Ultimate Shopping Guide For Your Holiday Decor

One of my favorite things about the holidays are the decorations. I love driving through our neighborhood and seeing all the pretty lights, the giant blow-up snowmen, and the wreaths on every door. New England is a very Christmassy place this time of year (the massive amount of snow doesn’t hurt) and everyone gets in the spirit pretty quickly around here.

Growing up, my parents always went all out with decorations for the holidays. We always had an enormous tree, little handmade snowmen everywhere, and evergreen garland above all the doorways. And that was just the inside. We pulled out huge totes of decorations every year, and spent an entire day spreading them all over the house. Even as an adult, it’s still my favorite activity each holiday season.

But living in a condo makes decorating on this scale a little bit more difficult. Don’t get me wrong, I still go all out! But I try to spread it out a bit more to make it feel less cluttered. Right now we have a small tree that sits on top of our side table, and we’ve put garland and little signs throughout the house. We also have a big wreath on the door, and lights that wrap around our walkway railing. It took a while to find the right decorations for our home, because I’m pretty picky about those details. But after looking at various places at the beginning of the month, I found some great stores for all of our holiday décor needs!

Home Goods

I’ve always loved Home Goods for so many reasons. 1. They have very reasonable prices for what you’re getting. 2. They get a wide array of items. And 3. It’s hard not to buy everything in sight. Right now they have beautiful wreaths (fake) for $24-$45, and they’re excellent quality. I recently bought holiday bath towels for $6.99 each, and they look and feel like they came from Pottery Barn. I easily spend $50+ during each visit, and I always end up with some great designer finds.

Hobby Lobby

This is the ultimate place for inexpensive glassware and unique signs. If you’re a regular follower, you know my love for signs of all sizes and sayings. Hobby Lobby has atleast 4 aisles dedicated to these. It’s my heaven. And this makes them one of the many great places to find holiday decorations as well. This year I found 4 gold-striped mason jars (great for tea-lights and centerpieces), all for $2 each, as well as tons of unique ornaments that make great gifts. They also have craft items if you prefer customizing some gifts.

Christmas Tree Shop

I know these stores can’t be found everywhere, but I had to include it anyways. I could spend days in one of these stores. They have everything from holiday décor, to snacks and stocking stuffers. It’s a great one-stop-shop for those last minute items, and I usually go in a few times a year. Last year I actually made 3 big care packages to be sent off to different deployed units, and I only spent $45. These care packages contained a lot of $1 items, but I made sure to include the necessities as well as some fun items. If you’re looking to make your own care package or fill some stockings, find one of these stores nearby!

Pier1Imports

Similar to Pottery Barn, Pier 1 has some higher end décor items that make me wish I had more money to shop with. They have beautifully detailed ornaments, dining sets, winter throws, graphic pillows, etc. I honestly love just going there to look, as hard as that is sometimes. If you’re searching for some very unique and detailed items, they have great options.