15 Top Christmas Tree Decorating Tips to Try

A fun holiday activity shouldn’t be daunting, but it can be when an 11-foot-tall Christmas tree is involved. I’ve spent years decorating such trees and I have it down to a science. So, from decades of experience, here are my 15 top Christmas tree decorating tips.

Tip #1: Pick a good tree purveyor. We always patronize a tree lot benefitting a self-help organization for substance abusers, ex-convicts, and others.  Not only is it a good cause, customer service is excellent. They’ll stand a tree up so we can inspect it from all sides. They’ll unwrap the new arrivals if we can’t find the perfect tree. And, best of all, they’ll wrangle the tree into your tree stand (saving lots of marriages) so you can begin decorating when you get home.

Tip #2: Before bringing home the tree, always ask for a fresh cut. Slicing a little off the bottom of the trunk will enable the tree to absorb water more readily.

The Children’s Christmas Tree

Tip #3: Give the grandkids their own tree. I inherited a small, artificial Christmas tree from my mom that we set up in our playroom for the children to decorate.

I set aside the smaller, unbreakable ornaments for this tree. It gives the children their own stake in decorating for the holidays, and keeps little ones from gravitating to the big tree.

Graduating to the Big Tree

Tip #4: Many hands make light work. Miss T asked to decorate the big Christmas tree this year, and it’s wonderful to have someone of her height to do the lower tier.

Miss T is old enough to have access to all the ornaments–except one or two of the most fragile. I remind her to be very careful, but also let her know that accidents happen, and if she were to break one, she’s not to feel badly about it.

Another great holiday project for kids is to make gift wrap by recycling brown packing paper.

Procuring the Ornaments for your Tree

If you’re a grandma, you no doubt have all the ornaments you need. But if you’re part of a new family just starting out, some of these tips may help.

• Tip #5: If you’re on a budget, it’s hard to think of quality over quantity. When I was on a tight budget, I’d buy a half dozen or so ornaments at the after-Christmas sales from posh stores like Saks and Georg Jensen. They are still among my favorites.
• Tip #6: If you don’t have enough ornaments for your tree, buy a spool or two of wired ribbon and dress your tree with bows.
• Tip #7: When buying ornaments, look for problem solvers. There are three typical challenges. 1) Too wide a gap between branches (solution: icicles or big ornaments to bridge the gap). 2) Flat spaces between the branches (solution: clip-on birds or other ornaments that sit topside on the branch). 3) An asymmetrical tree (solution: longer ornaments for the short side of the tree to give the illusion of balance).
• Tip #8: Keep vacation memories alive by buying an ornament while traveling. Instead of touristy stuff from a Christmas shop, keep your eye out for everyday, locally made handcrafts. We have a Dutch woven wicker baby rattle, a Thai elephant from a keychain, and mini faience pitchers from Provence on our tree.
• Tip #9: If friends gift you with Christmas ornaments, note the name of the giver and the date given, directly on the ornament, on some unobtrusive place. Every year, when you unpack the ornaments, you’ll remember your friends’ generosity.
• Tip #10: Collect heirloom ornaments for a tree rich in memories. Some families have a custom of having each child select a new ornament each year. I have some of my mom’s ornaments: a few 1950s retro designs and some 1940s World War II glass balls that I remember from our Christmases in Hawaii.

How to Get that Look

When Christmas tree decorating, I like mine encrusted with ornaments.

• Tip #11: If you have an eclectic collection of ornaments as I have, multi-colored lights seem to work better than all-white. String the lights at night, so you can see the placements better and fix any holes. If your tree is against a picture window, go outside, see how it looks, and make any adjustments. It’s always a good idea to have a few extra boxes of lights on hand–you often need more than you think.
• Tip #12: Intersperse plain clear or colored balls throughout the tree to add sparkle, especially around cloth ornaments that don’t reflect light. I also tuck these balls deep inside the tree toward the trunk to add brightness from the inside, out.
• Tip #13: While matte ornaments look pretty, the real eye-catchers are the shiny ones that reflect light and sparkle. Give them prominence on your tree.
• Tip #14: Look for ornaments in different sizes, shapes, and colors. Variety adds interest. And remember that bigger ornaments don’t have to be confined to the widest part of the tree. They can go on top, too.
• Tip: #15: This is going to sound overly obsessive, but before decorating, I sort out the ornaments by type. I use shallow produce box trays–the kind that Costco gives you for packing your purchases. I separate ornaments by type of material–glass, wood, straw, cloth, ceramic, metal, and so forth. This way, I can pick just the right color, texture and shape I need for a particular part of the tree, and I can find any ornament more easily.

My Christmas tree is decorated. I think it’s time to sit down with a glass of wine and admire this beauty. What are your tips for Christmas tree decorating?

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