Decorating Your Christmas Tree

It’s December! If you haven’t dug out your Christmas tree then it’s about time! We all need a little holiday cheer after a terrible year of COVID-19 and quarantine. The picture above is my tree. I’ll be sharing how you can achieve a look like mine. 

First, you’ll need a tree. Let me tell you all about mine ;) It is a 7.5ft skinny tree I purchased from Hobby Lobby several years ago. I don’t believe it’s available any longer so you can look for one that has a light coating of faux snow and pine cones added on to get a similar style. Funny story, it used to have red berries on it too but one year my kids decided to pick them all off the bottom half so I went ahead and removed them all. That was disappointing but life goes on! I could hot glue them back on but I haven’t been motivated to do that yet. Maybe next year! It was also a pre-lit tree but this year none of the lights would work :( Rather than testing them, I decided to cut them off with wire cutters and I added 6 strands of 7 color multi lights instead. My kids requested a rainbow tree otherwise I would have gone with the safe option and replaced the white lights :) I’m so glad they talked me into the multi colored lights though because it turned out beautifully! For those that need help with lights I’ll tell you how I added mine next. Skip ahead of that section if you don’t need help in the light department. You can add a tree collar and skirt to your tree to make it look like mine. I originally bought the Collar from LTD Commodities for $14.99.

The tree skirt was from Target 2 years ago. I don’t see it online so I linked one that is almost identical from Amazon. 

 LIGHT HELP: I started my lights at the top of the tree with the plug side wrapped around the top branch where you would normally add a topper. Then I weaved the lights up and down the sides of each individual branch working horizontally and connecting more strands of lights as needed. Make sure you connect each strand properly so that the plug side with prongs is always away from the tree. I used 6 sets of lights for my tree. I believe the helpful rule is 1 strand of lights per foot of tree. At the bottom you can wrap any extra around the base and connect an extension cord that runs to an outlet. The tree collar will cover the extra lights if you have to wrap them. I’d like to add here that I highly recommend using a smart plug. It is so great during the holidays. With the push of a button you can turn on your tree and other displays. Anyways, I ordered my multi lights from Target for $4.50 per box on sale. 

Next, you’ll add your choice of tree topper. On mine, I added a bow that I made several years ago. I don’t have the exact link to my ribbon to make the bow but I linked one similar. I would consider making the bow a beginner level project if you’d like to tackle it. Here is a link to a great tutorial that will show you how. I suggest pre watching beforehand. If you want to achieve the exact look of mine then use one color of ribbon instead of 2 and make your hanging ribbon strands that she makes at the end about 18 in long. I used a total of 7 hanging ribbon strands (I know it’s hard to tell from the picture because it appears that there are only 2). You will then wrap each strand around a cylinder object like a paper towel roll or an unplugged curling iron one by one to achieve a curled look. Carefully pull the curling object out of the wound up ribbon strand and gently adjust each one until you have a somewhat tight curl. For an extra shine, I added a battery operated strand of lights to my bow by weaving it in and out evenly throughout the bow and hiding the battery pack behind a branch. I love these and what’s great is that they come on for 6 hrs and stay off for 16 automatically. So you never do anything except check to make sure the batteries haven’t died occasionally. They are made with flexible wire that stays in position.

Once you have added your bow to the tree as shown in the video link, we will be adding the ribbon throughout the tree. You can buy 2 or 3 different patterns to get the look of my tree. I used 2. One matches the bow, and one is a different pattern in gold. Click here for the 2nd pattern. The first pattern link was shared above. My ribbon is from Target and is temporarily sold out so click here for another available option. If shopping elsewhere for ribbon look for ones that are 2 or 2.5 inch wired ribbon. Mine was  2.5 in and 10 yards (30ft) long. Like I mentioned  beforehand, I needed 1 of each but you may need more unless your tree is also a skinny tree. A great place to find ribbon is Hobby Lobby. Or if you can splurge than Balsam Hill has some of the most beautiful selections I have ever found!

Now, you will need to cut your ribbon into lengths between 18in and 3ft. It depends on how big your tree is for determining what is best. I like 18 in on my skinny tree but if I had a wider tree I would longer lengths to achieve a more grand look. I’d recommend cutting a length of each size to test if you can spare the ribbon. To add the ribbon, tuck one end of the ribbon into the center of the tree and gently tuck the opposite end diagonally downward and into the center again. Fluff you ribbon to make sure the wire is nicely curved. Pick random spots all over your tree to tuck more pieces of ribbon. You can go opposite directions with each strand you tuck or not. There really is no perfect method to this. Just keeping tucking ribbon until you have evenly covered your tree alternating ribbon color. The great thing is that if you don’t like the placement you can easily move it around.

The last thing to do is add ornaments. I used a combination of ornaments that I previously purchased and a new set from Target. Geez, you’d think this is sponsored by Target lol. I promise you that it’s not! Here are my new ornaments and another option similar to my first set.

By now, you should have the finished product. A beautifully decorated Christmas tree! I hope you made it this far. I know it was quite the lengthy read! If you followed this guide, do you love your tree? I hope it brings you tons of Christmas cheer when you look at at. Comment below with picture If you tried this. 

P.S. Our train is...once again from Target! (apparently it’s our favorite store  haha) We bought it last year on clearance but you can click here to find it on Amazon. 

Assemble it using the circle shape option. Trust me, your kids will love it and thank you!