6 simple natural Christmas decoration ideas on a budget DIY

Do you want to decorate your home in a more natural way and on a budget for Christmas? Read along as I share my top 6 simple, natural Christmas decoration ideas on a budget you can DIY.

Why natural decoration?

There are so many advantages of natural decor! One of the reasons that motivates me is the calm and peaceful look they have. Most natural decor items have those cozy colors like brown, green, dark red, orange… You don’t have to be an interior designer, they will always make a great fit!

Having small children in your home it can be difficult to prevent them from putting all kind of decor into their mouths when you look away for 5 seconds. With using natural items I know that even if my baby grabs something by accident she will not get toxic chemicals into her body. Same goes for pets by the way.

Another reason is that you can use less plastic through simple, natural Christmas decoration. There are shocking numbers on how much waste we produce per household for Christmas. How awesome is it if you can simply put your decoration on the compost heap at the end of the season knowing that everything will be soil next Christmas?

Make simple, natural orange slices as a Christmas decoration

In this blog I share the simple recipe to dry your own orange slices. They are one of my absolute favorite simple, natural Christmas decorations. Here are a few reasons why.

When you dry orange slices your whole home starts to smell amazing. It takes some hours to dry them in the oven so you will likely enjoy the smell of orange for a whole day. When you use them as decor they still do smell nice even if the smell is less strong.

Most simple, natural Christmas decoration is in darker colors like brown and dark green. Oranges give such a beautiful and soft touch of warmth and coziness. You can use them as hangers or Christmas tree ornaments, but they also look beautiful in any other assembly of Christmas decoration. They also go well with not natural Christmas decoration.

Same goes with apple slices!

Apple slices are the responsible big sister of orange slices. They don’t look as pretty or cute, but they are more regional where I live and therefore even better for the environment. If you dry them for food you take out the middle part. But if you only use them for decoration and leave the core of the apple and create a beautiful star when drying.

Personally I think that orange slices look prettier when combined with apple slices in any Christmas decoration.

Use pine apples as a simple, natural and all free Christmas decoration

Pine apples form in spring, harden during the summer and open during the winter, providing animals food during the cold season. If you go and collect them in your nearby forrest make sure to collect the ones that are already open and empty in order to not steal any foor of the little mice and squirrel.

Pine apples have a really rustic touch. They kind of are ready to go when you pick them in the forrest so there is no more simple natural Christmas decoration than pine apples.

I still remember that we went pineapple picking as children in the cold november forrest. Make it a fun activity as a family on a weekend morning. That way you have both: all natural and simple Christmas decoration and a fun activity to enjoy family time.

Natural Christmas tree ornaments

Before thinking about natural Christmas tree ornaments let’s talk Christmas tree. We made it a tradition to get a real Christmas tree as a married couple every year. Some people say that it is bad for the environment to have a real Christmas tree. I don’t agree with that for several reasons. First of all seems a plastic tree not the best idea for our environment to me. Secondly some people believe that they clear forests in order to harvest Christmas trees. But nothing could be further from the truth. Christmas trees are an agricultural crop meaning: farmers plant trees in order to sell them as Christmas trees. Therefore if you buy a real Christmas tree you actually support the planting of additional trees.

It might not be trendy but I sure do love our naturally decorated Christmas tree. My mother-in-law inspired me as I saw her Christmas tree for the first time. She adds some few ornaments every year that are often handmade and from natural materials. I loved this idea of adding slowly instead of buying a big overload of baubles and garlands.

However if you set up your first Christmas tree you might not want to decorate it with only one or two ornaments for the season. Buying natural ornaments is much more expensive than cheaper plastic ones. Therefore I love to fill our gaps with apple and orange slices and even small pine apples will look amazing as natural ornaments.

Christmas indoor plants

Sometimes you can buy those plants that are sprayed white with imitation snow. If you avoid those sprays it might help to get some white indoor plants. There are plants that naturally look white and might give you that snowy look without the chemicals. Not only the chemicals are a downside to the imitation snow sprays but also the fact that you are killing the plant you spray at. Well to be fair most of my plants die too because I forget to water them but that surely is different… Right?

Another amazing indoor plant that is not too expensive is called poinsettia. It flowers in early winter and produces beautiful red or pink leaves. And guess what: it doesn’t need much water either!

Last but not least I have to mention all the miniature Christmas trees out there. Mostly you can buy them for a very reasonable price and they make a nice, simple and natural Christmas decoration peace at any sill or table.

Create your own simple, natural Christmas decoration wreath

Creating a wreath doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. We usually buy a Christmas tree that is just a little bit too big for our living room. Then we cut the lowest branches in order to have ‘free’ material for wreathes and other bits and peaces.

Wrap your branches around a polystyrene wreath or make your own using some green willow branches. You can decorate your wreath again with pine apples, orange and apple slices and maybe some berries from a holly.

If you are not creative or patient enough to make your own wreath you can simply tie some pine tree branches together into a brush and hang it somewhere. That surely is a simple and natural Christmas decoration.

What do simple and natural Christmas decoration do you love? Share it in the comments I would love to read all about it!