Being short on time and living space, I’ve honed my holiday decorations to be spare but potent, using tried-and-true materials — some found — in different ways each year. I want them to connect me to the holiday feeling in the best way possible, without my buying a bunch of overwrought, holiday specific items I’ll only use once a year.

My favorite are string lights, which can be shaped into wreaths and trees or just draped over and around mantles, pictures, lamps etc, or piled into vessels for free form effects…(they’re lovely year-round).

Copper twine lights are especially nice: The wire is both pretty and malleable enough to form into different shapes. I like these copper wire lights from Amazon because they’re dimmable (some LEDs can be pretty bright). I sprawl them on the window sill by my dining table to add a festive glow.

…They also can be wound easily into a wreath. Spiral them into a round or use shape thick crafts wire made of copper, silver or colorsinto a circular form to wrap the string lights around…

Terrain’s Stargazer Battery Powered Glass Bubble Lights make an especially lovely wreath (though they are a bit fragile).

Copper wire lights are also malleable enough to forge into a tree by just zigzagging them back and forth as you tack them to the wall…

Grapevine, with or without lights, ribbon or flowers, also makes a lovely organic form that you can keep through the years OR burn pieces of to scent your space with wood smoke or for pan-smoking foods on your stovetop (If the grapevine wreath is very dense, unwind some of the branches to thin it; keep the pruned bits for smoking). You can buy grapevine wreaths at garden and home stores.

In addition, I’ll hang a few vintage ornaments around my space…

…and arrange fragrant pine branches foraged from the park or the Christmas tree dealer who sets up camp across the way.

A sprig of cedar I put in water for an adhoc flower arrangement last year sprouted roots and is on its way to becoming a tree.

…lots of possibilities…