christmasvacationhouse

Decorating for the holidays in a subtle, classy way can be difficult. How many lights are too many? Colored lights or white lights? It’s especially challenging if you plan to have visitors, or need to host a holiday party.

If you’re decorationally challenged, you may want to check out this list of apps and magazines that can help you come up with some great holiday decorating tips. You don’t want your house to end up looking like Clark Griswald’s from Christmas Vacation, do you?

Martha Stewart Living (Free) – Martha Stewart Living is free to download, but individual issues will cost $3.99 each, which is in line with a regular paper magazine (you can get them cheaper if you subscribe for a year). Martha is known as the ultimate craft and decorating guru, and the December issue of her magazine is filled with great holiday decorating ideas, including tips on how to make fantastic wreaths and how to craft fun Christmas crackers.

Better Homes and Gardens (Free) – This iPad app is $1.99 if you subscribe, and $3.99 for an individual no-strings-attached issue. The December issue of Better Homes and Gardens is filled with fantastic decorating tips that you’ll be able to put to use this season, from decorating your house to cooking up tasty recipes. If you’re already a subscriber to Better Homes and Gardens you can get issues on your iPad for free.

Elle Decor Lookbook (Free) – This free app is a popular online resource that’s been made available for the iPad. It features hundreds of different images from the Elle Decor archives, and while it isn’t limited to holiday items, it does feature several great setups that can be incorporated into the perfect holiday look. You can sort by room and style, plus there are editor curated LookBooks to browse along with advice from the Elle Decor website.

HGTV Magazine (Free) – Like the other magazines, this one is $3.99 for an individual issue or $1.99 if you subscribe. The December issue of HGTV is filled with examples of houses decorated for the holidays with quick, easy projects that you can complete in just hours. There’s a guide on tricks for wrapping presents, tips on how to decorate your tree, and a list of some awesome holiday recipes as a bonus. If you need decorating tips, you won’t go wrong with HGTV magazine.

Pinterest (Free) – Pinterest is the ultimate idea app, filled with thousands of decorating tips and suggestions from people around the world. Want to find inspiring examples of Christmas displays? It’s as easy as a simple search. Need to find out how to make a wreath that looks good and takes less than an hour to craft? No problem with Pinterest. It really is the ultimate resource for everything, so if you’re looking something to get the creative juices flowing, open up this app and you’ll be inundated with fantastic projects.