Tips and Tricks for a Beautiful Christmas Tree

I would have to say that one of the things I enjoy most about the holiday is decorating the Christmas tree. One of my favourite Christmas traditions as a child was gathering as a family to decorate the Christmas tree. We would listen to Christmas corals and drink hot chocolate, I loved spending that special time with my family, laughing and singing, opening box after box of pretty Christmas baubles and keepsake ornaments while the anticipation of the season grew. It’s a tradition I can’t wait to start with our own family.

Each year I put a lot of thought and effort into creating a beautiful tree to enjoy. And each year I am learning new techniques and understanding more and more about how to create the perfect holiday tree. Today I am going to share a few of the things I have learned along the way.

As much as I love the look and smell of a real Christmas tree, I thoroughly enjoy the convenience of an artificial tree. As a blogger (and a Christmas fanatic), we put our Christmas tree up very early around here, and I’m afraid a real tree just wouldn’t last until Christmas. If you choose an artificial tree, make sure you buy a good quality tree. There are so many life-like artificial trees on the market today and so many varieties, sizes and price points it’s not hard to find one you love.

This year I really wanted a flocked Christmas tree, but it just wasn’t in the budget so I improvised. I was browsing our dollar store before the holidays and noticed they had flocked pine branches. I knew these would be perfect for our tree this year so I ended up buying all of the ones they had in stock (about 30). Once our tree was set up I inserted the flocked branches evenly throughout the tree, filling in any gaps as I went.

Next I wrapped our tree in ribbon. I am by no means a pro at this, it’s something I constantly working on. I love this ribbon tutorial by my friend Kristen at Ella Claire, she is an absolute Christmas tree master.

I always love incorporating picks for some added texture and dimension. I found these beautiful white berry picks at the dollar store. I bought about 20 – 30 picks for the tree. You need enough to make an impact, otherwise they will just look out of place and insignificant. Stick them arbitrarily throughout the tree, be sure to let them poke out of the branches a bit . I always like to add a few extra picks near the top of the tree, as I don’t use a tree topper. I also had a few of these icy branch picks from years ago that I incorporated.

I wanted to give our Christmas tree more of a snowy feel and I remembered reading about a trick my friend, Lucy, from Craftberry Bush used on her tree last year. I was so inspire by this great idea that I headed to the dollar store (again!) to see what I could come up with. I ended up finding white feather boas in the children’s toy section and I knew these would work perfectly. I brought them home, snipped them in half and began draping them on the branches of our tree. It added just the snowy effect I was hoping for.

Finally, I added ornaments. I love mixing new and old, and store-bought and handmade ornaments for a really eclectic feel. In keeping with my “snowy” theme I only used white and icy blue Christmas ornaments. I’ve learned that when hanging your ornaments it’s best to tuck them into the tree, instead of hanging them on the tips of the branches. This will help fill in gaps and make them appear more nestled in to the tree, opposed to dangling precariously to the ends.

And I can’t forget the tree stand. My husband whipped together this cute little box to hide the tree stand. I think it feels more substantial than a tree skirt (especially since we won’t be leaving presents under the tree this year because tiny hands would definitely be opening them before the big day!). I just love the rustic quality it lends to the overall feel of the tree.

You can find more pictures of our Christmas tree and the rest of our home decorated for the holiday here.

I hope you find these tips to be helpful. I’d love to hear if you have any Christmas tree trimming tips or tricks! Leave me a message in the comment section below.