Many families struggle to find enough money during the holidays. When you have food for dinners to buy, gifts for your loved ones and all of the other expenses associated with the holidays, the last thing you want to worry about is what you're going to spend on decorating your home. Below, you will find out how to make an affordable garland for decorating your front door without causing any damage to the door.

Garland

If you've ever priced different types of garland, you know very well how expensive it can be. Instead of spending your Christmas budget on a garland, you can make it yourself. You can use pine branches, pine cones, and/or cheap plastic balls to create stunning garland to trim your front door.

Pine branches – if you have a tree farm near you, talk with the farmer about purchasing branches from him. Chances are, there will be plenty to choose from as the trees are trimmed to make them look perfect for customers to buy.

Pine cones – these can be purchased from your local arts and crafts supply store or gathered in a forest of pine trees.

Plastic ornament balls – these can be picked up very cheaply at thrift stores or discount stores.

These materials can be used in combination or separately to create garland using nothing more than the materials, some twine, and a hot glue gun. Connect the materials together and dab a bit of hot glue on the knot you've tied to attach the material together. The glue will keep the knot from coming undone.

Hanging Technique

Now, you don't want your garland to damage the front door, so how you hang it needs to be carefully thought out. Thankfully, there are many products out there for you to choose from to mount the garland around the exterior door – the best being the hooks with the clean-remove backing on them. Choose the larger, more durable type so that they will fully support the weight of the garland.

You want to install the hooks on the top, down the sides and at the bottom to keep the garland from blowing around. If you allow the garland to blow around during winter storms, it will scratch the door and maybe even fall apart. The more secure you can get the garland, the better.

You can add lights and ribbon to your garland or leave it as it is. This project can be fun and give your home the holiday spirit that you want without breaking your budget or damaging your door.