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40+ Cheap Christmas Ideas for the Whole Family

Christmas is bound to look a little bit different this year, with the prices of darn near everything soaring! But that doesn’t mean you can’t have the best Christmas ever. We’ve rounded up over 40 cheap Christmas ideas that your entire family will love!

These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!

Cheap Christmas Ideas for the Whole Family

These cheap Christmas ideas will help inspire you to make the most of the holidays, no matter how small your budget!

Make Holiday Decorations Together

Get crafty and buy supplies to make holiday decorations together. You can spend hours as a family putting different decorations together and then hanging them up around the home, including on the walls and the windows of your home. Construction paper wreaths, paper plate Christmas trees and paper chains are the perfect budget-friendly decorations.

Baked Christmas-Themed Goodies

Get the kids to lend a helping hand with preparing Christmas-themed goodies, such as chocolate covered pretzels, pies, and other delicious treats. You can teach them how to make some of your favorite desserts! Once you’ve made your snacks, consider delivering them to the local fire department, neighbors or nursing homes! It’s always a great feeling to receive thoughtful treats during the holidays!

Have an At-Home Holiday Movie Night

Pick out a holiday movie to watch with the family, such as The Grinch. Set the movie up and prepare some hot chocolate and other delicious snacks to eat while watching the movie as a family. It’s a fantastic way to spend quality time bonding while enjoying an excellent Christmas movie. We love these Christmas movies on Netflix.

Decorate The Christmas Tree

One of the most important parts of our Christmas traditions is decorating the tree! We love putting up all of our old ornaments, and adding in some new ones each year. These wooden photo ornaments are a great way to reminisce year after year!

Open One Gift Early

There’s no reason to wait until Christmas to open all the gifts! We like to open one gift early, usually about halfway through December! This is a great way for the kids to have time to play with a toy or enjoy the gift, before being overwhelmed by all the others on Christmas morning!

These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!

Bake Christmas Cookies

Another fun family tradition that will create memories to last a lifetime is baking Christmas cookies together. You can make your own recipes or even try out some new ones as you bake with the kids! Just be prepared for lots of flour all over the kitchen floor!

Do a Cookie Exchange

Consider doing a cookie exchange with other friends, family members or neighbors. Bake delicious Christmas-themed cookies to swap with different people. It’s lots of fun to make these cookies together and a great way to test out new cookie recipes!

Create Christmas Wreaths

Grab some supplies from your local arts and craft store and work together with your children to make Christmas wreaths. Each person can create a custom piece that you’ll get to hang somewhere around the home for decorative purposes.

Play a Holiday Trivia Game

Make your own holiday trivia game to play with the children. Use different questions on holiday-themed things, such as Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus to make it more exciting.

If you’re looking for a ready-to-play game, we love playing Christmas charades!

Decorate the House While Listening to Christmas Music

Put on some Christmas music and start decorating the house with the family. Whether you hang up Christmas lights or just the stockings, it’s fun to get the kids involved in turning your house from normal to Christmas-mode!

Take A Family Photo By The Tree

We love taking a photo each year to remember how much our kids have grown. It’s also a nice way to capture some special memories with your spouse or other loved ones who might not be able to spend Christmas Day with you!

Just use your cell phone’s timer setting to capture the whole family in front of your festive tree!

These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!

Visit a Light Show

Once it gets closer to the holiday season, it’s common for different places to have light shows that you can walk through. If you want to see some incredible lights on display, be sure to see what types of light shows are available in your area. The children will love seeing the bright lights and incredible colors while walking around.

Visit Santa

When I was young, we always went to the mall to see Santa. However, because the mall photos are so expensive, I just take my kids to the mall to talk to him, not capture photos.

We are able to take Santa photos during our local Christmas parade and at our local library’s Christmas party.

Visit an Ice Skating Rink

Check out a local ice skating rink for a night of fun on the ice. You don’t have to be a professional ice skater to have a good time on the rink.

Gather a few homeschool friends and go during the day for a cheaper rate than nights or weekends!

Countdown With An Advent Calendar

One of our favourite Christmas traditions is the Advent calendar! We love getting a new one every year and marking off each day as we get closer to December 25th. If you don’t have an advent calendar, there are lots available online or in stores near your home – they make great gifts too!

Go Caroling

Consider going caroling! It’s a tradition that has been around for centuries, but not many people do it these days. You can bring the tradition back to life while caroling with the kids and your partner. (This is also the perfect time to deliver your baked goodies to friends and neighbors!)

These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!

Make Christmas Character Masks

Use paper plates, paint, colorful cotton balls, and pipe cleaners to make Christmas-themed character masks. You can make reindeers, Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and other neat characters.

Ride Through the Neighborhood to Look at Holiday Lights

Take a ride through the neighborhood to look at all the holiday lights. It’s so peaceful and relaxing to see the neat and colorful decorations that neighbors put up for the season.

We like to grab a Happy Meal from McDonalds and spend the whole evening driving from town to town, checking out the light displays.

Build a Snowman

If you have any snow outside, take full advantage by building a snowman with the kids. You can wrap his neck in a scarf, add some button eyes, and put a carrot in his face for his nose. Don’t forget to snap a photo so you won’t forget him!

Have a Christmas Potluck

Think about having a Christmas potluck. Each person can bring something over to your house, such as apple pie, baked macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, or even lasagna. You’ll have plenty of delicious food available to choose from while gathering together to eat and making memories with those you love.

Elf On A Shelf

Another fun tradition you can have is Elf on a Shelf! Keep him hidden and watch as he gets into mischief around the house or sneaks out of his hiding spot to leave little notes for everyone each day. It really sets the mood for Christmas cheer and is a great activity to do with your family!

The initial cost of Elf on the Shelf can be intimidating but you can use him year after year!

Make Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Grab some old sweatshirts and customize them to create ugly Christmas sweaters. You can get creative while using paint, fabric dye, bleach, hot glue, and other items to put the sweaters together.

Post photos of the family modeling the creations on Facebook and let your friends vote for their favorites!

These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!

Make Homemade Hot Chocolate

Make some homemade hot chocolate with the kids and let them get creative by adding extras to their beverages, including sprinkles, syrups, and marshmallows. Who doesn’t love a delicious cup of hot chocolate on a cold day?

Have a Pajama Party

Invite friends over for a Christmas party but require that everyone wear pajamas! This will make the night relaxing and folks will feel right at home! You can check out Eberjey pajamas sets that are perfect for the family.

Make Custom Christmas Cards

Get the kids to help make custom Christmas cards. You’ll only need a few items, such as glitter, glue, cardstock, paint, and markers to prepare these cards from scratch. Folks will love getting a handmade card in the mail this season!

Do a Drive-Thru Light Show

If you don’t want to do too much walking, consider going to a drive-thru light show. With these light shows, you can stay in the car and ride through a path to see some incredible light displays, including fun Christmas-themed characters, such as Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus. It’s an experience of a lifetime that you don’t want to miss.

Check Out Your Local Farmer’s Market

One thing you may not think about doing in the winter is visiting the local Farmer’s Markets. Often times, you can take a hayride and get a bunch of delicious treats during this time. Some of the treats you might find while you’re there include fresh apple cider and baked treats to serve at Christmas dinner to your loved ones. You can’t go wrong when going to one of these hot spots.

Have a Christmas Song Karaoke

Consider a fun night of Christmas song karaoke, where everyone can sing a Christmas song of their choice. You’ll have plenty of great songs to choose from. It’s easy to find karaoke songs on YouTube! Just search for the song and type in “karaoke version.” Tada! You now have the lyrics in front of you and the background music ready to go!

These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!

Read Christmas Fairy Tales

We like to put out all of our favorite books from years past and read them each year, making new memories as we go. It’s also nice because you can pick up one that everyone knows or choose something brand new – it will always be special!

Make Care Packages for the Homeless

Do something nice for others this holiday season by making care packages for the homeless. It shows children the importance of giving back and being there for others, including the less fortunate who may be struggling.

Attend Local Kid-Friendly Events

Check for any kid-friendly Christmas-themed events taking place in your area. You never know what types of fun events you might find. I like to search our local homeschool pages on Facebook for a thorough list of events!

Prepare Christmas-Themed Cinnamon Rolls

Get in the kitchen and prepare some Christmas-themed cinnamon rolls. You can use red or green food coloring to the glaze when you prepare it before drizzling it over your cinnamon rolls.

Play a Game

Choose a game that you can play with the family on the night before Christmas. It’s a great way to spend quality time with your loved ones while sharing laughs and good times. Maybe you can snag a new board game on sale before Christmas and wrap it up for the kids to open!

These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!

Make a Gingerbread House

Building a gingerbread house is a great Christmas tradition you can do with your family. This is always a fun activity for kids of all ages – but it can be pretty messy! Be sure to have lots of baking supplies on hand, including the recipe you are using. You’ll also want to make sure you have syrup or royal icing so that your house will stick together properly.

Honor A Loved One On Christmas

It’s also always nice to remember someone who can no longer celebrate the holidays with you. We like leaving out a special ornament or decoration that was important in their life, and then spending time talking about them around the dinner table on Christmas Day. It can be sad at times, but it also brings everyone closer together!

Leave Santa Milk And Cookies

One of the most important traditions you can have at Christmas is leaving Santa milk and cookies! It’s a well-known fact that Santa loves cookies, so getting him some delicious ones from your own kitchen will be sure to put a smile on his face. And who wouldn’t love coming down the chimney each year for a nice glass of milk?

Don’t Forget The Carrots For Rudolph!

You’ll also want to remember the carrots for Rudolph! You can purchase some at your local supermarket. We love leaving out a few extra ones so that Santa has something healthy to eat while he’s delivering presents all over the world!

Bake a Birthday Cake for Jesus

Whip up a birthday cake for Jesus and talk about the real reason for the season. If you want to go all out, plan an entire party with balloons, fancy table-cloths and Christ-centered games to play.

These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!

Have a Christmas Feast

Spend Christmas day in the kitchen, whipping up a true feast! Skip the typical turkey and stuffing and try something new! We pick our family’s favorite meals to eat. From ribs to tacos or lasagna, nothing is wrong! Just do whatever suits your family!

Host a Friends-mas

Invite your friends over to celebrate the season with you! Plan a few simple games, provide drinks and ask everyone to bring a dish. It’ll be a great way to connect and enjoy your friends during the busiest season of the year.

Get Funny

Tell your kiddos a new Christmas-themed joke each day of December! They’ll look forward to the funnies and you’ll love the lighthearted fun that our printable joke list provides!

Fill Those Stockings

I love to let my kiddos help pick out fun little gifts to stuff in each other’s stockings. If you’re looking for cheap ideas, check out this list that can help stretch even the slimmest Christmas budget!

Make a Gift

Buying Christmas gifts for everyone on your list can add up fast so it’s a good idea to make as many gifts as possible! Whether you deliver handmade earrings to Grandma or one of our other awesome and affordable ideas, folks will love it!

These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!

There you have it!
Our list of 40+ cheap Christmas ideas for the whole family!


Enter our Christmas Blessings Giveaway!

Another year, another Christmas! The most wonderful time of the year is upon us. And some of the best things about this time of year is that it’s a time of gratitude, togetherness, and celebration.

I have teamed up with some pretty generous bloggers for the 9th annual Christmas Blessings Giveaway to bless FIVE families this year. In the past we have had two winners for this giveaway, but this year we wanted to give to even more families – we are giving away $200 gift cards to 5 families! Each winner will get a $200 gift card to wherever they choose – a restaurant, clothing store, grocery store, online retailer – any place that offers gift cards!

There are lots of entry options in the Rafflecopter form below – the more you enter, the better your chance of winning!  I know it can seem tedious and time consuming to go through all the entries, but isn’t a chance at $200 worth it? I think it is!  Plus, all of these amazing bloggers donated their own money towards the prizes, so this giveaway wouldn’t be possible without them.  I hope you’ll take the time to check out each one. Who knows, maybe you will find some new blogs to follow.

The giveaway will run from Monday, November 14th through Wednesday, November 23rd (ends at 11:59pm EST). Winner will be notified by email shortly after the giveaway ends and will have 48 hours to respond to claim the prize or another winner will be drawn. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers.  Please be sure to read the Rafflecopter terms and conditions upon entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
These cheap Christmas ideas just saved our Christmas! So glad I found this!!!