Life Hack: Three Christmas decorating and wrapping hacks to start the season with ease

Picture: iStock

It’s December so we’re officially allowed to talk about decorating the house. While most of us have our Christmas decorating routines and traditions, there are definitely a few areas that can be made even easier. It’s the most wonderful time of the year after all, so why stress about the small stuff?

Hanging a wreath on your door 

It won’t be news to many people, but if you have a PVC front door, you probably won’t want to drive a nail into it to hang a wreath from for a few weeks. You have a few options to find a solution that allows your entryway to look welcoming at Christmas without compromising the structural integrity of your door. One option is to fix something like a Command hook on the front of your door. 

These easily removable hooks are made in a variety of sizes, with some catering specifically for Christmas wreaths. If you don’t want to have to buy a new hook each year, here’s what I did: fix a hook inside your door. Turn it upside down and put a long string on your wreath. You should be able to put the string over the top of the door and fix it to the hook, allowing the decoration to stay in place on your door. When Christmas is over, turn the hook the right way up - it’s great to hang a hat from so you don’t forget it on your way out the door.

Make a fireplace from cardboard boxes 

If you live in an apartment or in a house that doesn’t have a chimney breast, little ones might worry about Santa finding his way to their tree on Christmas Eve. Even though we all know Santa’s magic finds a way, a simple alternative is to gather some cardboard boxes and tape or staple them together into the shape of a fireplace. Find some wrapping paper that looks like bricks (or splash out on a brick-look wallpaper) and cover the boxes. Now you have a festive fireplace to decorate and your child won’t worry about Santa getting inside the house. It’s also light enough to move around and can be dismantled and reused next year.

DIY gift tags 

If you’re trying to be more eco-conscious when wrapping gifts this Christmas, why not make your own gift tags instead of buying more? This is particularly great if you’ve been holding on to old Christmas cards - the front of these can be cut up so you have a festive design on one side and a blank space on the other where you can write the gift receiver’s name and a message. Alternatively, if you own a photo printer, why not print off a credit card size photo of you with the person getting the gift and write a message on the other side. It’s practical, thoughtful and they’d have a cherished photo to keep forever.