9 Easy Last-Minute Christmas Decorating Ideas
When you just need a few extra Christmas decorations in your home and you are running late on time, here are 9 easy and pretty Christmas decorating ideas that will take you less than 15 minutes to put together.
Would you still like to add a few more Christmas decorations to your home but need easy, quick ideas? Then you will want to read this! I’m sharing 9 last-minute Christmas Decorations you can put together in less than 15 minutes or less!
These decorating ideas are less DIY and more last-minute styling! You don’t have to be crafty or have an interior design eye to create beautiful holiday decor!
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Fruit In A Bowl
One very easy and also quite economical last-minute Christmas decorating idea is to add fruit to a bowl. Yes, it is that simple!
It looks fresh and Christmassy, and it will last about a week, depending on the fruit you choose!
Use fruit alone or embellish it with a few sprigs of faux greens or a spray or two of berries.
Here’s What You Will Need
Use one kind of fruit, like pomegranates or oranges, that is larger and makes more of a statement. You can tuck faux greens around the bottom of the bowl for an added festive look.
Leftover Ornaments?
Leftover ornaments are a designer’s Christmas gift! There are just so many different ways to use them! But here’s my favorite way to create a WOW factor centerpiece!
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Put all those pretty ornaments in a bow with a string of fairy lights and a few tiny sprigs of faux greenery.
If the bowl you are using is too deep, don’t use your pretty ornaments to fill the bottom of the bowl. Use pinecones (my favorite filler), plastic bags, or bubble wrap to fill the bottom of the bowl since you won’t see it
Don’t have a lot of extra ornaments. That’s okay! Just one beautiful ornament sitting in a nest of faux greens will look stunning, too.
Here are a few variations…
A Festive Candle
Candles and Christmas are the perfect match. As the evenings get darker and longer adding the soft glow of candlelight to your decor will up the ambiance in your home. And this pretty last-minute Christmas decorating idea is so easy to assemble.
Here’s What You Will Need
If you have faux snow, put it in the bottom of a hurricane candle holder and nestle a chunky candle in it. Make sure the snow does not come up more than about a quarter of the candle. I like to use battery-operated candles on timers, so I don’t have to worry about blowing them out when I leave the house or go to bed!
Put a wreath on a flat surface like a table or kitchen counter and place the hurricane candle holder in the center of the wreath. A quick and pretty look!
I use very few real Christmas greens in our home, but I like to make this super easy centerpiece about 10 days before Christmas using a wreath of natural greens.
If you don’t have a wreath, you can arrange sprigs of fresh or faux greens around the candle.
Here are a few variations…
Grouping Christmas Collections
Christmas decorating can be as easy as grouping some holiday items together! I collect little trees of all shapes and sizes and love to group some of my collection together in a spot that needs a bit of holiday cheer!
I added a bit of real seeded eucalyptus for this grouping of trees. This last-minute Christmas decorating idea is so attractive!
Here’s What You Will Need
If you have 3 things that are alike then you have a collection! But what if you have two?
If you only have a couple items that are alike you can embellish them to make something special by adding leftover ornaments and a few sprigs of greens.
Here are a few more variations…
PINECONES IN A BOWL
Pinecones are such a workhorse. They can be the star of a Christmas arrangement, work as supporting cast in an arrangement or vignette, and even work behind the scenes in the bottom of the bowl to hold up other decor.
I use pinecones all fall, Christmas, and winter. These little funny-looking gems are such a gift of nature.
Here’s What You Will Need
This is a simple arrangement like the rest of the last-minute Christmas decorating ideas, but it has a stunning wintery look.
For this simple arrangement, I used a fluted pedestal bowl and filled it with pinecones and my favorite snow
Keeping it all white except the pinecones is the secret to making this last-minute Christmas decoration look elegant!
Here are a few variations…
Faux Holiday Greens Vignette
You can create a really beautiful Christmas vignette for a table or any flat surface with just a few items.
Grab a tray or low-sided basket and line it sparingly with bits of faux greens. Then add a few votive candles to the vignette and some of your prettiest leftover ornaments.
Here’s What You Will Need
This is my favorite way to make a Christmas vignette!
There are so many ways to interpret this sweet and easy vignette. It will look particularly festive if you use the ornaments in your Christmas colors.
Here are a few variations…
Using Wreaths
Wreaths can be hung or tucked into so many places to add a quintessential Christmas look to your home!
Hang holiday wreaths from a mirror or a doorknob. Add them to a gift or tuck them into a bookshelf!
Make sure to use pretty ribbons to hang them from, or tie a pretty bow and add it to a wreath.
Here’s What You Will Need
This is such a simple and quick way to decorate for Christmas.
Other ways to use a wreath indoors…
Add A Bow To Your Stairs
Instead of adding garland or stockings or other things to your stairs, add a big beautiful bow to the newel post with greens. This is a stunning look that only takes a few minutes to create. So much easier than wiring greens to your staircase!
Here’s What You Will Need
The first thing I did to make this Christmas decoration for our stairs was to make a big floppy bow from two coordinating ribbons.
I also took a few long lengths of ribbon and tied a leftover ornament to each of the ends of the ribbon. Then I gathered everything up and tied a pipe cleaner around it to hold everything together, including a long length of thin ribbon.
Lastly, I tied everything on the new post, with a thin ribbon.
Just think of all the options!
Wrap A Gift And Use It As A Decoration
This is such an easy Christmas decoration! Use a wrapped gift as part of your Christmas decor.
I like to wrap a few “fake” gifts with Christmas wrap that works with my Christmas color palette each year and add them here and there throughout the house.
Even if it is a bit late for a big holiday season decor extravaganza you can have a beautiful home by adding a few of these easy and creative last-minute Christmas decorations!
Here’s What You Will Need
To see how to wrap my favorite and super easy Christmas bow, go HERE
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
OTHER CHRISTMAS POSTS
Make your home magical with all the easy Christmas ideas in the posts below!
7 Steps For Creating
7 Steps For Creating A Festive Christmas Home + Christmas Home Tour
The Ultimate Guide To Christmas Decorating
99 Merry Christmas Ideas For Creative A Festive Home
How To Choose The Perfect Christmas Color Palette
Another great year with you…….
Yay! Merry Christmas
You are amazing! Always something simple but lovely. Plenty of ideas and they are beautiful, too. Something for everyone. So appreciate your enthusiasm and instructions. Thank you.
I think over the years I have probably done all these things; so fun and simple.
So simple and so pretty.
Yvonne
I love the simplicity of a pinecone a sprig of evergreens and a candle vignettes. They can be glitzed up for Christmas and New Year’s. Than simply displayed through out the winter.
In one photo you have a lovely lamb with a crown. Is it possible to share where you got it. I’m trying to find lambs for my new nativity set and finding it difficult to find quality lambs.
I’ve had this little lamb for years. I found it on a blog shop here:https://www.etsy.com/shop/edithandevelyn
Thank you Yvonne for the link. While I didn’t see the lamb it is a lovely shop. I know I’ll find many beautiful things
Merry Christmas ✝️
Yvonne, thank you for this great post today. So needed and appreciated. As was this past Sunday’s story. Truly needed.
Susan
Merry Christmas,Susan.
Yvonne
I love your decorations. This year I actually used your idea for decorating the mantle. Merry Christmas
Oh, I’m so glad I’ve inspired you! Merry Christmas, Karen!
Great ideas!! The greenery and bow on the newell post vs. garland up the staircase is brilliant! I didn’t find the link for the snow used in your “Pinecones in a Bowl”.
I fixed it. Here’s is a link to the snow:https://rstyle.me/+fttaKMzZQLi8QGyOUZ48vw
Yvonne, I tried your 3 ingredient recipe for brisket using my slow cooker and cranberry relish, onion soup mix. It was delicious! We loved it! Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it Gay! Merry Christmas.
In the description of your beautiful pine one arrangement you stated “my favorite snow (see the bottom of the post for a source link).”
I didn’t see it listed. Can you tell me what it is called and where I can find it?
Thank you! ♥️ your blog ♥️
Thank you for letting me know, Vicki. You can see my favorite snow here:https://rstyle.me/+fttaKMzZQLi8QGyOUZ48vw