45 Joyous and Clever Ways to Celebrate Christmas at Home

Home for the holidays has new meaning this year, and accordingly, we’re all getting creative. Pull up a chair: our family of experts and pro friends are here with sentimental, crafty and wild ways to help you and your loved ones get festive wherever you are.

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November 17, 2021

By: Lauren Oster

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Go All-In on Matching Pajamas

If ever a holiday season called for festive sleepwear that can go the distance, friends, this is that season. Get matchy-matchy with your favorite people, near and far, and don’t be shy about wearing that team uniform long past photo sessions and Christmas morning (matching-jammies video calls, anyone?). Outfit your whole crew with these classic long johns from Hanna Andersson.

Concoct Concurrent Cookies

Swapping treats might be out of the question this season, but sweetening Zoom calls by bringing your laptop to the kitchen, pointing it at your work area and sharing the experience of holiday baking with your pals is all the rage. If you want to get extra-synchronized, pick a recipe that you’ll all prepare in your respective kitchens during your chat. A cross-country holiday bake-off? We’re in.

See More Photos: Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes to Make You Look Like a Baking Pro

Play Holiday Movie Night Bingo

Whether you’re the kind of crowd that settles in for It’s a Wonderful Life or the kind that looks forward to an annual Die Hard screening, our movie mavens give two thumbs up for adding a game to the mix (find our instructions and holiday movie night tips here). Create a long-distance group screening with a tool like Teleparty, a free Chrome extension that synchronizes video playback and adds a group chat for far-flung viewers.

Step Up Your Ugly Sweater Game

This year’s must-have accessory is also an excellent opportunity to double down on kitsch, and an ugly mask made and modeled by Austin crafter Diana Boch (embellished with charms and double-layered with a pocket for inserting an extra filter, if you like) is just the thing to jazz up walks around the neighborhood; snag your own here.

Take a Swing at a Christmas Piñata

Christmas piñatas are traditional in Mexico as part of Las Posadas, nine nights of processions representing Mary and Joseph’s journey before Jesus’s birth. Posadas piñatas are often stars with seven points to represent the seven deadly sins; diminutive reindeer versions like this fellow are more contemporary (and less Biblical) but just as fun.

Create a Custom Advent Calendar

There are ready-made advent calendars for every kind of enthusiasm imaginable (Glow-in-the-dark candy? Check. Friends memorabilia? Check. Star Wars Legos? Also check.), but there’s something special about assembling extra-personal goodies on your own — and this rustic, reusable display is handmade by female artisans in Nepal. (You can still put Legos in it, if that’s your thing.)

Build a Next-Level Gingerbread House...

If you’ve developed a complicated baking habit over the past several months, you’re not alone. If you haven’t — well, this Insta-worthy gingerbread house project will make it look like you have. Key beginner-friendly details like slivered-almond shingles, gum shiplap and fresh rosemary garland take even the most basic store-bought kits from “well isn’t that nice” to “why can’t I live there?”

See More Photos: How to Make a Charming Gingerbread Farmhouse

…Then Build a Next-Level Gingerbread Playhouse

Supplement household items you’ve already got (like cardboard boxes, paper plates and pool noodles) with a few inexpensive craft-store additions (like glitter card stock, felt icicles and craft snow) and you’re ready to transform An Afternoon You and the Kids Are Stuck Indoors into The Day We All Make the Best Fort Ever.

Get the How-To: How to Build a Life-Sized Gingerbread Playhouse

Shake Up a Kitchen-Based Cocktail

Over-the-top holiday sips with special-occasion details (who doesn’t love, say, a sparkler as a garnish?) are all kinds of fun, but there’s also much to love about a party-worthy drink that comes together with ingredients that are already in your kitchen. That’s where this magical quaff from Cocktail Bandits Taneka Reaves and Johnny Caldwell, the dynamic beverage-and-hospitality-blogging duo behind Holy Spirits! Charleston Culture Through Cocktails, comes in. To create their Ginger Bells, combine 2 ounces of apple cider or apple juice, a 1/2 ounce of lemon juice, 1-1/2 ounces of Basil Hayden bourbon and ice in a mixing tin. Shake, then pour into an iced rocks glass, top with ginger beer or ginger ale, and garnish with an apple slice and a basil leaf. “Take #gentleladysips,” they add.

Turn Evergreen Clippings Into Rustic Trim

This understated take on front door decor is a lovely way to upcycle trimmings from your yard or Christmas tree and infuse your entryway with classic country charm. If you fall in love with this simple project and have trimmings to spare, keep on going and create a full foraged greenery garland — we’ll walk you through that project, too.

Get the How-To: Ring in the Holidays With This DIY Evergreen Swag

From: Chelsea Faulkner

Branch Out With Arrangements

Georgia-based designer James Farmer went a bit wild in creating this architectural display for his cottage in Cashiers, North Carolina — and the resulting look is both elegant and exuberant. Accented with classic seasonal elements, like the nandina branches James used here, just about any greenery can form the base of a fabulous Christmas display — so grab your clippers and get busy.

Reimagine What You've Got

This handsome vignette below the staircase in James’s cottage serves serious holiday cheer, but look closely at the pieces he used to create it: out of context, any one of them could be part of his decor all year long and still look seasonally appropriate. Working within a traditional Christmas palette, reconsider your non-seasonal decor. Arranged just so, almost any red and green items can convey Yuletide cheer. (Bonus points, in James’s case, for the bronze stag. Be sure to repurpose any deer figurines you might have, too!)

Use the Good Stuff

Fine tableware and holiday patterns might feel like pieces that should only come out when you’re setting the table for a crowd or celebrating a specific occasion. Let 2020 be the year you open your china cabinet once and for all: if the spirit moves you, create a setting like the one James arranged here any time between now and the end of the year. If you don’t even have a china cabinet, let alone special-occasion dishes, look to Etsy and Ebay to add a few vintage pieces to your table.

Put Your Own Spin on the Classics

The components of James’s wreath speak to both his vacation cottage’s location in the forested mountains (through elements like the shed antlers, pine cones and bark) and his affinity for the southeastern seaboard (note the whorled shells). It’s a sweetly personalized interpretation of a standard holiday decoration — and because it complements the cottage’s aesthetic so well, it could easily adorn this room in other seasons, too. Speaking of wreaths...

Play Designer

…making an intricate one of your own is simpler than you might think. Take it from New York-based designer Eneia White: “I love adding my own personal twist to the holidays using non-traditional color palettes, like this pink and orange door wreath created using a mix of playful ferns and pine cones,” she says. “Try pairing unexpected materials, like feathers and beads, with traditional garlands for personality-filled holiday decor.”

Sourcing those bits of flair is also simpler than you might think. “Head over to your local floral district, and pick up a bevy of loose branches, garland, dried flowers and anything else that catches your eye! Use floral wire to attach just about anything you can think of to your wreath. From tree ornaments to candy canes, wreaths are a fun and festive way to add your stamp to the holidays.”

See More Photos: Our Fave Christmas Wreaths, Garlands and Swags

Trim a Tree for the Birds

Once you’ve put the finishing touches on your household’s Christmas tree, why not decorate one for the neighbors? This no-bake, kid-friendly project combines pantry staples, dried cranberries and birdseed to create edible wreath ornaments that will have avian carolers flocking to your yard.

Get the How-To: How to Make a Christmas Tree for the Birds

Get Fuzzy

Cultivate an extra-cozy vibe in unexpected spaces (a Christmas-themed breakfast nook? Why not!) by draping chairs with luxurious, textural faux sheepskin. Pro tip: To get exactly the color, texture and size to suit you and your seats, shop for material by the yard and trim it to the perfect shape.

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Make Over a Mirror

Massive wreaths have a pesky habit of coming with massive price tags. “Wreaths” like home and lifestyle blogger Tracey of Porch Daydreamer’s on-trend circular mirror bedecked with an evergreen garland, on the other hand, are every bit as stylish and considerably more budget-friendly. Top your frame with a wired ribbon bow, then arrange a few wintry objects in front of the mirror to complete the seasonal display.

Play Musical Chairs (and Tchotchkes)

Making your home feel fresh for the holidays can be as simple as reconsidering what goes where. “Don’t feel like you have to buy anything new to create a new look at Christmastime,” Tracey says. “Get creative and repurpose what you have. If you typically use one item in the family room, move it to the dining room.” Speaking of the dining room (and chairs), you’re using satin ribbon and ornaments to glam up your seating as Tracey has here, right?

Swap In Wintery Art

Stage a seasonal exhibit, as Tracey did in her living room, by reworking your mantel display with a snowbound scene. Find the perfect piece for your space at an art-on-demand site like Society6, where art photography printed on wrapped canvas starts around $70.

Create (and Gift) a Boozy Christmas Countdown Wreath

Arriving at a holiday party with a bottle of wine for the host isn’t really a thing this year, unfortunately, but making your way to your friends’ places with festive drinks can very much be a thing. Follow our step-by-step instructions, below, for turning a grapevine wreath and mini bottles of spirits into the world’s cutest drink station, then stealthily leave your creation at a loved one’s front door.

Get the How-To: Boozy Christmas Countdown Wreath

From: H. Camille Smith

Share a Favorite Recipe — Literally

If you won’t be able to, say, make Aunt Susan a mug of your world-famous mulled cider in person, recreate the sip she anticipates all year by layering its ingredients in a pretty glass jar and adding prep instructions on a gift tag. Don’t have a world-famous mulled cider recipe? Try one of our DIY giftable gourmet kits.

Get the How-To: How to Make Gourmet Gift Jars for Your Fave Foodies

Prep Hot Buttered Rum Mix

A steaming craft cocktail on a cold night is a beautiful thing. The tiresome time between deciding you’d like one and finally getting to enjoy it? Not so much. Take a cue from the spirit aficionados at San Francisco’s Elixir (which has been warming bones in the fog-bound city by the bay since 1858) and stock your freezer with a ready-to-serve supply of hot buttered rum batter. When your whistle needs wetting, just top two spoonfuls of the batter with rum and hot water to experience near-instantaneous holiday bliss.

See More Photos: Curl Up With These Hot Cocktails and Cozy Throws

Treat Your Pooch (and Your Friends’ Pooches)

Their smiles brighten your days, you don’t have to fret if they slobber all over you, and they definitely won’t tell you if your baking is subpar: the dogs in your life have more than earned some homemade Christmas gifts, is what we’re saying.

Get the How-To: Peanut Butter Delight Dog Biscuits Recipe

Make a "Stocking" for the Cat

Will Chairman Meow care if a salute to him joins the other family stockings on your mantel? Absolutely not. Will he care if you whip up a stocking-shaped, catnip-stuffed toy for him? Absolutely.

GET THE HOW-TO: How to Make a Christmas Catnip Toy

From: Marian Parsons

Embrace a Cheeky Theme

The Christmas-tree version of dancing like no one is watching is going all out on a goofy, personal decorating scheme that makes your heart sing. Cowboy holidays? Saddle up. A Prince-mas tree with purple lights and dove ornaments? Funky. Crystal-covered boughs that celebrate St. Nicks (as in Stevie)? Now that’s vision.

See More Photos: 30 Creative Christmas Tree Themes

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Delight Passerby With Outdoor Ornaments

Don’t let this delicate bauble’s lighter-than-air looks fool you: it’s sturdy enough to weather the elements while adorning your front yard, thanks to matte medium (a paint extender and thinner that’s also used as a dries-clear fixative on crafts). This ornament project is perfect for giving knitting leftovers and other wayward lengths of yarn and string new life.

See More Photos: Holiday Craft: DIY String Ornaments

Master an Eco-Friendly Wrapping Technique

Give your giftees a little something extra by swaddling their presents in furoshiki — that is, square, printed pieces of fabric that serve as reusable wrapping and have been everyday accessories in Japan since the 8th century. These Anthropologie wraps are gorgeously graphic options, but any pliable, double-sided square around 32 inches on each side will do; vintage scarf and bandana shopping, anyone?

Watch the Video: Furoshiki Gift-Wrapping

Get Started Early — Really Early

Frontgate’s Brand Manager Kate Beebe confesses that she decorated her Cincinnati loft for this year’s holiday season … back in August. “I start planning my decor for the next year the day after Christmas,” she says. “I am that girl who is at every boutique and online ornament shop, snatching up what she can for 50% off.” Bargains are a perk of that kind of planning; having the time to collaborate with artisan friends to create custom elements is another. The biggest benefit of Kate’s process, of course, is getting to be (completely) surrounded by the immersive seasonal glitz she loves for a full four months.

Find and Follow a Theme

“I scored my flamingos (that adorn the tree) at a local florist shop for 50% off at about 9 a.m. on 12/26/19, and the tinsel that hangs from the walls was on sale for $5/20 strands,” Kate says. “I find one thing I love, and build the room around it. As such, the theme is multi-color, with an emphasis on pink, and the accents are palm leaves (gilded, of course).”

Think Outside the (Traditional) Party

It’s a crying shame that friends won’t be converging at Kate’s place this year, but she’s determined to be a holiday hostess nonetheless. “I love entertaining for the holidays — but this year will be quite different. I take germs very seriously,” she says. “As such, I plan to spread the joy from my home with mailed party packs to my nearest and dearest. Each pack will include a mini bottle of champagne, an ornament that dazzles, a fancy novelty glass that fits the spirit, and an invitation for a virtual Christmas party.”

Outfit a Self-Serve Cocoa Station

Becoming everyone’s favorite neighbor is as simple as accenting your next distanced outdoor gathering with a steaming carafe of cocoa and individually prepped travel cups. (Bonus points if you provide single servings of marshmallows for the kids and mini bottles of liqueur for their parents.)

See More Photos: 3 Ways to Set Up a Beverage Station at Your Next Shindig

Take a Chance on a New Palette

Getting into the new Christmas spirit is all about, well, trying something new. When it comes to decorating, holiday design expert Brad Schmidt says that means stepping out of your comfort zone. “As a lot of my clients have been doing, I would advise [people] to take more chances and add in those colors that you don’t like,” he explains. “You might not like that bronze color, but once it’s mixed with traditional reds and golds, suddenly the tree has been totally transformed and you feel great about ‘going for it.’ In this crazy world, we just don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Don’t hold back!” Is this the season you learn you’re secretly a fan of peachy blossoms for the holidays? This refined wreath makes a rather compelling case.

Triple Down on Trees

Speaking of revelations, 2020 could be the year you decide trimming just one tree isn’t nearly enough — or, like Kate, that you want Christmas to keep on going (and going). That could be where an artificial offering (or two or three) like these gleaming gold cypresses and frosted Fraser fir come in.

Consider Your Background

Not all holiday-greetings video chats were created alike, and Brad has a bit of quick and dirty advice for presenting a festive space when you wish your friends and family Merry Christmas. “You only have a small frame to work with for a Zoom background,” he observes. “If there is a framed picture up on the wall behind you, hang an artificial wreath over it to give dimension. Make sure the wreath is red and green with a touch of silver and gold; mixed metallic are trendy every Christmas. Throw gold and silver ornaments in that festive traditional red and green wreath. You need to have color to make your background pop, but not too bright, as you don’t want it to be distracting for all of the people seeing you on Zoom. It’s quick and cost effective!”

Treat Yourself to a Party

Once you’ve posted party packages like Kate’s to your far-flung people, take the time to do something special for the folks at home; who says a holiday to-do has to involve people from more than one address? Specifically, “if you don’t think that you deserve a finely crafted cocktail unless you are hosting someone, you are cheating yourself,” says Kim Hunter, founder of Potent Pours in Dallas (and creator of the lychee martinis pictured here). “This is the time to learn about spirits that you don’t typically use and unique flavors that turn these spirits into amazing cocktails. Google is your best friend!” (Her holiday sip of choice, by the way, is a Chambord Sidecar.)

Dallas event planner Erica J. (who collaborated with Kim and created the epic display of roses pictured here) is equally encouraging when it comes to at-home floral arrangements that go for it. “So often we just throw flowers into a vase and appreciate their beauty from where the vase sits,” she notes. “The look and smell of flowers lifts our vibrations, and we appreciate them like never before when they are arranged in a unique shape or style, especially one that’s personal to you.” Large arrangements like this one are beginner-friendly, she says: “All you need are flowers, a vase, floral foam or chicken wire, and floral shears.”

Raise the Stakes for Online Happy Hour

Kim’s company offers virtual mixology classes: “You and your family and friends can learn how to make unique cocktails together no matter where you are, safely!” If you and your crew can’t link up at the same time, “you can also start a group text and make a competition out of it,” she says. Everyone in the text group can make a beautiful cocktail, then share the photos and recipes!”

See More Photos: 40 Cold-Weather Cocktails

From: Kristin Guy

Make the Most of Multiples

“When creating a celebratory aesthetic, I like to decorate in groups,” Erica says. “A group of candles, a group of floral arrangements, groups of champagne glasses. Even though we are using less, when those elements are grouped together it dramatizes the ambiance.”

Get the How-To: How to Make Gold-Leafed Holiday Candlesticks

Have Crackers With Christmas Dinner

Some cultural historians say that when two people pull apart a Christmas cracker (wrapped cardboard tubes that pull apart with a bang) that the person with the larger piece keeps the goodies inside. Others point to crackers’ origins in ancient Rome and festivities surrounding the winter solstice. Everyone agrees on one thing: someone must wear the paper crown tucked in with those goodies.

Adorn Your Stoop With Ice Lanterns

If you’ve got medium-to-large plastic tubs, plastic cups and a freezer, you’re completely equipped to create some of the loveliest, least-expensive winter luminaries of all time. If temperatures have dipped below freezing, don’t be shy about going bigger: even larger buckets and pillar candles are well suited to this project as well.

Get the How-To: How to Make an Ice Lantern

From: Marian Parsons

Spruce Up (and Light Up) Your Window Boxes

The flowers you valiantly tried to cultivate in your front windows died months ago, you say? Excellent news! You’re just in time to create a picture-perfect holiday display in those empty boxes with tree trimmings, shatterproof ornaments and fairy lights. Take that, 2020!

Get the How-To: 3 Clever Christmas Decorating Ideas for Windows

Make Natural Bath Bombs

These beauties come together in about 15 minutes with simple, inexpensive ingredients, and their basic recipe accommodates add-ins like flower petals, cinnamon and dried herbs. Could they be the ultimate one-size-fits-all homemade gift? (Be sure to save one for yourself. You deserve a long soak in the bath.)

Nail a Holiday Mani

Kick off the party at your place (and documenting it for Instagram, of course) with a salon-caliber look — and the thorough TLC that goes with it. To pamper yourself and get the look celebrity manicurist Jin Soon Choi created here, prep your nails by moisturizing and pushing back your cuticles with a cuticle reducer and cuticle oil. Apply a base coat to clean your nails, then apply two coats of JINsoon Prim (an opaque whitish-beige). Allow time to dry slightly, then, with just the tip of the brush, apply a small amount of JINsoon Gala (a shimmery rose gold glitter), starting from your cuticle line and pulling out toward the center of your nail and stopping just before the tip. Apply a shiny, durable top coat to finish.

Fold Like a Pro

Channel the transformational powers of the cruise ship staffers who sneak into your cabin and leave towel-swans on your bed by mastering a complicated-looking-yet-simple-to-learn cloth napkin presentation like this one. (Cloth napkins themselves are an eco-friendly investment that make every meal that much fancier, of course.)

GET THE HOW-TO: 10 Festive and Easy Ways to Fold Napkins for the Holidays

Upcycle a Shrunken Sweater

Convert the heartbreak of wearing out or shrinking a favorite winter piece into the satisfaction of generating chic, monochromatic winter decor: repurpose that doomed wearable as vase and candle cozies. You don’t even need a step-by-step DIY for this one: just assemble your cylinders of choice and snip your sweater down to size.

45 Joyous and Clever Ways to Celebrate Christmas at Home

Related To:

Shop This Look

Go All-In on Matching Pajamas

Concoct Concurrent Cookies

Play Holiday Movie Night Bingo

Step Up Your Ugly Sweater Game

Take a Swing at a Christmas Piñata

Create a Custom Advent Calendar

Build a Next-Level Gingerbread House...

…Then Build a Next-Level Gingerbread Playhouse

Shake Up a Kitchen-Based Cocktail

Turn Evergreen Clippings Into Rustic Trim

Branch Out With Arrangements

Reimagine What You've Got

Use the Good Stuff

Put Your Own Spin on the Classics

Play Designer

Trim a Tree for the Birds

Get Fuzzy

Make Over a Mirror

Play Musical Chairs (and Tchotchkes)

Swap In Wintery Art

Create (and Gift) a Boozy Christmas Countdown Wreath

Share a Favorite Recipe — Literally

Prep Hot Buttered Rum Mix

Treat Your Pooch (and Your Friends’ Pooches)

Make a "Stocking" for the Cat

Embrace a Cheeky Theme

Delight Passerby With Outdoor Ornaments

Master an Eco-Friendly Wrapping Technique

Get Started Early — Really Early

Find and Follow a Theme

Think Outside the (Traditional) Party

Outfit a Self-Serve Cocoa Station

Take a Chance on a New Palette

Triple Down on Trees

Consider Your Background

Treat Yourself to a Party

Raise the Stakes for Online Happy Hour

Make the Most of Multiples

Have Crackers With Christmas Dinner

Adorn Your Stoop With Ice Lanterns

Spruce Up (and Light Up) Your Window Boxes

Make Natural Bath Bombs

Nail a Holiday Mani

Fold Like a Pro

Upcycle a Shrunken Sweater

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