My Simply Decorated Christmas Tree

I am intentionally keeping my Christmas simple this year and that includes how I decorated my Christmas tree.  Less store bought decorations… more twinkle lights, candles and time to enjoy the magic of the holidays.

I want to be more present, to give more attention to moments as they are unfolding instead of feeling rushed to get it all done.

We always get a real tree from a local nursery. Every year I come up with a different color scheme to decorate it using a variety of our favorite ornaments. The last two years I used red. This year it is black, white and silver.

Instead of placing every ornament I had on the tree, I went through all my ornaments and picked out all the silver and Mercury glass ornaments.

They add a little bit of a vintage touch that I love to see at Christmas.

The Mercury glass ornaments really come alive at night when they reflect the glow of the white twinkle lights I adore. Christmas without twinkle lights on the tree is just not Christmas for me.

I also chose to keep the Christmas tree decorations and the rest of the house simple so they don’t clash with this view.  Even in winter when the lake level is down… the lake, big blue sky and nature all around are tough competition for the decorations.

Our little part of the lake gives us a show from sun up to sun down, providing us with a changing scene all day long. I call it my wall art. :-)

Any added decoration has to work with it… up to a point.

Do you remember this Christmas tree collar that I made a few years ago using a big basket I found at the thrift store?  This year after I had the tree up, I decided it needed a touch of glitter.

To add it, I simply sprayed the tree stand collar with spray glue and shook glitter all over it.

I know what you are thinking… “Why didn’t you add it before you put up the tree, as it would have been easier?”  Yes, it would have been a lot less messy, but the idea only came to me after the tree was up. There was no way I was going to take it down just to add glitter.

Glitter, twinkle lights and yes….

…seeing pops of color. I added them in the way of satin ribbons on black and white gift wrapped Christmas presents.

I found the 3-1/2″ wide white buffalo black plaid ribbon at TJMaxx. It is also where I bought all the gift wrap  There was only 1 roll of the ribbon, but I knew it would be a perfect accent for the silver ornaments, so I grabbed it.

The satin ribbons are mostly from craft stores. I have assembled quite a stash over the years and enjoy finding ways to use it. I store all of it in the ribbon organizer I made for the wall in my studioffice.

Now that the tree is up and decorated, the way I enjoy it the most is when the sun goes down…

…and the twinkle lights begin their magic. I have a few candles burning and Christmas music is playing.  Seasonal bliss… :-)

I am enjoying it all evening long, but enjoy the coziness the most at dusk as I prepare dinner. I love the atmosphere with a glass of wine as I cook and can still see the twinkling tree and hear the music.

Next Monday I am taking part in Christmas House Tour and will show you a few other areas of the house where I added holiday touches.

Decorating Resources:

Twinkle lights  | Buffalo Plaid Ribbon

Christmas Tree Decorating Schemes I Have Used Over the Years

Even before I started blogging, I had decorated quite a lot of Christmas trees… literally hundreds.  Since I began blogging full-time, only one a year now….whewww!

If you are looking for Christmas tree decorating inspiration, here are a few trees I have decorated over the years using a variety of color schemes.

The Red Plaid tree...

…on which I used garlands I made. I posted about how I made them:

• How to Make a Snowball Garland
• Tiny white pom-pom garland is yarn bought at the craft store.
• Red pom-pom garland and wide red plaid ribbon are from Michaels
• Ho Ho Ho Ribbon is from Paper Mart
• I bought the gold bead garland at a yard sale.

The Turquoise Tree

• I made paper ornaments for this tree that I placed in my dining room one year.
• DIY Pipe Cleaner Garland
• How to Make a Photo Frame Tree Stand Cover

The Dead Tree

• I truly enjoyed bringing this dead tree back to life with white spray paint and shiny glass ornaments purchased at Michaels and Walmart.

The Snowflake Tree

• I added glitter to foam snowflakes I bought at the dollar store to decorate this tree. I reused the pipe cleaner garland I made from a previous year. When I worked in the visual department at a department store I got a bin full of large fuchsia balls that were being thrown away – one of the perks of the job.  I haven’t used them in the past few years, but I still have them.

The Vertical Ribbon Tree

• I created this tree for a sponsored post when I first started blogging. I used ribbons and made garlands with shapes to hang. It was colorful, but hid too much of the tree and lights.

How are you decorating your Christmas tree this year?