How I Decorate Our Christmas Tree

I have always wondered if there are any special tricks or techniques when it comes to decorating a Christmas tree.  There is definitely not a right or a wrong way to do it, it’s all about personal preference.  There are so many different styles and I enjoy seeing them all!  For our own tree this year, I decided to try and create a layered look with lights, ribbon, sprays, and ornaments.  I learned a few helpful tips along the way and wanted to share them with you in case you are like me and wondered too!

Tip: If you have a real tree, make sure to get a tree bag and make a small hole at the top of it.  Put it around the tree stand base, underneath your tree skirt. Then when it’s time to remove the tree your tree bag will already be in position and all you have to do is move the bag upward to the top of the tree. It will catch most of the needles in the tree bag, which means less mess for you.

LIGHTS & RIBBON

First, we put lights on the tree and by “we” I mean my husband 🙂 I like to use a lot of lights! Then I add the ribbon next.  I personally think its easier to add the ribbon before the sprays and ornaments so you can tuck it back into the tree without any issues.  I only chose two types of ribbon since there is a lot going on in our tree:

Cypress Home Snow Covered Burlap Tree Ribbon
2.5″ Faux Dupioni Ivory Ribbon

The snow covered ribbon comes in 5 ft rolls, so I used about 5 rolls total for our tree. The ivory ribbon came in a 25 yard roll, so one roll was plenty and I had some left over for wreaths around the house. For reference, our tree is about 7 1/2 – 8 feet tall and is a real frasier fir.

Tip: I mentioned in my instagram stories that Kelley Nan has a great tutorial about decorating your tree with ribbon. Here is a link to it if you want to check it out. I found it to be really helpful and I love how our ribbon turned out!

Here is our tree with just the ivory ribbon, and the plastic tree bag around the bottom. I didn’t get a picture of the tree with both sets of ribbon on it because I was too excited to finish decorating! 🙂

SPRAYS

This is my husband’s least favorite part since glitter gets everywhere! We basically try to keep the sprays in one area and then vacuum as soon as we are done but we still find glitter for days it seems.  However, it is so worth it! I love the different textures and sparkle that sprays can add to your tree.  It really makes it magical! The ones pictured here are all from a local store, Mulhalls.  I try to get about 10-12 of each kind, depending on how expensive they are.  I like to add a new type or two each year and have collected these since 2011 when we got married. I added the flocked white berry sprays this year.

Tip: With the sprays I like to start at the top and work my way down the tree.  At the top I stick some of the sprays upright or at an upward angle, and then as I move down the tree I begin to turn them to a slight downward angle.

ORNAMENTS

Decorating our Christmas tree with ornaments is the final touch.  If you saw my instagram stories I talked about our Christopher Radko ornaments that we have collected over the years.  My mom has given my sisters and I an ornament each year since we were little and now gives them to my husband and sons. My mother-in-law also gives them to our family each year so our collection has really grown over the years! They are the most beautiful hand painted ornaments and each year Christopher Radko comes out with new ones so they are always unique. I love this tradition and look forward to it every year!

I just have to tell you my son Jack, almost 4 years old, helped me decorate our tree for the first time this year and was SO into it.  He unboxed each ornament himself with such enthusiasm and care. It was so special and reminded me of our excitement as kids when we helped decorate our Christmas tree.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post and found my tips to be helpful!  If you have any tips that you would like to share, I would love to hear them in the comments below.  Also, if you found inspiration in today’s post be sure to hover over any image and save it to your Pinterest boards! Thank you so much for stopping by!!
xo, Kate

SOURCE LIST:

Real Frasier Fir Tree: Mulhalls

Cypress Home Snow Covered Burlap Tree Ribbon

2.5″ Faux Dupioni Ivory Ribbon

Sprays: Mulhalls

Ornaments: Christopher Radko (Borsheims)

Tree skirt: Etsy

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