers puts a seasonal strain on the family budget. A good way to de-stress and put yourself in a more appropriate holiday mood is to have your home festively decorated. But with all that’s going on, who has the time or money to deck the halls? Here are a few tips to Christmas-ify your home without adding to your holiday burden.

Music

One of the best ways to lift spirits during the holidays, as in any time of the year, is by listening to lively music. Christmas songs can take us back to our youth; to a time before we even knew what holiday stress was. Most cities have at least one radio station playing non-stop Christmas songs throughout the holiday season, so you can listen for free at home or anywhere. Put one of these stations on as background music to bring you cheer throughout the day.

Lights

Most people hang Christmas lights outside the house and on the Christmas tree inside the house, but you certainly don’t spend all of your time sitting in front of the Christmas tree during these busy times. Consider hanging a string or two of lights in some other places in your house. Put some some small LED lights around the frame of your bathroom mirror or vanity. If you have a lamp hanging above your dinner table, accent it with a small string of colored lights.

Scents

Another way to throw yourself back to Christmases of youth is through the classic smells of the season. Even if you don’t have a fresh-cut tree or the time to bake your own cookies, there are plenty of candles, plug-in scents, and potpourri out there to fill your house with the scent of Christmas.

Advent Calendars

A traditional way of keeping your mind on the holiday is an advent calendar, whether store-bought with treats inside or a simple homemade craft. A simple and cheap homemade calendar is the paper chain. Simply cut strips of colored construction paper, glue each strip into a ring that interlocks with the others to make a 25-link paper chain. You can use a marker to assign a day of the countdown to each link. As each day passes, tear one link off the chain. Watching the chain get shorter and shorter builds anticipation for the big day.

Wrapping Parties

A great way to bring Christmas joy to your home is to fill it with people. Everybody has plenty gift wrapping to do, and inviting friends over to work together fills your home without the stress of planning another formal get-together.

No matter what your schedule and budget constraints are, there are plenty of ways to Christmas-ify your home.

Sally is a blogger and home interiors expert working for Cliq Studios. Cliq are a discount cabinets specialist designing, manufacturing and selling maple, cherry and oak kitchen cabinets. Visit Cliqs’ user-friendly website to help you visualise your new kitchen!

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