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All of the Outdoor Christmas Decor I Bought for Under $100 on Cyber Monday

For my first holiday, I didn't want to spend more than $100 to decorate—and the big Cyber Monday sales helped me stick to that budget.
Kathleen Corlett Avatar

By Kathleen Corlett

Updated on Nov 27, 2023

Holiday Decorations for Under $100 on Cyber Monday, Including a Penguin in a Sweater Standing on a Snowy Lawn
Photo: Target

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I just bought and moved into a 94-year-old colonial house this summer and, until now, I’ve only ever had interiors to decorate for the holidays. (Even then, I was generally a minimalist because of the spatial constraints of a tiny apartment.) So it’s no surprise that for my first Christmas with a porch and front yard to decorate, I’m fairly underprepared. I made it a mission to decorate outdoors for the holidays on a budget of $100, relying heavily on the Cyber Weekend sales to stay within my limit. I’ve lucked out, and you can, too! See how I stretched my dollars to cover six outdoor elements, and which decorations were close seconds. (And be sure to check out the other great Christmas decor deals that Bob Vila editors are loving!)

Coir Door Mat Cut Out and Decorated Like a Gingerbread House
Photo: JoAnn

Gingerbread House-Shaped Coir Door Mat at JoAnn for $8.99 (Save $21)

We’ll swap out our regular coir door mat for something a little more festive. While there are beautiful holiday options in the $30 to $40 range, I’d prefer to spend less than half of that on a mat that will only be laid out 1 to 2 months per year.

If the JoAnn gingerbread house mat sells out before you can get yours, I’d highly recommend some of the Target coir doormats, which feature buffalo check, brushstroke evergreen trees, or a holly wreath in their designs.

24-Inch Unlit Artificial Pine Wreath
Photo: JoAnn

2x: 24-Inch Unlit Green Canadian Pine Christmas Wreath at JoAnn for $6.99 each (Save $13)

I see this simple unlit pine wreath is a blank canvas we can reinvent year after year. This year, we’ll stick to string lights and red ribbon. Next year, we could add shatterproof ornaments, artificial berries, fabric poinsettias, pine cones from the backyard, candy canes—whatever moves us.

For similar wreaths $15 and under, check out Target (again) for every day low prices—specifically their Wondershop brand’s 20-inch wreath with red bulbs ($10), a 20-inch wreath of mixed greens ($10), or the 20-inch prelit wreath ($15).

2.5-Inch-Thick Red Velvet Ribbon on a Spool
Photo: JoAnn

2x: 2.5-Inch x 25-Foot Christmas Red Velvet Ribbon at JoAnn for $4 each (Save $5.99)

Candy striping porch posts with red velvet ribbon is a tradition at my family’s house in Ohio, and I’m excited to bring it to my New York porch posts next. I’ll use my trusty staple gun to secure it at the top of the post under the eaves, wrap all the way to the bottom. with 8-inch spacing, and staple. The leftover length won’t go unused, either—the wire makes for great, always-fluffed wreath bows.

An honorable mention goes to Michaels, which is running a Buy-One-Get-Three-Free Cyber Monday sale on select ribbon right now. I could have gotten the same amount of this thicker (3.5-inch) red velvet ribbon at about $3.75 per spool with this promo.

GE Warm White LED Christmas Lights
Photo: Lowe’s

3x: GE StayBright 100-Count 24.7-Foot White LED Plug-In Christmas String Lights at Lowe’s for $5.98 each (Save $5)

Three strands are not enough to Clark Griswold the roof, but at $5 each for Cyber Monday, you could easily pick up more (and feel better about the LEDs’ impact on your energy bill). Personally, we’ll probably stick to winding them around our wreaths this year to give them a little oomph.

If you miss the half-off deal at Lowe’s, you might check out this 100-count LED string light set at Target for $5.60 (20% off) or this 50-count, 16-foot LED Christmas lights with eight lighting modes at Amazon for just $7.99 (another Cyber Monday deal).

Light-Up Sculpture of a Penguin in a Red Holiday Sweater
Photo: Target

24-Inch LED Penguin Wearing Snowflake Sweater Sculpture at Target for $40 (Save $10)

We’ll likely finish this decor scheme with a statement piece. While slightly larger than life and sweetly cartoonish, I prefer this sculpture to your typical inflatable. It stays upright during the day even if not plugged in thanks to its wire frame, and then I can light it up in the evening with an LED glow.

A few other under-$50 statements that I had considered:

5 32-Inch Plastic Candy Cane Props
Photo: Party City

5x: 32-Inch Candy Cane Props at Party City for $2.50 each (Save $2 in a 5-for-$10 sale)

Amazon is running plenty of Cyber Monday deals on prelit candy cane lights, any of which might make great path lighting. But I’m already at the end of my budget, so I needed to be more creative. The plan: We’ll stake these plastic 32-inch plastic canes in our mulched beds, four pairs in a row, and utilize some landscape lighting we already have on hand as uplighting for the decoration.

Grand Total Spent: $98.91 & Saved: $85.98

At the end of the day, I was able to get nearly $200 of Christmas outdoor decor on my $100 budget! Not including tax, but I managed to avoid shipping fees by combining orders and picking up at local stores. Here are the final numbers:

Looking for More Shopping guidance? Shop Our Other Cyber Weekend 2023 Stories

The prices listed here are accurate as of the update on November 26, 2023.

 
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