I am not a Christmas tree decorating expert by any means! I just love Christmas, and wanted to share how I decorate my trees!
I think it's fun to have a theme for your tree. Either a color theme or something else, like Santas, snowmen, crosses, a kitchen tree, etc. And I LOVE trees that are full of mismatchy family ornaments too. Those can be pulled together by adding a color theme along with them.
*Some things that I think will make a great and FULL tree are;*
lots of ornaments of different shapes and sizes. You need big and small, balls and other shapes too. Ribbon and mesh, and picks are great for filling in and adding oomph!
You can add things from around your house too; I've used tea cups, coke cans, initials, pictures, silver ware, dried flowers... it all depends on the theme too. I try to do things super inexpensively (my husband would totally disagree!) I put up several trees, so I can't spend a ton. BUT I probably add to my collection every year, so now I have a lot. I wouldn't be able to buy it all at once. And back in the day I had a job that paid money. Now my boss is a 2 year old and the pay stinks, but the benefits are great!
First is my pink, green, and brown tree in my dining room.
I got this flocked tree at Big Lots. It's a 6.5 foot tree and I wanted it to appear a little bit taller, so I put it on an upside down galvanized bucket.
This year I used mesh and ribbon for the first time! I loved it and it was super easy. It's a great way to fill up your tree too.
I got the skinny roll of mesh, but next time I will get the fat one. It will make it more full.
I just ran mesh and 2 kinds of ribbon down 4 sides of the tree. I pinched it every 12 inches or so, and just used a tree branch to grab it.
Hobby Lobby has mesh by the Christmas ribbon AND by the wedding stuff too. That's where I got this light pink one.
Ornaments:
I put on all the big ornaments first.
They are easier to fit in before you have all the other ornaments on.
( as you can see by all my pictures it's all real life going on in the backgrounds. I didn't have time or energy to "style" all my pictures. I am pretty sure I was still in my pjs at 2 pm while decorating!)
Then I go by color.
Except for the big ornaments, I put all the green ones on first. This helps balance out the tree and spread out the colors evenly. And I don't want to be the boss of you, but decorate the back of your tree! People can see more of it than you think!
I always tuck some in the middle of the tree too. Unless your branches are super dense, they will fit nicely and give your tree dimension. This is way easier to do with hooks on your ornaments rather than the ones hung by a string. I usually cut the strings off and use hooks.
Then I added pink:
Then brown:
Then I added a bow on top with some picks. I had to google, "how to make a Christmas bow"! I would be a terrible housewife with out the internet to guide me!
Then at the end, I filled in any nekkid spots with ornaments.
This Santa tree was done in the middle of the night, so this is the only "during" picture I got of the tree. But I followed the same pattern. Mesh and ribbon first. Then the big ornaments and big Santa face! Then I started with turquoise. Then I moved on to the Santa and red ornaments, and then the black and white, then the picks.
It really does make all the difference in the world to do one color at a time. I have broken my rules before and totally regretted it! It became a big mish-mashy mess.
Please have fun decorating your tree and don't let it stress you out. And if you only have 12 ornaments right now, then hang those 12 ornaments with pride! Then go to the after Christmas sales and start stocking up!
In our home Christmas is NOT all about the decorations, presents or even that sweetie Santa, it's all about Jesus's birthday!
You can see how I decorated trees in the past, 2011 here, 2010 here, and 2009 in a different house here.
And if you have any questions, I will try to answer them in the comments section.
Thanks!
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