Thrifty Farmhouse Christmas Tour: DIYs & Rustic Pinecones

Are you looking for rustic and cozy farmhouse Christmas inspiration that is both creative and budget-friendly? Welcome to my Thrifty Farmhouse Christmas Tour! You don’t have to spend a fortune to create a magical holiday home. In today’s tour, I’m sharing how I used free nature finds and repurposed treasures to create a nostalgic holiday feel.

Here’s what you’ll see on today’s tour.

• Free Decor: Styling ideas using rustic pinecones and dried oranges.
• Easy DIYs: Handmade woodland snow globes and old book page ornaments.
• Thrifted Finds: Repurposed nativity scenes and vintage touches.

So grab a cup of cocoa as we walk through the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

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Thrifty Farmhouse Christmas Tour

I had decided to keep my Christmas decorating simple this year, but as I began, well, I couldn’t keep it too simple. Christmas is my favorite time of year, and although I’m still recovering from surgery and chemotherapy, my creative mind just wouldn’t shut down. What began with bleached pinecones quickly morphed into a full-blown rustic pinecone-themed Christmas farmhouse this year. I couldn’t stop adding pinecones and other rustic DIY ornaments around the house. So let me show you how it all turned out.

Living Room Cozy Christmas Decor

As you enter the living room, you have a view of the entire main living area, including the loft, dining room, and kitchen. The seating area is anchored with a large handknotted vintage rug and neutral sofa and side chairs, making it easy to change the color scheme seasonally. This year, I’m using shades of cream, brown, and sage green throughout the entire living area.

The focal points in the living room are the wrought iron industrial staircase, the fireplace, and the coffee table. To cozy up the neutral sofa, I used last year’s DIY Christmas Tree Pillows and a throw blanket, both in sage-green, along with cream tree pillow covers and another cozy cream blanket.

You’ll see lots of pinecones throughout today’s tour, and the fireplace mantel is no exception. I used the DIY bleached pinecones and dried orange slices mixed with creams and golds. I loved the bleached look of the pinecones so much that I made two large batches. Learn how to bleach pinecones and dry oranges for this budget-friendly idea successfully.

The round side table features one of the DIY glass vase Christmas candle ideas, plus I updated the cordless lamp with a gold DIY lamp shade. I found this textured paper at Hobby Lobby, and it makes a fun shade. Remember to click on the highlighted items to see full tutorials. The vignette also features gold bird figurines and lovey fig bowl fillers.

The coffee table is layered with a large vintage breadboard and topped with a Mackenzie-Childs white reindeer, which I’ve had for several years. A vintage brass candlestick holder holds two battery-operated tapered candles, and the brass leaf is a recent thrift-store find. The entire vignette is filled with gold and cream accents. See “shop this post” at the end for links to all purchased or similar items.

Thrifty Rustic Christmas Mantel

The DIY Shabby Chic Fireplace Mantel was added a couple of years ago using thrifty repurposed materials. It houses an electric fireplace and is decorated with DIY bleached pine cones attached to Norfolk Pine garlands. Brown velvet bows and dried oranges complete the garland. The top of the mantel is filled with repurposed nativity scenes, on-trend DIY bottle brush trees, and DIY Glass Vase candle holders.

See more details at – Creating A Rustic, Natural Christmas Mantel: Pinecones & Oranges

The sofa table holds another repurposed thrift store nativity scene, and more bleached pinecones fill a vintage wooden bowl.

At the other end of the table, I used a thrifted candleholder and a cloche to highlight the thrift-store angel updated with birch bark from last year.

Using glass cloches helps draw attention to smaller decorations, so I used another one on the sofa side table to keep my sheep-riding Santa under wraps. A couple of small sheep are free to roam on the table.

Farmhouse Entry

Just as you enter our front doors, I have a small entry table chest, and this area is where the Christmas tree goes. The entry chest is decorated this year with a DIY thrift store lamp flip and an easy pleated fabric lampshade.

I was gifted these great metal reindeer several years ago and they always find a place in my Christmas decor. Several sprigs of faux evergreens tie the vignette together, while one of my DIY snow globe ornaments brightens the arrangement.

The Pinecone & DIY Christmas Tree

Just inside our Farmhouse entry is about the only good space for the Christmas tree. This year’s tree is very different from years past. I usually fill the tree with vintage ornaments, but this year I’ve opted for a rustic woodland theme with lots of pinecones, festive faux stems, birds, and DIY ornaments. Even the tree topper is an arrangement of stems with pinecones. As usual, I used the European Grape Hod to hold the slim Balsam Hill Alpine Fir tree. I use a rinser inside the hod to lift the tree to new heights.

More pinecones can be found wrapped around the tree on a metal wire garland. The snow globe ornaments hold a variety of woodland creatures, including reindeer, birds, and even snowmen. In addition, last year’s Dollar Tree ceiling tin DIY ornaments and some whimsical gold woodland animal ornaments help to add to this year’s trees’ charm.

This is the first year that faux stems really took center stage on my Christmas tree. I love the whites and golds; they help fill in the gaps to round out the tree.

A vintage German sleigh is starting to fill up with gift packages in neutral colors beside the Christmas tree.

The barndoor is a perfect spot to add a wreath, and this Norfolk Pine Wreath is brightened with a gold metal Christmas wreath that I found at a local shop. The caramel-brown velvet bows are seen throughout the farmhouse this season.

Modern Farmhouse Staircase

In keeping the decorations simple this year, I decided to add only greenery to the bottom of the banister. Then, I placed DIY reindeer from a couple of years ago on the stair treads and updated our plain Christmas stockings.

The banister decoration consists of a faux evergreen garland, faux stems with pinecones, DIY bleached pinecones, and dried oranges. Finally, a brown velvet bow finishes the arrangement.

Sprigs of real cedar surround the DIY Dollar Tree reindeer and help to conceal the stocking holders. Each stocking has been updated with bleached pinecones, cedar, and velvet bows. See more details at Custom Christmas Stockings In Minutes.

Office Area

The opposite corner from the entry is my office area. The repurposed table serves as my desk, which I’ve filled with a vintage typewriter and old books. The walls are filled with vintage winter art and framed, hand-painted Christmas cards mailed annually from a dear friend.

The shelf beside my desk is filled with DIY book-page angels, brass deer candle holders, repurposed wooden thread-spool tassels, and antique architectural salvage ornaments. Above and below are vintage art pieces in antique frames that I found at a local antique mall.

Do you live close to my area? Be sure to check out the article about Vintage Thrifting in Downtown Asheboro, NC.

Cozy & Warm Christmas Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of our farmhouse, and I love adding warm touches to give it a cozy feel. Last year, I painted the island for the 3rd time with Duck Egg Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and a clear wax. We also updated our bar stools this year with the Astrud Counter Stool by Four Hands. I’m loving the new cozy look.

For the first time, I decided to add a small wreath to my kitchen cabinet doors. The mini Norfolk Pine wreaths are attached with sage-green velvet ribbons and feature a mini hand-painted ornament at each center. They add another touch of coziness.

You can catch a peek at the repurposed snowmen that I found for cheap at a thrift store. Details are coming soon.

This year, I added some DIY air-dry clay Gingerbread houses to the island Christmas tree. The tree is housed in a vintage green bowl and stacked on top of two vintage cheese boards. Greenery and pinecone flicker candles add warmth to the vignette. Remember, you can shop this tour at the end.

Another favorite spot for adding Christmas charm is the open shelves on the brick wall. Old crocks, breadboard, pinecone flicker candles, and more adorn the shelves. The DIY Copper Pot Hanging Rack is still one of my favorite projects and adds just the right amount of warmth with all the vintage copper pots hanging against the brick.

Above the sink, I hung a greenery garland and filled it with mini-handpainted ornaments and free Christmas stars. I’ll share how to make the stars later this week.

A vintage silver tray makes a stunning backdrop for the vintage reindeer and bottle brush trees on the bottom shelf. You can see more about using vintage silver and brass to make your holidays shine in this Ultimate Guide.

The kitchen island has a warm, cozy glow from the vintage enamelware pendant lights and soft flicker candles. One of my favorite snowmen looks so vintage, but I’ve only had him for 9 years.

Farmhouse Holiday Dining Room

I haven’t put my entire tablescape together yet, but the dining space is looking pretty festive. The gallery wall has been completely updated for Christmas. The first thing I did was trade out all my vintage dishes for Deer Friends plates and fill the vintage European gathering basket with greenery and pinecones. Mini-flicker candles and fun swag greenery bring attention to the thrifted iron sconces.

The pinecone, magnolia, and cedar centerpiece is an easy, long-lasting arrangement. I’ll be sharing all the tricks to make this arrangement and keep it looking fresh for weeks in an upcoming blog post.

Vintage brass deer and candlestick holders help to brighten the table and are thrift store finds. In addition, a sparkling vintage copper container with a small tree fills the corner architectural column.

A faux greenery tablerunner with mini pinecones is wrapped around white mini-Christmas trees and reindeer salt-and-pepper shakers.

The honey pine hutch is filled with white dishes and ironstone and topped with greenery and a few trees.

Just beside the table is the vintage card catalog repurposed as a wine bar. The vintage wooden tray holds wine glasses and last year’s repurposed tacky Christmas house village.

Tour Conclusion

Did you by chance try to count the links to the DIY and repurposed decorations I included? I personally lost count around 20, and guess what – there’s more coming this week. Did you see the hints and sneak peeks? It just goes to show that you don’t have to spend a fortune to decorate your home in the current trends and styles. Just look for thrift store items you can update, or take pictures of your favorite new ornaments and see if it’s feasible to make them. Don’t forget that all the DIY projects were highlighted as I talked about them. If you missed something, go back and click the lighted link.

I have purchased several items over the year, but most are budget-friendly. Continue to click through the items below if you’d like to shop this year’s Christmas Farmhouse Tour!

Thank you for joining me today, and I look forward to sharing my next adventure with you.