Thrift Store Christmas Decorating With Deseret Industries

I love thrift stores. I love never knowing just what treasures I might stumble upon. I love the mix of old and new. I love getting a bargain. I just plain, flat-out love thrift shopping! Did you know that shopping at thrift stores is one of the best ways to save money on Christmas decorating?

Today I’m going to spill all of my thrift store shopping tips with you. I’ll show you the best Christmas items to buy at thrift stores and how to use them once you buy them.

Yesterday I stopped by my local Deseret Industries. They are a charity thrift store that focuses on helping people learn job skills. All store associates are given skills training, career counseling and assistance to move into a permanent career and a life of self-reliance. Hundreds of items are put out on the shelves daily, so it’s a thrift hunter’s paradise. I stop in whenever I’m in that part of town.

Here are a few ideas and examples of the types of holiday decor to look for at your local D.I.

1. Christmas Trees, Greenery, Garland and Floral Picks.

A huge percentage of my Christmas picks and greenery are from D.I., including these poinsettias and faux pine branches:

I even bought my Christmas tree at D.I. three or four years ago.

All of the pine greenery in my Christmas garlands are from thrift stores.

I can almost always find dated floral arrangements at D.I.

With a little rearranging, adding and subtracting…

…they can look super again.

2. Vintage Items

My favorite thing to look for at D.I. is vintage items I can repurpose or use in unexpected ways.

I bought this pair of white ice skates for a few dollars and they are my favorite new decoration this year And of course the greenery and the red floral picks poking out of the tops of the ice skates are from the thrift store too. Oh… and the down feather pillow forms are from D.I. too. And the gray sweater that I turned into a sweater pillow. Did I mention that I love thrift stores?

These were my thrift store finds from yesterday:

The vintage Santa platter was 50 cents and fits in perfectly with my Christmas colors downstairs this year.

The pink ornaments are vintage and I’m adding them to my fireplace mantel garland. If you love vintage items, check your local D.I.

3. Ribbon

I’ve purchased a lot of Christmas ribbon at D.I. through the years. Two years ago I bought this sparkly green ribbon from D.I. and used it to decorate my fireplace mantel.

I used it again this year on my pretty tree upstairs.

You can see in my thrift store haul photo above that I scored two more rolls of ribbon. I don’t need it for decorating this year, but I will probably use it to wrap presents or save it for next year.

4. Wood Crafts

I always see lots of wooden holiday crafts at thrift stores, both finished and unfinished.

This wooden Santa could be so cute painted in a modern way.

And this block craft is already done for you.

A lot of times the wooden crafts seem a bit dated, but it’s nothing a fresh coat of paint can’t change.

5. Seasonal Dishes

I almost always see tons of cute Christmas dishes that would be fun to add to a china hutch or open kitchen shelving. Here are two examples from my trip yesterday.

There was an entire setting for four of the lime green elf plates. It just goes to show that you never know what you’ll find at D.I.

6. Candles & Candle Holders

All of these lovelies are from Deseret Industries:

Last year, I arranged all of my thrift store candle holders together as the centerpiece for our special Christmas eve dinner. It made the night memorable and was so inexpensive.

When I was at Deseret Industries yesterday, I kid you not this really happened… the man in line behind me at the check out said, “Wow! I never thought to buy Christmas stuff here before! You found some cool stuff. I bet that saves you so much money.”

He took the words right out of my mouth.