17 Brilliant Christmas Hacks You’ll Need For The Holidays

Use chalkboard tape to turn plain dishes into party dishes.

Adhere chalkboard tape to plain dishes, then use a chalk pen to write your merry message or let guests know what you’re serving. Remove the tape easily when you’re done.
Decorate your tree with two different size bulbs for a more magical effect.
Spray paint Christmas lights to make them more festive.
- Before spray painting, unscrew the bulbs and stuff the light sockets with paper to avoid getting paint inside the fixture. You’ll also want to use painter’s tape to cover the prongs on the plug end.
- Place the cord on a drop cloth outside or somewhere well ventilated, and evenly spray the cord and fixtures. You can get metallic spray paint for about $7 on Amazon.
Hang mirror ornaments to make it appear like you have more lights than you actually do.
- The miniature mirror ornaments will reflect light and create a stunning “light” display.
Create illuminating holiday jars with cranberries and floating candles.
- First, place greenery (you can just take some from a bush outside) followed by fresh cranberries in a jar.
- Fill the jar with water allowing the cranberries to float.
- Add a floating candle to the top, and voila – you have a simple and inexpensive centerpiece to add color and light to our holiday table.
Use a paper towel holder to keep ribbons neat and within reach.
- When ribbons aren’t being used, just remember to tape them to the roll to prevent unwanted unraveling.
Make small gift boxes out of toilet paper rolls.
- Flatten a clean tube by creating two creases, then fold and tuck the ends inward to keep your gift from sliding out.
- Decorate the roll with ribbon, paper, and twine, and you’re done!
Use candy canes as place card holders.
- Hot glue three unwrapped candy canes, starting with two canes first, then attaching the third.
- Add decorative ribbon, and slip a place card into two of the hooks.
Make holiday ice with cranberries frozen in water.
Turn a sock into a coffee-cup cozy.
- Cut off the top portion of a sock above the heel.
- Depending on the size of your cup, make the length longer or shorter.
- Then, hem the edge inward with a needle and thread. Slip the sock onto your cup and enjoy!
Create snowflakes in your whipped cream.
- Spread whipped topping onto a tinfoil-lined cookie sheet and place in your freezer.
- When the whipped cream is frozen (after about 2 hours), use a cookie cutter to cut a Christmas shape out of the frozen cream. To keep the shape intact, slide the cut-out whipped cream off the edge of the tinfoil. Add to the top of hot cocoa and enjoy immediately!
Hang lights on brick with hot glue.
You can also use hot glue to make snowflake window clings.
- Print out a few snowflake images from the Internet and use them as stencils to create these easy hot-glue snowflakes.
- Place your printed out snowflake stencils under a sheet of parchment paper and use a hot glue gun to trace the design. Once dry, the glue will easily peel off the parchment paper. Then, just add dabs of hot glue to the back of the snowflakes and stick them onto your window. The snowflake will easily pop off when it’s time to take the decorations down.
- NOTE: Don’t touch the hot glue gun directly to the window, especially if your window is cold. The heat can break the glass!
Use painter’s tape and hot glue to hang cards and decorations without damaging the wall.
- Place strips of painter’s tape on the wall first, then use hot glue to attach paper, cards, or anything else that isn’t worth damaging a wall for. Just peel the tape off when you’re ready for it to come down. This works especially well on brick walls.
Boil cinnamon sticks, apple peels, orange rinds, and whole cloves in water to make your home smell like the holidays.
Hang door wreaths with upside down Command hooks.
Wind Christmas lights around a piece of cardboard or a hanger for easy storage.