Learn the tips and tricks that can take your Christmas tree from bland to breathtaking!
I love, love, love decorating a Christmas tree! I look forward to it for months ahead of time. This year as I was decorating our trees (we have 3 now!) I thought I would take the time to show you all some tips and tricks that help make your tree look its best.
Christmas Tree Decorating Tips
Start with the lights
If you are lucky enough to have a pre-lit tree, skip this step. For everyone else, adding your Christmas tree lights the proper way goes a LONG way towards upgrading your finished look.
The key to adding the lights is to not simply wrap them around the tree, but rather to weave them in and out of the branches so that you get lights at various depths within the branches but also more lights in a particular area.
Find your "superstar" ornaments
This year I had a brand new 12 foot tree that I bought on clearance last January so I knew I was going to need a good amount of new ornaments to fill it up, which can get pricey. The key to saving money is to focus on some gorgeous, superstar ornaments that will take the majority of the attention and then fill in the rest with less expensive ornaments.
I waited until Hobby Lobby Christmas decorations were 50% off and stocked up on some beautiful metallic ornaments. My 12 foot tree is in a corner so I didn't have to decorate the very back and I purchased about 6-8 of each type of ornament to spread throughout the tree. These are the ornaments I add to the tree first.
Use ornaments in a variety of sizes, shapes, and textures
Once you have your focal points added to the tree you can begin to add your filler ornaments. These can be inexpensive but the key yo making them look amazing is to use a variety of sizes and shapes as well as textures.
You can see below that I have small and large ball ornaments as well as teardrop shaped ornaments. I also used ornaments with surfaces that were smooth, matte, shiny, glittered, and mercury glass to give a lot of dimension to the tree.
Make it meaningful
You don't have to sacrifice family ornaments when decorating a Christmas tree, tie in coordinating sentimental ornaments to add your family memories to the tree.
In our home we have more than one tree so I use all the ornaments that coordinate with that year's color theme and then we have a second tree that holds all the other ornaments (my alma mater Clemson orange isn't usually a coordinating ornament!)
Add ribbon the sneaky way
Don't think I skipped the ribbon! I always found it hard to get the ribbon to look "just right" when I put it on the tree after the lights so now I have a little hack that makes it easy: adding the ribbon in 1-2 foot sections.
That's right! That garland is not one long, continuous ribbon but rather about 20 1-2 foot sections that I have twisted and tucked to look as if it is weaving in and out of the branches. So much easier, I promise!
Pick a few surprise elements
Add some whimsy to your Christmas tree with a few surprise elements to add interest. I like to tuck some deer antlers in the branches along with this little guy peeking out.
Use floral picks as accents
To finish off the tree, add some natural elements such as floral picks such as the magnolia flowers and gold sprays I have on my tree. Tucking these in adds the perfect finishing touch!
Did I miss any tips? Leave them in the comments below!
Mertie says
Haven't missed any tips that I know of! When our kids were small and Santa was still alive, I had 2 very large trees and 6 ( their bedrooms, both bathrooms and kitchen) smaller ones, ranging in size from 1-2 feet. They went wild. Now I have just one which is a pre-lit 6 foot pencil tree which we put on our fireplace hearth. Most of the time, I add three trees. One color, coordinated, one filled with hand made ornaments and the last one filled with small red velvet bows, lacy angels and white stars! Loved that one the best! Three is a real good number, only if you have help!