At some point, Christmas got very beige.
Beautiful, absolutely. Tasteful? Definitely. But somewhere between perfectly coordinated ornaments, neutral wrapping paper and Christmas trees styled within an inch of their lives, I think we lost a little bit of the chaos that made Christmas so magical when we were growing up.
If you remember Christmas in the ’90s, you'll probably know exactly what I mean.
The tree wasn't a theme.
It was covered in multicolored lights, shiny baubles, tinsel, chocolate decorations, things we'd made at school and ornaments that appeared every December for reasons nobody could quite remember.
Christmas cards slowly took over every available surface.
There were paper chains.
There was probably a Christmas village somewhere.
The presents under the tree were wrapped in six completely different papers.
And at least one decoration was held together with Sellotape.
It was glorious, personal to each family and most importantly, fun!
The good news is that you don't need to spend a fortune buying “retro” Christmas decorations to bring that feeling back.
In fact, spending less might actually make your Christmas feel more like the ’90s.
Because the Christmases many of us remember weren't created by replacing all the decorations every year.
They were built slowly.
Things were reused. Decorations came out year after year. Children made things. Families collected ornaments. Christmas cards became decorations. Presents were wrapped at the kitchen table. The same stockings appeared every December.
So before you fill an online shopping cart with brand-new vintage-style Christmas decor that now costs a fortune, have a rummage through what you already own.
You might be surprised by how much Christmas magic is hiding in those boxes.
1. Start With the Christmas Decorations You Nearly Got Rid Of
This is your permission to rescue the “dated” Christmas decorations.
You know the ones.
The shiny red baubles.
The slightly battered gold bells.
The wooden Santa.
The angel that's been sitting on top of the tree since 1997.
The ornament your child made from cardboard and approximately half a bottle of glitter.
For a while, Christmas decorating became incredibly coordinated. We were encouraged to choose a palette, stick to it and replace things that didn't fit the aesthetic.
A nostalgic Christmas works in completely the opposite way.
The things that don't match are often the things that make it feel real.
Before buying anything, empty your Christmas boxes and look again at what you've already got.
Don't ask, “Does this match?”
Ask:
“Does this remind me of Christmas?”
That's a much better decorating rule.
2. Bring Back Multicolored Christmas Lights
If there is one thing capable of transporting a room back to childhood Christmas in about three seconds, it's multicolored lights.
Red. Green. Blue. Yellow.
All glowing together.
Warm-white lights are beautiful, but colored lights have a completely different feeling. They're cheerful, slightly chaotic and wonderfully nostalgic.
And you don't necessarily have to replace the lights on your main tree.
Try multicolored lights on:
• a small secondhand or tabletop tree
• a garland
• around a window
• along a bookshelf
• around the kids' Christmas tree
• in the hallway
• on an outdoor shrub
If you already have a string packed away somewhere, even better.
Budget tip: Before buying new lights, test every old set you've got. You may already own exactly the thing you're about to pay someone to sell back to you as “retro Christmas decor.”
3. Let the Christmas Tree Be a Family Scrapbook
A ’90s Christmas tree didn't usually look as though an interior designer had spent three hours deciding where every bauble should go.
It told a story.
There were decorations from school.
Things brought home from holidays.
Baby's first Christmas ornaments.
Photo ornaments.
Cheap baubles.
Expensive baubles.
Things inherited from grandparents.
Things nobody liked but everybody would notice if they disappeared.
That's exactly what we want.
Start with the ornaments that mean something to you, then fill the gaps with simple red, green and gold baubles.
Don't worry about creating perfect symmetry.
Don't replace sentimental decorations because they aren't currently fashionable.
And definitely don't hide the wonky handmade ones at the back.
Put them right at the front.
Twenty years from now, those may be the decorations everyone fights over.
4. Add Tinsel Back In—Carefully
Yes.
I know some people just shuddered.
But we're trying to make Christmas feel like the ’90s again, and tinsel deserves its moment.
The trick is not necessarily to smother every branch until your tree looks like it has wandered out of a shopping center in 1993.
A little can go a long way.
Try thin strands of silver or gold tinsel draped loosely through the branches rather than wrapping huge fluffy ropes around the tree.
You can also use tinsel on a small tree if you're not ready to commit to it in the living room.
It's inexpensive, catches the Christmas lights beautifully and instantly makes a tree feel less serious.
Christmas is allowed to be a little bit tacky.
There. I said it.
5. Make Paper Chains
This might be one of the cheapest Christmas decorations in the entire article.
And one of the nicest.
All you need is paper, scissors and glue or tape.
Use classic red and green paper, leftover wrapping paper, brown kraft paper, old book pages you don't need, or whatever you have in the craft cupboard.
Then sit down and make them.
With the kids, with friends, while watching a Christmas movie or with a glass of something nice after everyone has gone to bed.
Hang them across windows, shelves, doorways or children's bedrooms.
Perfectly straight chains made from expensive craft paper aren't required.
The slightly wonky ones are better.
6. Stop Trying to Make All the Wrapping Paper Match
This one could actually save you money.
You do not need an entirely new “wrapping aesthetic” every Christmas.
Use the paper you have.
Mix tartan with Santa paper.
Add stripes.
Use kraft paper.
Use that random half-roll that's been in the cupboard for three years.
Tie some parcels with ribbon and some with string.
Stick a bow on another.
Add proper gift tags with people's names handwritten on them.
When everything is under the tree, the mixture of colors and patterns creates that wonderful overflowing Christmas-morning feeling.
And isn't that far more nostalgic than twenty presents wrapped identically in beige paper?
7. Display Christmas Cards Like They're Decorations
Remember when Christmas cards were everywhere?
Across the mantel.
On shelves.
Around door frames.
Pinned to ribbon.
Balanced precariously on every available surface.
Bring that back.
Christmas cards are essentially free seasonal artwork sent to your house by people you love.
If you receive fewer physical cards now, keep particularly lovely ones from previous years and bring them out again.
You can also display old family Christmas cards if you have them.
A length of ribbon or twine with tiny pegs makes an inexpensive card display, or simply stand them along shelves and windowsills.
The room gradually becoming more Christmassy every time another card arrives is part of the fun.
8. Hunt for Christmas Decorations in Thrift Stores
If you do want to buy decorations, this is where I'd look first.
Not because every thrift store is secretly hiding a box of valuable vintage Christmas ornaments.
Most aren't.
But Christmas decorations are exactly the kind of thing people donate when they're clearing attics, downsizing or changing their decorating style.
Look for:
glass baubles, wooden ornaments, ceramic Christmas trees, bells, handmade decorations, candlesticks, Christmas plates, old stockings, baskets, Christmas tins, vintage-style Santas, small houses and anything that looks as though it might have been unpacked every December for the past thirty years.
Don't worry if you only find one or two things.
A nostalgic Christmas should look collected, not purchased in one afternoon.
9. Start a Thrifted Christmas Village
You absolutely do not need to buy a complete matching Christmas village.
In fact, please don't.
Finding the houses individually is half the fun.
Look in thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales and Facebook Marketplace for little ceramic houses, churches, shops and figurines.
They don't have to be from the same manufacturer.
Put them together on a sideboard, windowsill or bookshelf. Add inexpensive bottle-brush trees, a string of tiny lights and a little faux snow if you like.
You can start with two houses this year.
Find another next year.
Eventually you'll have a wonderfully mismatched little town with its own history.
And you'll probably develop very strong opinions about where the bakery should go.
10. Put Christmas Everywhere—Just a Little
One thing I remember about childhood Christmas is that it wasn't confined to the living room.
Christmas somehow escaped.
There was a Christmas hand towel in the bathroom.
A Santa mug in the kitchen.
A decoration hanging from a door handle.
Cards in the hallway.
A tiny tree somewhere unexpected.
You don't need to fully decorate every room.
Instead, move a few inexpensive or existing decorations around the house.
Put a Christmas mug beside the coffee machine.
Tie ribbon around a kitchen wreath.
Place a little Santa on a bookshelf.
Put a small string of lights in the hallway.
Hang an old ornament from a cupboard handle.
These tiny touches can make the whole house feel Christmassy without requiring much money at all.
11. Bring Back Big Red Bows
Before Christmas bows became enormous designer statements, they were simply... bows.
And they were everywhere.
Red velvet ribbon is particularly useful because you can turn one roll into lots of decorations.
Tie bows onto:
• the Christmas tree
• wreaths
• garlands
• dining chairs
• baskets
• candlesticks
• stair rails
• cabinet handles
• presents
You can reuse good ribbon year after year, too.
If velvet ribbon isn't in the budget, ordinary red ribbon still works beautifully.
The important thing isn't what the ribbon costs.
It's that cheerful flash of Christmas red.
12. Decorate With Candy Canes
Sometimes the cheapest decorations are the actual Christmas things we stopped thinking of as decorations.
A box of candy canes can decorate a tree.
Hang them directly from branches or tie them on with little pieces of ribbon.
Fill a glass jar with them.
Put them in mugs.
Add them to place settings.
Tuck a few into stockings.
They bring instant red-and-white Christmas color to a room, and unlike another plastic ornament, they'll probably disappear by January.
Funny how that happens.
13. Bring Out the Christmas Tins
Please tell me I'm not the only person who remembers houses full of Christmas tins.
Chocolate tins. Biscuit tins. Sweet tins.
If you have old Christmas tins tucked away, bring them out.
Stack a couple in the kitchen. Fill one with cookies. Use another to store ribbons, Christmas cards or small ornaments.
And if you spot pretty old tins while thrifting, they're worth a second look.
They give you storage and decoration in one.
14. Decorate With Oranges, Nuts and Things You Can Eat
Not every Christmas decoration needs to go back into a plastic storage box in January.
Fill bowls with clementines or oranges.
Put nuts in a wooden bowl.
Dry orange slices for garlands and ornaments.
Bake gingerbread and hang a few pieces from ribbon.
Fill jars with candy.
Use cranberries in simple decorations.
These things add color, scent and that abundant old-fashioned Christmas feeling without filling your house with more permanent stuff.
15. Get the Old Christmas Books Out
Christmas books make wonderful decorations.
Especially children's books.
Stack a few beneath a lamp, leave one open on the coffee table or put them in a basket beside the sofa.
If you still have Christmas books from childhood, even better.
And this is another thing worth checking thrift stores for. Children's Christmas books are often inexpensive, and the older illustrations can be absolutely beautiful.
You don't need to buy books purely for decoration, though.
The point is to actually read them.
Preferably under a blanket with something involving chocolate.
16. Use Plaid Without Buying an Entire Christmas Collection
Plaid instantly gives a room that cozy, traditional Christmas feeling.
But you don't need matching Christmas pillows, stockings, table runners, blankets and napkins.
One plaid throw can do plenty.
So can:
• a plaid scarf used as a table runner
• tartan ribbon
• one pillow cover
• plaid wrapping paper
• an old wool blanket
• fabric remnants tied around jars or baskets
If you already own tartan or plaid anywhere in the house, bring it into the room you're decorating.
Shop your closets too.
A beautiful scarf doesn't know it's supposed to be clothing.
17. Make the House Smell Like Christmas
Nostalgia isn't only visual.
Smell might be even more powerful.
And thankfully, making your home smell Christmassy doesn't require a $40 candle.
Simmer orange peel, cinnamon sticks and cloves gently on the stove.
Bake cookies.
Make hot chocolate.
Bring fresh evergreen clippings inside.
Put oranges studded with cloves in a bowl.
Even peeling a clementine beside the Christmas tree somehow works.
Just be sensible with simmer pots, candles and anything involving heat, and never leave them unattended.
18. Turn Off the Big Light
This may be my cheapest Christmas decorating tip.
It costs exactly $0.
When evening comes, turn off the overhead light.
Switch on the Christmas tree.
Turn on your table lamps.
Light candles safely or use battery-operated candles.
Suddenly the room feels warmer, softer and far more magical.
A lot of that Christmas nostalgia we're chasing isn't actually a particular decoration.
It's the glow.
19. Put a Bowl of Christmas Chocolates Out
There are some things that just scream Christmas at Grandma's house.
A bowl of individually wrapped chocolates is one of them.
Put them in a glass dish, an old serving bowl or something you've inherited.
Suddenly a normal coffee table feels Christmassy.
Will you have to replenish the bowl constantly?
Almost certainly.
I cannot help you with that.
20. Use Your Family Photos
This is one I really love.
Find photographs from Christmases past and bring a few out in December.
They don't need special Christmas frames.
Put one in a frame you already own.
Prop another on a shelf.
Make inexpensive copies and peg them onto your Christmas card display.
Seeing your children's first Christmas, your parents when they were younger or yourself wearing an absolutely spectacular 1994 Christmas jumper does something no brand-new decoration ever could.
It makes Christmas feel like your Christmas.
21. Let the Kids Make Some of the Decorations
If you want Christmas to feel like childhood, let childhood into the decorating.
Make salt-dough ornaments.
Paper snowflakes.
Paper chains.
Paint pinecones.
Make stars from cardboard.
Decorate gingerbread.
Give children inexpensive wooden ornaments to paint.
Will everything coordinate with your decor?
Absolutely not.
That's rather the point.
Write the year on the back before you pack them away.
Future you will be very glad you did.
22. Don't Forget the Christmas Stockings
You don't need expensive personalized stockings.
In fact, slightly mismatched stockings can feel much more nostalgic.
Use the ones you've had for years.
Look for inexpensive knitted or traditional red stockings.
Check thrift stores.
Or make simple ones if you sew.
Hang them from the mantel if you have one, but don't worry if you don't.
A shelf, staircase, hooks or even the backs of dining chairs can work.
No fireplace required.
Santa is adaptable.
23. Create a Little Christmas Corner
If your budget is really tight, don't spread it across the entire house.
Choose one spot.
Maybe it's the tree and the chair beside it.
Or a console table.
A shelf.
The mantel.
A corner of the kitchen.
Layer a few things together there: greenery, lights, Christmas books, a candle, cards, an old decoration and perhaps a bowl of chocolates.
Concentrating your decorations creates much more impact than scattering a handful of new purchases everywhere.
This is especially useful in apartments and smaller homes.
24. Use Real Greenery Where You Can
You don't need an enormous luxury garland.
If you have safe access to evergreen clippings from your own garden, they can transform inexpensive faux greenery.
Add small pieces to a basic artificial garland or wreath.
Tuck greenery around candlesticks.
Put a few branches in a vase or jug.
Add pinecones.
Tie greenery onto presents.
Mixing real and faux greenery makes the whole arrangement feel fuller and more natural.
Just remember that cut greenery dries out, so keep it away from open flames and heat sources.
25. Make Christmas Morning Look Abundant Without Buying More Presents
This is important.
Nostalgic Christmas shouldn't become another excuse to spend money.
A Christmas tree doesn't need to be surrounded by hundreds of gifts to look magical.
Beautiful wrapping, different-sized boxes and a few thoughtfully arranged presents can create that lovely Christmas-morning scene without going overboard.
And some of those presents can be practical things you'd be buying anyway.
Books.
Pajamas.
Slippers.
Favorite snacks.
Art supplies.
A new mug.
Things don't have to be extravagant to feel exciting when they're wrapped and waiting under a glowing tree.
26. Bring Back a Few Old Christmas Traditions
Here's where we stop decorating for a minute.
Because if your goal is to make Christmas feel like Christmas used to, changing the cushions isn't going to do all the work.
Think about what actually made Christmas special when you were younger.
Was it driving around looking at Christmas lights?
Watching the same movie every year?
Baking cookies?
Opening one present on Christmas Eve?
Playing board games?
Going for a walk after Christmas dinner?
Making hot chocolate?
Leaving something out for Santa?
Calling relatives?
Wearing ridiculous Christmas pajamas?
Pick a few traditions and bring them back.
Most cost very little.
And they'll probably do more for that nostalgic feeling than anything you can buy.
27. Don't Buy “Vintage” Before Checking for Actual Vintage
This is one of the biggest ways to keep the budget under control.
Once an aesthetic becomes fashionable, retailers become very good at selling us brand-new things designed to look old.
Before paying $25 for a “vintage-inspired” Christmas bell, see whether the thrift store has an actual old bell for $3.
Before buying new retro ornaments, ask family members whether they have decorations they no longer use.
Check:
• thrift stores
• estate sales
• yard sales
• Facebook Marketplace
• your parents' attic (ask first, of course!)
• your own attic
• the back of the Christmas cupboard
You aren't looking for valuable antiques.
You're looking for things with charm.
Those are not necessarily the same thing.
28. What I'd Buy With $25
If I had $25 and wanted to make my home feel more like a nostalgic ’90s Christmas, I wouldn't buy twenty-five dollars' worth of tiny decorations.
I'd choose one or two things that change the atmosphere.
For example:
A string of multicolored lights plus red ribbon.
Or thrifted Christmas village houses.
Or a traditional plaid throw from a thrift store.
Or some inexpensive craft supplies for paper chains and homemade ornaments, with enough left for candy canes and hot chocolate.
Start with what you already have, then spend your $25 filling the most obvious gap.
29. What I'd Buy With $50
With $50, I'd still avoid doing a Christmas-haul trolley dash.
I'd put the money into things I could use repeatedly.
Perhaps:
multicolored lights, a good roll of reusable ribbon, one thrifted Christmas village piece, some inexpensive plain baubles and supplies for homemade decorations.
Or I'd spend part of it on food and activities.
Cookie ingredients.
Hot chocolate.
Popcorn for movie night.
Candy canes.
Christmas craft supplies.
Because we're trying to create Christmas, not simply decorate for it.
30. What I'd Buy With $100
If you have $100 available, don't assume you need to spend it all.
I'd first decorate almost entirely with what I own.
Then stand back.
What is actually missing?
Maybe your artificial tree has seen better days.
Maybe you need lights.
Maybe you'd love one beautiful traditional blanket you'll use every winter.
Perhaps this is the year you start collecting a Christmas village.
Spend the money on one thing that will become part of your Christmas for years, rather than a bag full of trendy decorations you'll be bored with next December.
That's how Christmas decorations used to become nostalgic in the first place.
We kept them.
31. What NOT to Buy for a Nostalgic Christmas
You don't need:
• an entirely new set of matching ornaments.
• A new tree because your existing one isn't fashionable.
• Six Christmas pillows.
• A complete matching Christmas village.
• “Vintage-style” decorations when you've got real old decorations in storage.
• A new color scheme.
• Christmas versions of every object in your house.
And you definitely don't need to replace meaningful decorations because TikTok has decided Christmas is a different color this year.
Spend where something genuinely adds joy.
Skip the rest.
32. The $0 Nostalgic Christmas Challenge
Before buying anything, see how far you can get without spending a cent.
Get every Christmas box out.
Use your old ornaments.
Move blankets and plaid textiles from other rooms.
Display old Christmas cards.
Get out the Christmas books.
Frame an old family photo.
Use baskets and bowls you already own.
Turn off the overhead lights.
Put Christmas music on.
Make paper snowflakes from paper you already have.
Rearrange rather than replace.
You may discover that the home you were trying to create was already sitting in storage.
The Nostalgic ’90s Christmas Formula
If you want a really simple formula, I'd use this:
Something colorful + something homemade + something old + something sentimental + warm light + Christmas music + something delicious.
So that might be:
• multicolored tree lights
• paper chains
• an old Christmas village
• your children's ornaments
• lamps and candlelight
• the Christmas album your family always played
• a plate of cookies.
That's it.
No designer Christmas collection required.
The Real Secret to Making Christmas Feel Like the ’90s Again
I don't think we're really nostalgic for tinsel.
Or multicolored lights.
Or ceramic Christmas villages.
Not entirely, anyway.
We're nostalgic for what those things remind us of.
Christmas feeling enormous when we were small.
The excitement of seeing decorations that hadn't been out since last December.
Watching the tree lights in a dark room.
Christmas cards arriving through the door.
Making something terrible at school and proudly hanging it on the tree.
The smell of Christmas dinner.
Wrapping presents badly.
Watching the same films.
Eating chocolates we weren't normally allowed to eat at 10am.
Being together.
And perhaps that's why trying to buy our way back to that feeling doesn't quite work.
The good news is that we don't have to.
Use the old decorations.
Make things.
Put the colorful lights on.
Display the cards.
Get the ridiculous singing Santa out of the attic.
Let the tree be imperfect.
Wrap presents in whatever paper you've got.
Make the hot chocolate.
Watch the old movie.
Keep the traditions that matter and start a couple of new ones that might become nostalgic someday.
Because the best way to make Christmas feel like it used to might not be to recreate 1995 perfectly.
It might simply be to stop worrying quite so much about making Christmas look perfect...
and start making it feel magical again.
For more Christmas decor inspiration you may also like How to Get the Ralph Lauren Christmas Look on a Budget and How to Get the Pottery Barn Christmas Look on a Budget
