Rustic Christmas decor ideas are always popular with country style Christmas decorations trending year after year.
But most of these rustic Christmas decor ideas are anything but simple.
They’re all about enormous rustic wreaths & garlands that will only work in a huge farmhouse.
Or incredibly complicated rustic Christmas table decorations most of us can’t pull off.
Or involve spending a fortune on new rustic style Christmas ornaments.
However, there is another way and I have got for you here beautiful but genuinely simple rustic Christmas decor ideas that:
- Will work in a tiny home
- Are quick & easy to throw together
- And will let you decorate for Christmas on a budget.
So if you’re wondering how can I decorate my house for Christmas in a simple, rustic style, without spending a small fortune, do read on.
You will find loads of rustic, country and farmhouse inspired DIY Christmas decor ideas you can make easily on a budget that will work all over your home from living rooms and kitchens to bedrooms and outdoors including :
- Rustic Christmas Decorations & Ornaments
- Rustic Christmas Table Decorations
- Rustic Christmas Mantlepiece Decorations
- Rustic Christmas Garlands
- Rustic Christmas Wreaths
- Rustic Christmas Wrapping
I do hope you enjoy them and have a wonderful Christmas 2021 with your family and friends.
Rustic Christmas Ornaments & Decorations
There are all sorts of lovely ways to make simple rustic Christmas ornaments for your Christmas tree from things you either already have or can collect for free.
All of the ideas I have for you here are wonderful for a frugal but lovely cheap Christmas on a budget.
Cookie Cutter Christmas Decorations
Old Christmas cookie cutters capture the spirit of a rustic Christmas beautifully as no traditional farmhouse Christmas would be Christmas without tray after tray of Christmas cookies.
So old cookie cutters – the more battered the better – make lovely rustic Christmas decorations both on your Christmas tree or in a lovely simple Christmas mobile like this one from Norwegian stylist Ann Magrit.
Wood Shaving & Bark Christmas Ornaments
I love these simple rustic style ornaments from North Story that you can actually make with wood and bark shavings.
Wooden Bead Christmas Ornaments
Wooden beads have a lovely rustic feel and can just be threaded onto string in minutes to create your own DIY ornaments.
But we don’t need to go out and buy beads specially. Simple raid your kids room or your jewellery box for beads of all sorts from broken or forgotten toys and necklaces.
Cinnamon Stick Christmas Ornaments
These simple rustic decorations from Cottage Chronicle are nothing more cinnamon sticks lashed with string but they will make your Christmas tree and living room smell scrumptious.
Button Christmas Decorations
I made these button Christmas tree ornaments with my almost teenage daughter – how did that happen? – when she was a toddler. They are so simple they need no explanation but are a lovely way to use up old buttons, scraps of fabric and ribbons for a zero waste Christmas.
Pine Cone Christmas Ornaments
Pine cones – of all shapes and sizes – are essential for a rustic style Christmas in my book. Just keep your eyes peeled for any fallen on the streets or in the park near you during fall.
Or start a family Christmas tradition of going for a big winter walk in the woods right at the start of Advent to collect pine cones for your Christmas decorations.
You really need do nothing more to create rustic style pine cone ornaments than glue some old string or ribbon to the bottom of the cone but if you are looking for more ideas check out these homemade Christmas ornaments.
Christmas Decorations With Twigs
Whilst you are out on your winter walk collecting pine cones do also collect plenty of tiny twigs as they are super easy to turn into DIY rustic Christmas tree ornaments.
For more inspiration check out this collection of rustic Christmas twig ornaments that are all easy enough to make with children.
Rustic Christmas Table Decorations
Rustic Christmas table decor ideas don’t have to involve advanced flower arranging skills or wizardry with a hot gun. Old ornaments, dried oranges and tiny pine cuttings – as here from Norregard – look lovely on a plate.
As does a bowl of white flowers and white candles amongst Christmas tree cuttings.
But rustic Christmas table decorations like these take up too much room for many of us and we need alternatives that still look lovely squeezed in a tiny space.
Use delicate evergreens like box to create more minimalist Christmas decorations that still have a rustic or country feel. Intersperse tiny jars of box cuttings among your Christmas food and place tiny bunches of box and fir on your Christmas place settings.
If you have a little more space on your Christmas table a small plain jug of pine & box cuttings will create a country Christmas feel but lift your Christmas table decorations up so they’re not fighting for space with plates.
Or create DIY Christmas topiaries with your greenery that can stand clear of your Christmas meal in an old bottle of some sort.
A rustic Christmas look can be very dark in a small space.
Adding little leafed box helps break up a mass of pine leaves and a lovely mismatch of glass and white containers will help thread light all the way through your rustic Christmas table decorations whether for a sit down Christmas lunch or a stand up Christmas buffet.
You don’t need fancy glass glassware. Old jars in odd shapes and empty bottles will make brilliant vases and candlesticks that bounce light around the room.
On a really small table you can even combine Christmas vase and candlestick in one as in these lovely ideas from Bordeaux wine.
For even more inspiration check out all these ideas for simple Christmas table decor with a lovely rustic vibe …
Rustic Christmas Mantlepiece Decorations
Traditional rustic Christmas mantlepiece decorations can like rustic table decorations be overwhelming in a small home and over complicated.
But they don’t have to be …
Have a pre-Christmas declutter to clear your mantlepiece and then decorate with nothing more than very slim lined long needled pine plus Christmas lights and just a very few rustic Christmas ornaments.
Or for a super easy Christmas mantelpiece if you are not up to fancy garlands just mix up some base evergreen leaves with a few lighter leaves, some pine cones and any chunky candles you have to hand …
The eucalyptus in the mantelpiece above again helps to lighten the rustic look but it can be hard to get hold of cheaply so keep your eye out for neighbours with other small evergreen leaves they may be happy to trade.
Rustic Christmas Garlands
If you do want to make rustic Christmas garlands to hang under your Christmas mantlepiece or down bannisters and under pictures, they really can be very simple and don’t have to be a foot thick with foliage to achieve a farmhouse feel.
Very slim, simple threads of pine can deck a small hall just as beautifully as great boughs of holly.
Old and vintage style rustic Christmas ornaments can be pegged to a cord.
And a Christmas garland of tiny pinecones can be made very simply.
If you’re looking for simple zero waste Christmas garland ideas try these lovely wood shaving chains or a no sew fabric scrap bow garland both of which are wonderfully rustic.
Or if you’ve by any chance got access to a peeling silver birch tree you could also use its bark to make a rustic Christmas garland of cut out Christmas tree shapes using a cookie cutter.
We’ve done silver birch crafts before and it is a very cool way to explore all sorts of things about trees with kids – the silver birch actually uses its bark for photosynthesis. Who knew?
Rustic Christmas Wreaths
Traditional Christmas wreaths would have been greenery and nothing more.
And despite what we might think, it’s actually incredibly easy to make wreaths from any evergreens we can find in the garden or on a winter walk. Its adding all the ribbons and baubles and pine cones and whatnot with frames and wires and hot guns that make wreath making tricky.
If you’ve never made a Christmas wreath before try these simple tutorials for rustic style wreaths :
The only problem with big rustic Christmas wreaths from foliage is they can be overwhelming on a small door or if you want to bring them indoors in anywhere but a large living room.
And just like our Christmas table decor they can if we are not careful make our rustic decorations feel a bit dark and heavy.
So try instead a more minimalist rustic wreath like the one above.
You can use the same wreath making techniques as before, adding just a few bunches of foliage to nothing more than a coat hanger. Adding a small splash of white ribbon or flowers will lighten and lift the effect.
You could also opt for a foliage free rustic wreath.
Roughly lashing branches into stars – and perhaps decorating with lights – makes a lovely simple minimalist Christmas decoration but stills bring a rustic feel to your living room.
You can buy rustic wreaths like this but why would you when you can make your own in no time at all with some sticks from the woods using these simple – sized up – instructions:
Rustic Christmas Wrapping
Rustic Christmas gift wrapping has if we’re honest become a bit of a cliche.
There have been brown paper and string ideas all over Pinterest for ages. And it’s harder to pull off than you think. It can very easily look dull and gloomy.
Two simple ways to brighten and lift rustic Christmas gift wrap are to mix in white and gold.
Wrap some of the presents in white paper and if you can style the area around your Christmas tree with vintage white furniture. An old chair or throw or even a crate roughly painted in white will make that rustic Christmas gift wrap look like an intended feature rather than – eek!! – a sad afterthought.
Alternatively wrap a few of your small Christmas gifts in gold paper or add rough strips of gold to bigger presents. You wouldn’t need much gold paper and could easily use old leftover cuts to keep your budget down.
I do hope you enjoyed these simple rustic Christmas decor ideas and found lots of tips for how you can decorate your home quickly and easily for Christmas on a budget .
For even more inspiration check out my other simple Christmas ideas including :
- 101 Simple DIY Christmas Gifts
- 75 Lovely Ideas For Christmas On A Budget
- 18 Simple Minimalist Christmas Decorations
- 20 Christmas Tree Ideas For Small Spaces
- 10 Zero Waste Christmas Tips
- 10 Simple Family Christmas Traditions
And for more super simple rustic, country & farmhouse Christmas decor ideas do check out these other blogs that are full of lovely – and generally easy – handmade Christmas decorations :