You might say that the Christmas tree is the most important Christmas decoration in people’s homes. It becomes a focal point in a room. It’s the place where Father Christmas/Santa Claus leaves his presents. It represents the tradition of bringing some of nature indoors in the depths of winter. A Christmas tree is pretty special for many of us.
If you’re about to start decorating your Christmas tree, we have pulled together some of our top tips to help you make the most striking and beautiful Christmas tree this year. Here are some ideas on how to decorate a Christmas tree.
How To Decorate a Christmas Tree
1. Pick a Christmas decor theme
Spend a few minutes planning the theme for your Christmas tree and your home overall (we have a template in our resource library that might help). What kind of look/vibe/atmosphere are you going for this year?
It could a winter wonderland theme with lots of white and blue tones. Or maybe pick a traditional heritage theme for lots of red, green, and plaid/tartan colours. This year the vintage jewel-toned colour scheme is very popular with ruby reds, emerald greens, and sapphire blues.
2. Do a decorations audit
Pull the Christmas box out of storage and lay out all of the decorations from Christmas past. We like to make a list of every decoration we own and then plan for anything else we need to buy or make (we do love a Christmas craft!) to add to this year’s Christmas tree theme.
3. Prep the Christmas tree
Depending on whether you have chosen a real tree or an artificial tree be sure to prepare the tree before adding any decorations. For a real tree, you need to make sure the tree is secure in its pot or stand. Some people do like to keep their real tree watered so factor that it.
For an artificial tree, fluff out all the branches so they are evenly distributed throughout and there are no gaps. We want to make the Christmas tree look full.
4. Start with lights
Before adding the Christmas tree lights to the tree plug them in to check they work (nothing worse than spending an hour adding lights only to find they don’t work).
The key to adding lights to a Christmas tree is to weave! Start with the lights plugged in and weave the lights under and over the branches as close as possible to the trunk of the tree going all the way up to the top. Then from the top of the tree weave the lights under and over the branches towards the edge of the tree.
5. Add the garland decorations
If you are using any stringed garlands such as ribbon, tinsel, or beads, add them after the lights. Use the draping approach to hang and drape the garlands between the branches. Don’t forget, you can use something like ribbon to cascade vertically down the tree (see our tips on how to decorate a tree with ribbon here)
6. Add largest ornaments first
When adding Christmas tree ornaments such as baubles, start with the largest sized ones first. Hang them nearer the centre of the tree on the inner branches to start with and work out. Be sure to stand back after every few ornaments hung to gauge how evenly balanced the Christmas tree decorations are.
7. Start from the top
Think about adding the Christmas tree decorations from the top and working your way down, working from side to side and balancing the sizes and shapes throughout the tree.
8. Vary decorations
Of course, the best thing about Christmas is how personal it is. So do work with your theme as decided in tip number 1 but don’t be afraid to vary the decorations. You can use baubles, bow’s, tinsel, ribbon, beads, and all kinds of other hung ornaments. Think about varying textures as well colours. Add your personality to the tree!
9. Think in 3’s
In general, the design industry recommends you think in 3’s. This means it is considered aesthetically pleasing when things are grouped in three’s. So where possible on the tree you can group your ornaments in three’s. This rule also applies to multiple’s of threes such as six, nine, and twelve.
10. Add the tree topper and tree skirt
Once you are happy with the decorations on the Christmas tree you can finish off with the final flourishes on the top and bottom of the tree. First of all, choose your favourite tree topper, whether it’s a family heirloom or something to match the Christmas decor theme.
And finally, add a tree skirt to cover up the tree pot or stand. You can choose from all kinds of materials such as fabric tied up with ribbon or something robust such as wicker or metal.
We hope that has given you some ideas on how to decorate a Christmas tree.
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