Deck your halls with boughs of holly (and paper snowflakes)

As the holiday season approaches, what better way to get into the spirit — and procrastinate studying — than to liven up your dorm with some festive DIY decorations? Here are some ideas that are fun, festive and, most importantly, cheap.

Paper snowflakes

All you need is paper, scissors and some imagination. There are many tutorials online for intricate snowflakes, but you can also get creative and just wing it. Do this with a bunch of friends — everyone gets to put their twist on a snowflake, and when you’re done you have a bunch that you can hang or string up.

Garlands

You could opt for the classic paper garland or try making them out of more festive materials like wrapping paper.

Really, anything could be made into a garland. Any material that you have a lot of in your dorm works — an old bed sheet? Tea bags? The 25 free t-shirts you got at FallFest and then forgot about? Anything goes, and you could add in some string lights for extra festivity or paper numbers as a countdown until the semester ends. The same concept goes for DIY wreaths.

Wrapping paper

Nothing screams the holidays more than brightly patterned paper indicative of the consumerist spirit we all buy into. There are so many ways you could use wrapping paper to brighten up your space — paper your door, walls, lamps or maybe even your roommate.

Door decorations

Possibly the best place in your dorm to get festive is your room’s entryway. You could put up the aforementioned paper snowflakes, wrapping paper and a classic wreath. Or you could get a little bit more creative with some paper, like making your door into a snowman face, fireplace or winter wonderland. Cotton can be a great substitution for snow.

Lights

String lights are inexpensive and a great way to bring Christmas into your room during, and after, the holiday season. You could drape them across your bedposts, the wall, dressers or the ceiling. Stuff lights inside large bottles or jars to be crafty.

Ornaments

Hanging some plastic ornaments along a string or garland somewhere is a great way to brighten up a room. Just make sure that they’re plastic — you don’t want to deal with the mess of any broken baubles. Hanging them up from ribbons of alternating lengths in a window or from the ceiling is cute — any sort of alcove will do, really.

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