Reuse These 15 Thrift Store Finds To DIY Breathtaking Christmas Tree Decor

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Whether you choose a real or artificial Christmas tree, decorating it is a cherished holiday tradition, with the lights, garland, and ornaments taking center stage. While it's often fun to look back at old ornaments that have special memories, it's also fun to add new decor to your tree. Ornaments are available nearly everywhere, from big-box stores to local boutiques. The problem with many of those ornaments is that they're mass-produced, so they're not necessarily unique. Plus, ornaments and garland are often expensive. The solution? Find inexpensive items at the thrift store, and turn them into beautiful Christmas tree decorations.

Upcycling older items is often cost-effective, which makes it easier to dress up a whole tree on a budget. You're also giving old items a new purpose to keep them out of landfills and reduce your consumption of new materials — that's a gift to yourself and future generations. Our 15 thrifted tree decorating ideas aren't all as predictable as you might think. Sure, you can update old ornaments that have seen better days. But you can also use items that normally have nothing to do with Christmas, like Jenga pieces, tart tins, and chair spindles. These creative ideas provide inspiration for your holiday crafting.

Don't skip secondhand board games for fear of missing parts — especially Scrabble. Customized ornaments are just one of many unique ways to repurpose old board games. For this ornament, glue the letters to a craft stick side-by-side to spell a name or holiday word. For a multi-word phrase (like Merry and Bright), glue three rows of tiles together, and attach a ribbon. You can also glue the tiles to another thrifted item, like the glass front of a wallet-sized picture frame. Glue on ribbon, mini pine boughs, or other embellishments.

Take old or broken spindles from trash to treasure by making them into large ornaments for your tree. Thrift individual chair or railing spindles or an old chair that you can dissect. Then, cut the spindles into sections to create fun ornaments. From there, you can paint or stain the pieces, and add stripes, dots, or other patterns. Glitter spray adds a dazzling finish, or you can rough up the finish for a rustic look. Tie a ribbon around the top, or add a tiny screw eye hook to the top for a hanger. 

Grab individual tart pans while thrifting, even if you don't have holiday baking plans. The raised, scalloped edges perfectly frame your choice of holiday images, which you can source from holiday cards, wrapping paper, printed images, or photos. Cut the image to fit the bottom, and decoupage it in place. Then, accent it with tinsel, greenery, bells, ribbon, and other accents that fit the design. For a snowy look, brush the edges of the tin with glue and dip it into Epsom salt or artificial snow, or mist it with artificial snow spray.

Books are a cheap thrift store find everyone overlooks — but don't waste time searching for a topic you enjoy. Any book will do to make simple paper angel ornaments. You just need to accordion-fold two pages, cut little notches on them, and slide the notches together to make this angel. Add a gold tinsel halo, or accent the design with gold glitter for a dazzling effect. You can also wrap a small box in a book page, or decoupage the print onto an old ornament, adding embellishments as desired.

Plaid is a classic holiday pattern and is often found on secondhand pajamas. For this ornament, cut out two heart shapes from the fabric, and sew or hot glue them together, leaving a gap to put filling inside. The filling from a thrifted pillow works for this part. Then, sew up the hole, add a hanger loop, and accent the hearts. Fringe, pompoms, embroidery, puffy paint, and buttons are just a few accent options. You can also cut out other shapes, like a star to match your tree topper.

The basics for this ornament are a sweater and mini embroidery hoops. If you can't thrift the hoops, grab these Giemson 3-inch embroidery hoops from Amazon. Since the hoop is wood, you can paint or stain it first to customize the look. Cut a section of the sweater that's larger than the hoop. Then, secure it between the two rings, and cut the excess fabric off the back. For more pizzazz, decorate the hoop with pompoms, wooden beads, ribbon, artificial pine, or other accents. A ribbon tied to the top creates an ornament hanger.

You'll often find old ornaments at thrift stores, especially near Christmas. If you love the shape but not the color or finish, refinish them. One option is a baking soda painting technique for a textured-matte look — stir the powder into the paint, and brush it on. Options to make shiny ornaments look vintage include Rub N' Buff or steel wool to scuff the paint. Decoupage holiday napkins or designs onto ornaments with smooth sides, or glue on a layer of glitter and add a sealer to lock it in.

Jenga is another secondhand game you should always thrift. To create rustic ornaments, glue four or more of the wooden pieces together to create a plank-like ornament base. Paint or stain the rectangles to fit the overall design scheme. For a more rustic look, sand or scuff the paint along the edges. Then, attach thrifted design elements, like thin wood cutouts, old Christmas cards, artificial Christmas flowers, or flat ornaments. Glue a loop of thrifted ribbon to the back as a hanger.

Large, brightly colored bulbs were once the norm. Look for strands or replacement bulbs at the thrift store to turn the into ornaments. You can tie a ribbon on the bulbs and hang them as-is, but embellishing them adds a fun element. For a sparkly bulb, brush on glue, cover it with glitter, and spray a sealer on top. Then, wrap wire, rope or ribbon around the socket end. You can also paint the bulbs, either in a solid color or with a holiday-themed pattern.

Head to the crafting section of the thrift store to find new or old buttons and make a rustic garland. Simply string these buttons onto thin ribbon, embroidery floss, or string, using a large needle to guide it through opposite holes on each button. For a monochromatic look, match the string to the buttons, or go bold and bright with multicolored buttons. You can also shake up the pattern by adding other objects you thrift, like small bells, wood beads, felt balls, or bows. Using just garland is one way to decorate your tree without ornaments.

Another DIY garland option starts with thrifted fabrics. They don't have to match, but choose patterns and colors that work with your Christmas decor theme. If you can't find raw fabric, you an also upcycle other items — repurpose an old comforter, for example. Just cut the fabric into strips about 1 inch wide by 6 to 8 inches long. You can adjust the size to change the look of the garland. Then, tie each strip around a length of rope or twine, tying it in a single knot. Continue tying and pushing the pieces close together.

Make the cutest DIY Christmas tree garland with some yarn and creativity, starting with thrifted yarn. This project uses the basic yarn tassel method: wrap the yarn around a 4-inch piece of cardboard about 25 times, tie a piece of yarn at one end, and slide it off the cardboard, Then, you can tie another piece of yarn a little lower, and cut the opposite end to create the loose strands. Slide the tassels, along with other pieces, like beads and Christmas-shaped cutouts, onto a string to complete the garland.

Snag canning lids and rings, even if you don't preserve food — they're the ideal size and shape for ornaments. The indent on the lids creates a framing effect for a painted or decoupaged Christmas image. Accent the image with glitter, paint, ribbon, or other fun embellishments. To transform the rings into ornaments, cut out a piece of cardboard that fits perfectly inside. Then, cover it with fabric and other decorations, like vinyl words, buttons, sequins, and tiny pieces of pine boughs foraged from your yard. Glue it inside the ring, attach a ribbon, and hang it on the tree.

Another baking item to turn into decorations is a thrifted cookie cutter. Classic Christmas shapes, like trees, stockings, and angels, work well, but you can also use more generic shapes and make them holiday-themed. Cut out images from cards, print-outs, or magazines to fit the shape of the cutter, and glue them on the back. Or, go with a solid color that fits your decor. Ribbons, tinsel, bows, bells, and berries make cute accents to your cookie cutter ornaments. Or, attach the cookie cutters to a ribbon to create a fun garland, perfect for a kitchen Christmas tree.

Most thrift stores are full of various coffee mugs and tea cups. Even if your drinkware collection is full, grab some extras to turn into whimsical ornaments. Tip a cup on its side, and the inside becomes the perfect spot for a holiday diorama. Artificial snow glued along inside of the cup sets a snowy scene for mini items you want to place inside. Glitter, tinsel, pompoms, or ribbon perfectly highlight the cup's rim, and a ribbon tied to the handle serves as a hanger.