Instant Holiday Cheer: Super Fast Christmas Decorating Tips You'll Love

The holidays are near – time to deck the halls! Why doesn’t that thought make you merry? Between end-of-year reports, your kids’ activities, school concerts and the general hustle, bustle and stress of the holidays, sometimes it feels like the last thing you have time for is Christmas decorating.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Some 58% of Americans feel stressed just thinking about the holidays. One of the things that distresses them? Decorating their homes.

Thankfully, holiday decorating doesn’t have to be high-tension. There are plenty of quick decorating tricks that can add glad tidings to your home in next to no time. Even if you have just 10 minutes to spare, try one of these decorating ideas for a speedy infusion of Christmas cheer.

For instant seasonal appeal, almost nothing is easier than hanging a wreath. Christmas wreaths come in so many sizes and styles – and there are so many places you can use them!

Of course, a Christmas door wreath is standard, but wreaths are also beautiful over your fireplace or above the credenza in your front hall. Search the internet and you’ll find attractive and unusual ways to use wreaths – on the back of a dining chair, or on your kitchen cupboard doors, for instance.

Many people enjoy the simple beauty of an undecorated wreath. Hang it as is or add your own decorating flair. Alternatively, make your decorating even easier by buying a fully decorated and pre-lit artificial Christmas wreath that’s ready to hang.

With styles ranging from artificial green pine and frosted wreaths to non-traditional colorful wreaths to berry wreaths and ornament wreaths, the hardest thing about decorating with a Christmas wreath is deciding which one to buy!

Multiples of just about anything make a great focal point for your decor. All you need are similar decorations that you can group together for visual appeal. Maybe you collect nutcrackers, snow globes or Santa figures. You don’t have to dig out all your Christmas collectibles. Choose just a few and sprinkle them around the house.

No collection? No problem! Some things just beg to be bunched together. Combining as few as two or three like items can add an instant touch of Christmas. Consider a cute cluster of miniature sisal trees, for instance, or a grouping of Christmas village houses. Tuck a pair of reindeer on a bookshelf, or arrange a few snowmen or Christmas gnomes on a mantel or side table.

When you need a little Christmas, a small arrangement of decorations adds holiday atmosphere in a snap. 

When the cold weather arrives, all you want to do is curl up on the couch with a hot drink and a cozy throw blanket. For a quick and effortless Christmas decor upgrade, try a little pillow toss. Switch out your usual throws with Christmas pillows and blankets in holiday colors and designs. From rustic to luxurious, Christmas throws come in styles to suit every design aesthetic.

Christmas ornaments aren’t just for hanging on trees. There are so many interesting and creative ways to display them! Virtually any pretty container is a potential display piece for a cluster of Christmas tree ornaments.

For instance:

• Layer colorful Christmas balls in a tall vase

• Display delicate vintage Christmas ornaments in a beautiful bowl

• Fill a glass cloche with shiny Christmas baubles

• Arrange interesting ornaments on a tiered cookie stand

• Group your favorite ornaments on a silver tray

• Cluster Christmas decorations in a wire basket

How you display your ornaments is limited only by your imagination. This decorating trick takes just seconds, for Christmas atmosphere in an instant. 

A tiny Christmas tree can make a big impact. Tuck a mini Christmas tree in a corner, a staircase landing or an entryway. Set a potted Christmas tree or two in your living room, a wide mantel or a front hall table. Place a miniature Christmas tree by the fireplace hearth, surrounded by flameless candles or Christmas village houses.

You don’t even have to decorate your mini tree, although a strand of twinkly lights certainly adds to the cheerful atmosphere. Set a simple red bow on top for instant Christmas color.

Scatter a few miniature Christmas trees around the home and you’ll up the Christmas cheer in your home in no time.

If there’s a pine tree nearby, you have the makings of any number of Christmas decorations and decor accents. Spend five minutes outside gathering pine cones. A favorite natural addition to many Christmas arrangements, pinecones make pretty accents, whether they’re left as is or painted Christmas gold or silver.

Collect pinecones in a bowl or another pretty container to display on a tabletop. Use a few pinecones to accent pine branches or garland on a mantel or buffet. Glue several pinecones to a small wreath form.

Other natural materials also make great Christmas decorations, including pine boughs, acorns and other nuts, dried grasses and gnarled twigs. Don’t have time to forage? Give your kids a shopping bag and send them on a nature hunt! 

If the thought of decorating the entire house sends you into a cold sweat, pick one small area for a quick Christmas upgrade. Drape Christmas garland around a doorway, for instance. A garland hanger (or a simple tension curtain rod) makes the job even easier. 

Decorate an entry table or buffet. Set a rustic church or large nutcracker decoration in that awkward nook beside the couch. With a loop of Christmas ribbon, hang ornaments from the light fixture over your dining table, or a row of ornaments along the top of a window.

From the fireplace hearth to an end table to that odd space above the kitchen cabinets, pick one area to conduct a quick little Christmas pick-me-up. A few simple touches are all you need to turn that “dead space” into a lively little Christmas corner.

If there’s one type of decoration that speaks Christmas better than any other, it’s Christmas lights. Dark falls early in the winter, but lights merrily chase away the shadows. From softly glowing Christmas tree lights to fun novelty lights, there are many easy ways to brighten your holiday decor.

Fairy lights, for instance, are a decorating powerhouse. Tuck them in a lantern or vase, arrange them around other decorations on a mantel or bookshelf, or twine them through the garland on your stair rail.

Similarly, you can hang mini Christmas lights in simple and creative ways to decorate nearly any area. Frame a window, doorway or large mirror. Hang them curtain-style from the ceiling or twine them around a light fixture for a little extra sparkle.

Flameless candles and candle lanterns also look beautiful grouped inside a fireplace hearth, clustered inside a wreath on your dining table or gathered anywhere that could use some holiday shine.

Christmastime should be joyful, not stressful. But the holidays can be a lot to handle. If decorating your home seems like one task too much, take it easy on yourself. Choose one or two quick Christmas decorating tricks and add a little holiday cheer in a twinkle.

Browse Christmas Central for decorations to add Christmas cheer to your home. 

Blend Modern Trends with Classic Charm by Mixing Old and New Christmas Décor

Getting a Head Start on the Holidays: 5 Reasons to Start Shopping Now for Christmas Decorations