Kathy Bodary knows that holiday décor doesn’t have to come in a box marked Christmas.

The Ypsilanti interior decorator looks in non-traditional places when it comes time to deck the halls: Antique and thrift shops, sewing notion stores, even her own backyard.

Sometimes, she adds a holiday twist to existing décor, such as nestling a pair of ceramic peace doves from a second-hand store in a bed of garland and lights.

“You don’t have to buy a lot of Christmas decorations,” she said. “You can look at what you already have and incorporate Christmas into it.”

Other times, she looks no farther than her backyard: Snippets of a holly bush, trimmings from a pine tree, clippings from trees with berries, even bare branches can be dipped in gold or glitter.

Bodary’s work will be one of five houses, along with the historic Hutchinson Mansion, on the 13th annual Holiday Home Tour this Saturday and Sunday to benefit Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels.

This year, a theme of peace runs through Bodary’s Christmas decorating, she said, including a peace Christmas tree, ornaments and wall decor.

“It’s my little statement to encourage people to think about peace,” Bodary said. “I want to remind people at Christmastime that we are fighting two wars.”

But she also decorated with an eye toward fun and whimsy.

She has five trees, including the one in the living room that displays a hodgepodge of ornaments collected over the years and while traveling.

The living room mantle is set off with a large peace carving, framed by garland and antique copper candlesticks.

The dining room tree coordinates with the room’s theme of fruits and vegetables (including a framed needlework wall hanging from 1796) with blown glass ornaments in the shape of corn and blown glass strawberries from Germany.

But the room’s centerpiece is a collection of glass, including a glass church, a glass nativity and a collection of glass trees.

It’s an example, she said, of effective decorating that doesn’t break the bank. She bought the glass church at a Meijer store more than 20 years ago at a deep discount.

“It was post-Christmas, at the bottom of the shelf in a broken box with lights that didn’t work,” she said. “It was close to 90 percent off.”

Over time, she added the other glass pieces, some found at resale shops and one at Recycle Ann Arbor’s ReUse Center.

“The vignette is my favorite,” Bodary said. “It looks like ice.”

The peace tree sits in the guest room with peace ornaments and photographs of her parents, herself and her children and grandchildren as a reminder that we must leave a peaceful world to our children. She’ll also decorate with holiday plants - Christmas cactus, peace lilies and maybe poinsettias. And she’ll set the dining room and kitchen tables with holiday dishes.

Bodary is a veteran of home tours: Her west Ypsilanti classic American ranch, designed by well known Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti architect Ward Swartz in 1949, has been on the Ypsilanti Foundation’s Historic Home Tour and on a previous Holiday Home Tour.

The Bodarys, who have owned the house for more than a decade, have kept the original integrity intact, including the birch wood fireplace surround and trim throughout the house, the tile work in the kitchen and the original footprint of the house.