Five Ways To Have A Decorator Style Christmas Tree

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are staying well and that you are staying encouraged.

I have some tips for you so that you can have a wonderful decorator looking Christmas tree while still using your collected family ornaments. 

No. 1 

The most important thing you can do to get a decorator look for your tree, is to fluff your tree once it is set up. 

It takes a while. It's a pain in the neck, The branches are scratchy. You might cry. 

You can have the cutest and most bestest ornaments in the world but if the tree is wonky looking after a summer in the attic, it will diminish the look of the bestest ornaments in the world. 

(Blogger is letting me know with their annoying red line that bestest isn't a word.)

This is true for wreaths and garlands as well. 

Take a few minutes to fluff them so that they look as good as new. 

This is probably why I'll get dissatisfied with my older decor items. They look old and used because they have been crushed over time. Now is a good time to use florist tape to fix picks that are coming apart. New trees need to be fluffed as well. I mean they have made a long journey to get here. They may have been made and boxed a year ago. 

No. 2

Check your lighting. If the lights are out on a pre-lit tree, I find it is best to cut them out and restring the whole tree. Instead of grabbing a random strand from the garage, get new matching light strings so that the top of the tree matches the bottom of the tree. 

It is the worst if a section goes out mid December. Okay, not the worst but you get the idea.  

Add a string of novelty lights for fun. I've been into lights that have a twinkle feature. 

I love, love battery operated candles. 

No. 3

The tree is fluffed and the lights are working. 

It is ribbon time. 

I cannot express how important the ribbon is to a designer looking tree. 

It took me some practice to get it right, so don't give up. 

I always start at the top right hand side and pinch the end of the ribbon with a branch to secure it to the tree. I prefer to use new ribbon each year. The older ribbon is used on packages and other decorations. I do not cut my ribbon into sections. I keep it in one continuous piece until I get to the bottom of the tree. My ribbon always cascades down to tree toward the left. After a couple of feet, I'll go across and up the back of the tree and begin another drape. Random Shirley Temple type ringlets are formed with the ribbon in between the sections. The ribbon gets tucked into the tree periodically so that it doesn't look like the ribbon is laying across the front. 

Imagine a sash across the homecoming queen. You are making a couple of those type of passes across the front of the tree depending on the size of the tree. 

If I'm using two coordinating ribbons, I'll do them at the same time.  

That being said, there are fabulous ribbon tutorials on YouTube. 

I think David Christopher's  is one of the best for adding ribbons. They are an adorable couple so the videos are entertaining.  

No. 4

Now is the time to add additional garlands or picks as accents to the Christmas tree. 

However, it can be expensive. Shop around but Dollar Tree has little bushes that can be cut apart. 

I like my accent greenery to come out of the tree a little. Garlands cascade down and around in the same pattern as the ribbon. 

For the tree in our garden room, I used grapevine from our woods, thrifted black berries picks, and blue berry bushes from the floral section at Hobby Lobby. 

You could stop at this point and have a gorgeous designer looking tree but ornaments are my favorite part. 

No. 5

I love collecting ornaments. They have been collected over time so they don't all match. 

Many of the designer trees have matching ornament sets in a variety of sizes. I don't love that for our trees. I want to use our vintage and collected ornaments. 

Ours can be grouped into several different themes, however. 

That is why I have several trees. I like grouping ornaments together. 

Grouping ornaments to a theme helps it have more of a designer look. 

That being said, the eyes will rest a little if there are matching ornaments on the tree. 

I found these darling red striped homespun balls at Hobby Lobby. 

I think they are adorable. 

I hope this helps unless you already have decorated your tree. If that's the case, bookmark this for next year. 

I get a lot of compliments on my trees. I think a lot people want an expensive look for Christmas but they don't know how to achieve it.  Breaking down why a tree looks designer has helped me create some fun and beautiful Christmas trees. 

That is all for now. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Katie