20 Affordable Natural Christmas Decorations (2023)
Natural Christmas decorations are my favorite! They stand the test of time, have old world charm, and are typically extremely affordable. Today I’m decorating a few areas of my home using natural or nature-inspired Christmas decor! Here are 20 affordable natural Christmas decoration ideas!
This post may contain affiliate links where I earn a small commission on your purchases at no additional cost to you.
Nature-Inspired or Natural Christmas Decorations
First, let’s define “natural”. Today I’m using mostly natural Christmas decorations in the sense that they are a natural material.
- Plant based
- Foods
- Wood
- Clay/earth
- Paper
- Plant fibers
Most of these are items that can be foraged or purchased affordably from a thrift or grocery store.
Then, I will also be sharing a few nature-inspired Christmas decorations. These will come in the form of things like bottle brush trees or faux pine trees that mimic nature, but aren’t actually natural materials.
20 Natural Christmas Decoration Ideas
Whether you’re looking for natural Christmas tree decorations, or items to display around the house, here are 20 top natural Christmas decorations!
- A grouping of logs
- Collected bowl of pinecones
- Create your own grapevine wreath (learn how here)
- Dry oranges to make an orange garland
- Paper mâchè bowls make a great vessel for greens or ornaments
- Cloth ornaments add beautiful texture
- Ornate wood balls are a fun addition to a grouping
- Wood bowls filled with ornaments
- Evergreen wreaths are a classic touch
- Cedar garland is a whimsical addition
- Pottery as a vessel
- Vintage books
- Dried florals (babies’ breath is my favorite)
- Dried eucalyptus stems as accents
- Jute, hyacinth or seagrass baskets
- Norfolk Pine mini trees
- Pine branches in a basket or crock
- Keep your houseplants out to add touches of green
- Ironstone collection
- Mini pine trees (real or faux!)
- (Bonus!) Cinnamon or clove for scent!
How to Use Natural Decor for Christmas
With that list in mind, let’s decorate!
If you’re new to my blog, make sure to snag my free design e-course to help you get started in haven making!
To give you an example of how I use natural decor for Christmas, I’ve styled my china cabinet three ways.
- Primarily with natural decor
- With a collection using natural materials
- With everyday decor that incorporates nature
If you like to watch decorating in process, make sure to check out my YouTube video where I show the entire transformation from fall to Christmas!
How to Style Shelves for Christmas: Natural Decor
First, let’s decorate using primarily natural materials.
I love how this came together. In this nature-inspired china cabinet I used:
- Wood
- Evergreen wreath
- Clay
- Oranges
- Pine branches
- Cloth
- Paper mâchè bowls
- Pinecones
- Vintage books
- Dried eucalyptus
I love how each element adds its own flare and unique personality. Using items like pottery, paper
mâchè bowls, wood bowls and vintage books all bring some old world charm to the space.
I love that it is reminiscent of Christmas past.
It also helps the space feel collected and treasured. As we bring items together over time, they have a story to tell and a history behind them. I always find that so satisfying to mix into my more modern decor.
Plus, it’s a great way to incorporate natural elements without feeling like you can’t still add newer items. I love mixing vintage bowls with new ornaments that create a beautiful contrast of texture and history.
I also use books to give height to my pieces if they are sitting too low.
How to Make an Orange Garland
The most impactful element in this china cabinet is the orange garland. It is very easy to make and extremely affordable!
Simply preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, slice oranges very thinly.
I used cutie clementines but naval oranges work great as well. The size will determine how long to bake your oranges slices.
Lay each slice out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then, dab them with a paper towel to remove excess juice.
Bake for 2-3 hours, turning halfway, until dry. You may need to take individual slices out if they are browning too quickly. Then, allow the rest to continue baking until dried out.
I used a floss threader with jute string tied to it to thread each slice onto my twine and then just hung with nails!
How to Style Shelves for Christmas: Collections & Everyday Items
Next, let’s look at the other two ways I styled these shelves for Christmas.
First, a collection. I love ironstone. And pottery.
Antique ironstone is made of porous earthenware (a clay mixture). And of course, pottery is made of natural materials as well.
Mixing in these items with greenery is a very easy way to use collections and everyday items as part of Christmas decor. The natural greenery makes it feel festive immediately!
Next, I styled this space with some everyday decor.
As you can see, if I remove the sign, tree and ornaments, everything else are items that I display year round. It doesn’t take much to make a space festive with some greenery and a few Christmas accents.
Natural Christmas Decor Sources
While most of these items are foraged or vintage, I like to share decor sources when I can! Click the links below to purchase like items or faux versions of my natural decor if you aren’t looking to make it yourself.
Stay Connected
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! I hope that you enjoyed seeing how to incorporate natural Christmas decorations into your home.
If you missed it, make sure to check out how I made this mantel garland below. As well as some of my other Christmas decoration ideas!
I’d love to have you join my community here on the blog, on Instagram, or on YouTube!
Really lovely thanks so much for sharing, I just love your style.
I love to decorate with natural materials too and really love the different ways you’ve styled your china cabinet for Christmas. Pinning this for later, thanks for the inspo!