10 Simple Dollar Store & Thrifting Hacks for a Beautifully Clean & Festive Chicago Home

Life in Chicago moves fast, and between work, commutes, and everything else, keeping your space clean and decorated for the season can feel overwhelming. If your to-do list is longer than your free time, these simple, budget-friendly tips will help you create a cozy, clean home without the stress.

1. The 5-Minute Festive Vase

Start with a simple glass vase (easily found at a dollar store or thrift shop). Fill it with affordable ornaments, a string of lights, and some greenery. This creates an instant, elegant centerpiece that looks far more expensive than it is. It’s a perfect quick refresh for your living room or entryway. If you’d rather not DIY, you can always schedule a cleaning to get your space prepped first.

2. Create a Luxe Garland on a Budget

Skip the expensive, pre-lit garlands that often shed and look cheap. Instead, grab mini pine picks and berries from the dollar store. By twisting a few picks and berries together, you can create a full, textured garland that looks like it came from a high-end home store. It’s the perfect upgrade for your kitchen or staircase.

What You’ll Need:

• Mini pine picks
• A pack of berries
• Two small Christmas trees
• A thrifted urn or vase

3. Refresh Your Christmas Tree

If your tree is looking a little thin or dated, you don’t need to buy a new one! Check Facebook Marketplace for amazing deals, or simply add dimension with berry sprigs. The key is to place ornaments deep inside the branches to create depth and interest. For a truly magical touch, add flameless LED candles that rest safely on the branches.

4. DIY Dried Orange Ornaments

For a natural, beautiful, and fragrant ornament, try making dried orange slices. Simply slice oranges thinly, pat them dry, and bake at 200°F for about two hours, flipping halfway through. They make stunning, long-lasting decorations that you can reuse year after year.

5. Smart Thrifting for Holiday Hosting

Building a beautiful tablescape doesn’t have to break the bank. Start with affordable glassware from the dollar store and gradually upgrade pieces as you find them while thrifting. You can often find stunning crystal goblets for just a few dollars. A quick tip: crystal will ring with a clear, bell-like tone when tapped, while glass has a duller sound.

When you’re preparing for guests, the last thing you want to worry about is a dirty home. That’s when fast cleaning services from a trusted Chicago cleaning company can be a lifesaver.

6. An Impressive (and Easy) Hostess Gift

Grab some elegant glass bowls from the dollar store and fill them with homemade candied pecans. This simple recipe—involving egg whites, sugar, and cinnamon—is virtually foolproof and makes your gift look thoughtful and professional. It’s the perfect way to impress without stress.

7. The Secret to a Perfect Mantle: Painter’s Tape

This is the ultimate decorator hack. Use painter’s tape to securely attach garlands to your mantle without damaging the surface. Once the tape is firmly in place, layer a realistic-looking (real touch) garland over it, then weave in lights, berries, and ribbon. The tape holds everything securely, creating a lush, professional-looking display.

8. The Power of a Simple Ribbon Upgrade

Sometimes, the smallest change has the biggest impact. A new spool of velvet ribbon can instantly modernize and elevate your existing decorations. Use it on your mantle garland, tree, or wreaths for a touch of affordable luxury.

9. Embrace the Thrifted & Handmade Look

The most beautiful homes tell a story. Don’t be afraid to mix dollar store finds with thrifted treasures and handmade items. The best decor reflects your personality and memories, not just what’s currently in stores. If the thought of post-holiday cleanup is already daunting, remember that you can book an appointment for a deep cleaning help to get your home back in order.

10. Create Atmosphere, Not Just Decor

Remember, the goal is to create a warm, welcoming feeling. Use flameless candles, string lights, and natural elements to build a cozy atmosphere. The magic of the season isn’t in perfection; it’s in the warmth and laughter you share in your home.

Keeping a clean home during the busy holiday season is a challenge for everyone. If you find yourself needing someone to clean my apartment, professional cleaning services in Chicago are here to help. Whether you need a one-time apartment cleaning before guests arrive or a regular home cleaning service, it’s the easiest way to get your space cleaned and enjoy your time.

Get in, girl. We’re going to Dollar Tree. Today’s video is brought to you in part by Wild Green. Old money Christmas that can be done in minutes. I’ll show you exactly how to do this mantle. Everything in this video is from Dollar Tree or Thrifty Finds. Keep these 10 simple ideas in your back pocket because you can do them in seconds and you’ll actually use them. First up, go to Dollar Tree and grab a glass vase. You could thrift one of these. Maybe you have one at home. And Dollar Tree has incredible ornaments. Also, the thrift store has lots of ornaments in the Christmas section, but all you need are a vase, ornaments, lights, and any type of greenery. I got mine from outside and all items from the Dollar Tree. Set this inside your vase. And I thrifted some beautiful vintage books to put this on my ottoman. If you’re not a Christmas decorator, you’re not good at this stuff. I literally made this video for you. Okay. In Dollar, my beautiful friend, do not buy the pre-lit garlands. They are gross. They shed. They don’t look great. What I want you to buy instead are these mini pine picks. These are $1.50. You get six of them. And I’ve got a hack you’ve never seen before. Grab the 36 pack of berries and two of the 18-in Christmas trees. Yes, two. For about $6, I’m making a Pottery Barn dupe. This recipe are trees, picss, berries, and an urn. These are like home decor recipes, and I’m loving it. So, what you want to do is fluff one of your Dollar Tree trees, but just on one side. Do the same to the other. And then you’re going to put these together so they’re thick. But what’s going to give it texture is using these pine picss to twist the trees together and it’s going to give it lots of dimension. Add some of the berries to the top and stick this in a thrifted urn. I added a bow to mine and put it right in my kitchen. Should we go to the thrift store in a future video together? Let me know. I’ve been thrifting a lot with friends recently and it’s been so fun and the amount of Christmas items that I found are epic. Okay, so recipe number three is thrifted magic. finding an elegant tree. Now, in a recent video, I shared with you some Dollar Tree trees, which are actually awesome. I also wanted to remind you because this is about using what you have, reusing, recycling. Facebook Marketplace has so many trees right now, at least in my area, on sale for great prices. Lots of them less than $100, brand new in boxes. This goes out to all my friends with an older tree. Okay, grab some berries. And if your tree is a little bit thin, needs some extra love, maybe it’s many years old, these berries are going to help give it dimension and texture. And I’ve got some tricks for you, too. I’m going to have all of my ornaments go into the tree. So, if I was like a little chip and dale walking through the branches, I would see all of the pretty things straight into the tree. I challenged myself to only use what I have. I just bought one new thing for the tree this year, and that are these flameless LED candles. When you see these on the trees, you’re going to fall in love. They’re actually on sale right now and it works out to about $2 and a quarter a piece. And everything else I added to the tree were things I had or I made. Slice oranges thinly and the secret to drying oranges is to pat them dry before putting them in the oven at 200° for 2 hours. And midway through the baking process, give them a little flip and that’s going to help them dry evenly. These make amazing ornaments. I actually saved these from last year and you can use them year to year. And this year I went totally nostalgic on our main tree. These are all the ornaments that we’ve kept. Yes, this is my little Dollar Tree hack for my ornaments for many, many years. The things that make me happy, our family memories. This is the kind of stuff that like these are vintage and beautiful. Like you don’t have to go buy these new. Like find something from your stash and pull it out. Maybe you forgot you had it. I love these ornaments because they all tell a story. I remember who gave them to me when we took the photos. And stay tuned because I have the full tree reveal and I’m going to share with you the easy way that I make my mantle and I do it fast. I’m going to link these candles below. They are a Balsam Hill dupe and they are on sale right now on Amazon. And this is like a 10second hack. Because of the weighted crystal on the bottom, you stick the candle in. It has a battery inside. And these rest on tree branches. These look fantastic. You get 12 in a pack. And this really takes the tree of things I had to the next level. And for my super frugal friends out there, if you want to find these at Dollar Tree, you can, too. These are $7. And this one is on a battery pack. And I like to put these on my smaller trees in the kitchen. I am so excited for our mantle coming up. But first, my hack for easy recipes and hosting with ease. I’ve got a simple recipe coming up. And speaking of making holiday hosting simple, today’s video is brought to you by Wild Grain. Oh my gosh, this is the coolest subscription service that delivers fresh baked from frozen artisal breads, pastries, and pasta made with all clean ingredients. It supports the best small bakeries around the country and is freezer to table in 25 minutes. These giant ginger molasses cookies were insanely good. I love their apple pastries. Unlike many store-bought options, Wild Grain uses simple ingredients you can actually pronounce and a slow fermentation process. Their sourdough is absolutely wonderful, and two meals are donated with every order. That is so beautiful. I am not a baking expert, which is why I love that Wild Grade helps me look like one without this stress. You can even buy some of their items in bulk for holiday gatherings. My favorites are their croissants, sourdough breads, and the Tear and Share cranberry pecan rolls. Oh my goodness, they are so good. It’s such an honor to work with them. Plus, they are giving you $30 off your first box, plus free croissants for life. Visit wildgrain.com and use the code on a dime. Link is down below. Their butter is also so good. >> Oh, this is good. Oh my good. M. >> I like to keep it simple. Now, you may remember a few videos ago, I shared with you my Dollar Tree and thrifted tablescape. I absolutely love getting my stem wear from the Dollar Tree, but over time, I’ve used mine for at least 6 years now. I can upgrade when I thrift it. And here’s how I do it. I love the Dollar Tree glassware, the Dollar Tree candlesticks, and then over time when I’m thrifting, I can find brand new pieces like these goblets to replace my old ones. This cost me $3 and it’s Waterford crystal. This cost me $1.50 and it’s from the Dollar Tree. But these things do take time to find. I found this listing on Facebook Marketplace. A set of eight for $25. That is about $3 a glass. And here’s a little hack. How to tell glass from Crystal. Are you ready? So here’s what glass sounds like. So next time you’re in the thrift store, you can try this out. All right. That’s his glass. And this is crystal. Do you hear the difference? So, you can find Dollar Tree items to make your home so elegant. And then when you thrift something, you can pass along your Dollar Tree finds and upgrade to something beautiful. Because if you want to save a dime, you’ve got to put in the time. That’s honestly how my entire house is. It’s kind of all thrifted from the Dollar Tree. And I don’t want you to be able to tell. Like when you walk in, you don’t know what’s a DIY, what I made, where I got it. I think that makes it the most fun. And I do have my mantle coming up, so stay tuned. I think that might be my favorite part of the video, but the most practical part, I had to share this. These are flying off the shelves at my Dollar Tree. These glass bowls, they look like they’re vintage. And my all-time favorite recipe to go inside are candied pecans. Peacans. Pecans. Tell me how you say it in the comments. I will put the recipe below. It’s vanilla and egg whites. And you just want to beat it up until it’s nice and frothy. And then you’re going to combine cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. And you’re going to pour the peacons over it. And then you just bake these. This is so fast. You can literally fill these jars after you bake this in like 15 seconds. And they look great. So if you’re not really good at DIYs or you just are not really confident in your skills, this is a great recipe to try because it comes out great every time. I do not think you can mess up a nut in sugar. Truly though, if I share something with you in a video, I want it to be actually easy. I would love to know if there’s DIYs that you’ve tried from Do It on a Dime where you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I used that from year to year or this became a part of our family tradition.” Like, getting to hear that means so much to me. Like, just read the comments on these videos. Like, everybody is so nice. Like, how did I get so lucky to have you guys? All right, so home hack recipe number seven. We’re tackling the mantle. Today I’m decorating a mantle to be a beautiful Ralph Lauren style. And I want to share with you how I’m doing this using items that I already have. I feel like you probably already have Christmas decor. And my first affordable trick is painters tape. I use painters tape all over for Christmas decorating. So for this mantle, what I want to do is I want to string garlands kind of like this. That’s what I’m envisioning. And then I’m going to use painters tape to help secure it. You can find this at the dollar store. I have done this for so many years. My goodness. on stone mantels, on wood mantles, because this doesn’t take the paint off, but it also sticks really well. I just put it on the edge of the mantle. That’s the real secret to give it depth and dimension. All right, there we go. So, we got woo wavy swag. And I voice over a lot of this cuz I don’t even know what I’m saying half the time. But I just wrap the painters tape around like this. And then I stick it with firm pressure on the mantle. And I do that at least three different pieces per section that I’m attaching. And then I put a real touch garland over top. I’m going to link some of my favorites below for you that are actually affordable. Sometimes I put pics inside. Real touch garlands just mean that these look realistic. You can get them for about $30. And then I put in Dollar Tree lights and then free items. That’s the thing about decorating. If you use what you have and what’s available to you, especially natural things, that’s going to give it a lot of elegance. A simple way to update what you have is to just buy a new spool of ribbon. This was from my stash, but I’ll be sure to link an affordable option below. Velvet ribbon is so in right now and I think it looks great on a mantle. Dollar Tree element are berries. I decided to put this part in the video because I really like to see like step by step exactly how somebody does something and like layers things in cuz sometimes we can look at pictures of things but it can feel really overwhelming. I promise it doesn’t have to be. You can do this really simply and quickly. The stockings were thrifted. The garland a steal styled like old money but budget for real. For Christmas, my friends, isn’t bought in a store. It’s found in the simple, the used, and restored. It lives in the laughter, the warmth, and the light in memories crafted by candle lit night. So, here’s to the thrifters, the makers, the bold, creating rich magic with pennies, not gold. May your Christmas be lovely, your home full of cheer, and your budget stay merry throughout the whole year. I had so much fun making this video. Leave it a big thumbs up if you enjoyed, and be sure to check out Wild Grain. The link is down below, and get $30 off of your first box. Plus free croissants for life, my beautiful friend. If nobody has told you today, guess what? You are enough. I’ll see you soon. Want to keep hanging out? Me, too. I hand selected a video just for you on screen. I’ll see you there.