This year I was determined to decorate my house for the holidays without spending a dime. I figured, hey, I live on an acre of land and have plenty of public parks near to me–I should have no problem finding greenery and other “natural” items that I can use to transform my house from ho-hum to festive (not Festivus, mind you). And inside the house, I’ve got plenty of containers, candles and ribbon (thank you, Freecyle) that I can use to pretty up my decorations. So as long as I have no problem tapping my inner Martha Stewart, I should be good to go.

And I was.

Because I had two media interviews this week about green-and-frugal holidays–one for a TV syndicate called NewsProNet and the other for the Philadelphia Inquirer–my house had to be fully decked out in holiday regalia by this past Monday when the TV crew showed up at my house; the newspaper sent a reporter and photographer over two days later. I’ve never had to decorate under duress before, but I’m really pleased with the results.

Below are photos of three decorations I came up with that I think any one of you could pull off on your own, in your own home. These are all green and frugal, and completely doable. Let me know what you think.

I was just riffing on decorating when I started stacking these clementines and pine cones in a hurricane lamp I found in my dining room hutch. Not only do I think that the orange color looks amazing, but also I love the contrast in textures with the smooth clementine skin and the bumpy pine cones. This could easily become my go-to Thanksgiving or other winter celebration centerpiece.

While these pine boughs look completely fake–and most people that come into my living room think that they are–they are 100% natural. I used pruning shears to cut them off of the evergreen bushes we have growing out back. I cut 8-10 branches, each about 2-feet long, then secured them together with leftover twisty-ties. I wrapped the twisty-tie in a ribbon, then clustered three Christmas ornaments in the center to complete the look. OK, so props go to my husband for the clustered ornament idea, but I’m taking credit for everything else.

More pine cones! This decoration actually includes parts from two direct-selling “home” parties I’d attended in the past. The iron container holding the pine cones and the candle came from Southern Living at Home. This has been the most versatile little container. (I have a bigger one, too.) It’s held soap in the powder room, salt and pepper shakers when we were eating outside and house keys when it was once sitting on the table inside our foyer. Now the candle was something I’d “won” at a PartyLite candle party, I think. Whatever. This burgundy candle smells like cinnamon spice and just makes the whole dining room (where this container is) evoke the feeling (and scents) of the holidays. Yum.