Create a Picture-Perfect Christmas Tree with These Easy and Elegant Decorating Ideas

With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to decorate your home. And what better way to add a touch of festive cheer than with a beautifully decorated Christmas tree?

Today I am going to share my Christmas tree. As a bonus, you will be able to get incredible tree decorating ideas from 8 of my talented blogging friends and learn all of their secrets too!!

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Tips & Tricks for Tree Decorating

No need to be overwhelmed with how to decorate your tree or come up with ideas! Check out all of these ideas for Christmas tree decorating.

It’s so fun coming up with new ideas each year to share with you. Even though I tweak the decorations or colors that I choose year to year I usually follow the same steps when it comes to Christmas tree decorating.

Christmas tree decorating is one of my favorite holiday tasks. I loved putting on the ornaments and the lights since I was little.

Choosing a Christmas Tree

The most important part of it all! First, you have to decide on a Christmas tree to put up in your home. The basic question to answer is do you want a real or artificial tree?

Although I love the look of a real tree I have opted for an artificial one for years (actually since the year my son Brendan was a baby and our real tree randomly tipped over and almost landed on him playing on the living room floor!!)

Here in New England, so many families make it a tradition to cut down their own trees at Christmas tree farms. In New Hampshire, you can actually get a permit to cut down your own tree up in the White Mountains and drag it out yourself…sounds like alot of work to me!!!

Artificial trees have made leaps and bounds in the past 5 years and are continuing to become more realistic looking each year with the real-touch technology that some manufacturers are using to make trees and garlands.

One of the pros of artificial trees is that it’s a one-time purchase and then you can get a few years out of it. You have to shell out money every year for the real ones. Sidenote, geez real trees are so expensive this year at least in NH!!

The other important factor whether it be a real or fake tree is its height. You will want the top of your tree to be at least 1 foot below your ceiling to give you room for a tree topper.

This year my tree is 7.5 feet and I have 8 ft ceilings but I am not using a tall tree topper and the tip of my tree is fairly sparse anyway.

If you are going the artificial tree route then the other decisions you will have to make are:

• Green or Flocked
• Full or Slim
• Prelit or Unlit
• What type of Tree

1. Green vs Flocked: Both options are beautiful it just depends on your own preference and the look you are going for. I have one of each up in my home and love them both! But flocked trees are messy when you are putting them up and fluffing them…I made the mistake of wearing black yoga pants when I was putting my flocked one up this year, I was covered!
2. Full or Slim: Choosing a full or slim tree will really depend on where you want to place your tree and how much walking space is around it. When you are shopping for trees you can filter your searches online for slim or full to make it easier to scroll through the options. Also, check the product details and it should tell you what the diameter of the tree is to make it easier to figure out if you have room for it in your home. Slim trees work best in small rooms generally speaking.
3. Prelit or Unlit: Prelit tree technology has also advanced quite a bit in the past few years with the release of LED lights on the trees and also how manufacturers wire them to make them more durable and long-lasting. But by buying an unlit tree you can add any style of lights to it that you want & control how many bulbs you want to add to fit your style. Some of the newer artificial trees also have options to change from white to multi-colored lights on the same tree! Check the bulb count on the listing, the more lights the brighter your tree will be.
4. What type of Tree: The last factor you will want to consider is what type of tree to get. The most popular are spruces, firs, pines,& cedars. They all have different looks to them and it will depend on what look you love! Take the time to check the tip count on the tree listing, the more tips the more branches you will have to hang ornaments and the fuller the tree will be.

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Decorating a Christmas Tree

In October I sold 2 Christmas trees, 6 garlands, & 2 wreaths on Facebook Marketplace and used that money to buy a new tree that I had saved in my Amazon cart since last year along with a few new decorations to use this season.

My tree is the National Tree Company 7.5 ft Norwegian Spruce.

This Amazon tree has a similar look and is in stock as I write this.

What drew me to this particular tree is that it looks like the real Christmas trees that you would see in New England homes.

Step 1. Fluff the Tree

Yes, I know how tedious and time-consuming this step is but you have to take the time to fluff your artificial tree!! It makes such an incredible difference.

My top tip: Straighten the tree tips closest to the tree trunk, this will disguise the brown fake-looking trunk!!

If you need to add lights to your tree this is when to do it!

One thing that I did was wrap this $3 set of twinkling white lights around the tree trunk running down the tree. I wish I remembered the Instagrammer that I got this idea from! It is unbelievable how dreamy just a subtle twinkle coming from inside the tree is!!

Step 2. Add Garland

After my tree is fluffed my next step is to add garland (if I am using it). This year I used 2 garlands. A 1-inch cream felted garland (Walmart) and a half-inch gold wood beaded garland.

On my 7.5 ft tree, I added 6 of the 6-foot wool garlands and 64 ft of the gold bead garland.

I really love the two different textures and sizes of garland hanging together on the tree.

Something new to me this year was adding clip-on battery-operated candles to my tree. I am obsessed!! The candles come in a set of 24 and I didn’t even use them all on this tree, I’m using the extras in other places (the set comes with 2 remotes so you can use them in different rooms!)

My husband and teenage son both commented on how much they liked the candles…seriously, I couldn’t believe that they even noticed there was a tree up never mind the candles on it!!!!

Step 3. Add Ornaments

This year I wanted to keep my tree more on the minimal side to go with the natural look of my tree. My color palette is mixed metallics and whites.

I started out by adding sets of types of ornaments that I repeated over the entire tree: gold stars (Target), vintage-looking long baubles (Walmart), and sparkling snowballs (Hobby Lobby).

The baubles and snowballs were from last year but I saw both of the ornaments in the stores this year too.

The gold stars that I picked up at Target (2 for $3) were a little too bright for me so I did give them a quick coat of antique gold Rub n Buff to get a more muted vintage-looking star.

These fuzzy snowball ornaments are so fun!! I pushed them down towards the center of the tree. Think about adding some of your ornaments that way to give more visual depth to your tree.

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Then I filled in the rest of the tree with a few different DIY ornaments. You can learn to make all of these ornaments and more: 11 Christmas Ornaments You Can Make

Step 4. Add Ribbon

This year I chose a vintage-looking green velvet ribbon (Hobby Lobby) to tie to my Christmas tree. I wanted to keep my tree simple so I just tied the ribbon and didn’t make a bow… more minimal.

Step 5. Add a Tree Topper

For this year’s Christmas tree, I chose a simple gold star tree topper (Target). How cool is the clip to attach it to the top of the tree…no more shoving it over the top tip and it looking crooked!!

Finished Christmas Tree

Who else is in love?? There is nothing better than sitting in the living room at night with the tree lights on…actually it’s still dark when I wake up in the morning and I love having my coffee with the glow of the tree lights!

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More Christmas Tree Ideas!

Here are so many Christmas tree decorating ideas for you to check out!! There are trees and ideas for every style and color palette you can think of!! Thanks to Wendy over at WM Design House for hosting our Christmas Tree Inspiration Blog Hop today!!

Natural Christmas Tree

What is a natural and neutral-themed Christmas tree? There are many different styles for doing a themed Christmas tree. A natural and neutral Christmas tree is decorated with lots of white and brown shades along with ornaments made from natural elements like wood and metals.

Bricks n Blooms

Stacy has a jam-packed article on Christmas tree decorating ideas. You will love her farmhouse style and simple ideas that you can use in your own home to decorate this year!

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The Ponds Farmhouse

I mean…c’mon, is this tree gorgeous or what??!! You must go see Rachel’s beautiful Christmas tree that she decorated with her own dried hydrangeas for a pretty, natural-looking tree.

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Midwest Life & Style

If you have a flocked tree and are looking for easy ideas on how to decorate it this season then Jen has all the answers for you! She used a red, white, and gold color scheme that is perfect for this bedroom Christmas tree.

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WM Design House

Wendy is sharing all kinds of Christmas tree decorating ideas using different styles and colors. There is so much good information here for you!

Shiplap & Shells

Kim has so many ideas and examples of using Christmas trees in smaller spaces. You will adore her cottage style home and all of the vintage touches she incorporates throughout her home at Christmas time.

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Truemans Treasures

If you are stuck on where to put your Christmas tree and need some expert guidance you will love Kylie’s ideas and examples to help you this holiday season! Plus all her trees are gorgeous!

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Amy Sadler Designs

Amy is such a creative and artistic blogger and does wonders with paint! She will show you how to create beautiful DIY ornaments to use on your tree that look just like the very expensive ones you love in the catalogs!

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Tatertots & Jello

I always know when it’s one of Jen’s pictures! She has the most fun, creative style when she decorates her home. Wait until you see all of her 15 themed Christmas tree ideas!! Amazing!

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Looking for More Christmas Inspiration

My 10 Days of Christmas has hundreds of ideas from me and a talented group of friends to make your holidays prettier!!!

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