Handmade Holiday Christmas Tree
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Inspired by handmade ornaments, colorful lights, and hand-strung popcorn garland, my family room Christmas tree celebrates the holiday season with personality and fun!
A Handmade Holiday
‘Tis the season for trimming the tree. As you might know, I typically design and decorate two (sometimes three) new trees every year. Coming up with new and unique motifs is a joy for me. (Check out some of my trees from Christmases past HERE.)
With a focus on a handmade holiday this year, I sharpened my scissors and heated up my glue gun to craft something meaningful and special for this tree (and my second tree AND…. the rest of my holiday decor too).
This post isn’t full of links for you to buy a whole new set of Christmas tree decorations. In fact, the only product link I’m sharing is to my actual Christmas tree which you can find HERE. This is one of my favorite artificial Christmas trees and I always get lots of questions about it.
This year I opted to use only ornaments that I already had and ornaments that I made with my own two hands. While I have many great tree designs from Christmases past, I’m loving this one for it’s meaningful homemade touches.
The Same But Different
This phrase has come up a lot in my head the past several months as I planned for and implemented my Christmas decor. Recently, as I’ve mentioned in a few previous posts, I’ve wanted to embrace the decor that I have (instead of going out and spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a new decor) AND take time to focus on handmade. I’m happy to report that I’ve been doing just that and it has made all the difference.
So, if you’ve been here before, this tree may look the same, but… it’s also a bit different.
This tree is unique from all of my other trees because it incorporates several handmade elements and uses those big vintage-inspired colored lights.
Yes. Yes. I know I’m way off in regards to all the trendy Christmas tree decor, but I honestly couldn’t be happier with the way this design came together. It’s a one-of-a-kind reflection of me and it’s my intentions coming to life. I stuck to my plan and made it happen!
I’m going to show you more of my Christmas tree and walk you through some of my tips and ideas for making a tree uniquely you.
Let’s get into it.
Christmas Tree Decoration Tips:
1. Start with Ribbon
If you’re new here, I want to mention that I always like to start my tree decorating with ribbon. You may have never done this before, but I highly recommend it. It’s a wonderful way to tie the tree together, it adds movement, and fills in the gaps.
If you’re curious about my method, you can check out this post HERE that discusses my tips and tricks for adding ribbon to a tree. This is a ribbon I’ve had in my collection for at least 8+ years. I can hardly believe that it finally got put on a tree!
2. Pick a Color Scheme
I always like to start with some sort of theme. Typically color leads my way, but sometimes the theme will be inspired by a dress Adele wore or feelings of nostalgia. Since moving to this home, I’ve always done a red theme in this room (maybe someday I’ll break from this pattern), so I went with the red theme again but with a twist.
3. Sprinkle in Your Personality
With anything I do or decorate, I always like to do things a bit differently and/or with an element of unexpectedness. (There’s way too much of the same thing everywhere these days.) While I’m typically a white lights person, I threw caution to the wind and opted for big vintage-inspired colored lights.
As you may have noticed from my photos, the best part about this decision is that I actually have lighting options since I used a pre-lit tree and added colored lights to it. Now I have the option to do white, colored, or both. I find myself using the colored lights the most, but having both on is pretty spectacular too!
In fact, I loved the colored lights so much that I even added them to my mantel garland to bring it all together. (My mantel is decorated similarly to how I did it last year with my collection of vintage Putz houses. You can see more of it HERE.)
I also incorporated some of my favorite glass ornaments which include mini thermoses and red trucks. They make me smile.
4. Add Something Handmade
As I mentioned above, I knew going into this tree design that I wanted my handmade elements to shine. I tend to like a heavily decorated tree, but I pulled back this year (though to some I’m sure this is still heavily decorated) to give a little space for the things that I made. I’ve found such joy in slowing down and making things this year that I really wanted those handmade elements to take center stage. Here’s what I made:
- DIY Clay Cookie Cutter Ornaments – These were SO easy to make and really fun too. The results look so professional. I used oven bake clay in white. You could use any color that you like or even paint the ornaments!
- Handmade Embroidery Hoop Ornaments – I wanted this project to be budget-friendly, so I used old plaid shirts that no longer wear and a couple of thrifted finds to craft these fun embroidery hoop ornaments. They may be my favorite. You can make these extra special by making them with old baby clothes or something that belonged to a family member that has passed away.
- Hand-Strung Popcorn Garland – I had the idea to make a popcorn garland but almost didn’t do it because I thought it would be too difficult and tedious. Boy, was I wrong! This project was really easy and didn’t take nearly as long as I expected. Plus, it gave me an excuse to slow down and sit and watch a movie.
In fact, I loved the results so much that I strung even more popcorn to use on my staircase banister garland. Highly recommend.
Put all of those elements together and you have my Handmade Holiday Christmas Tree!
I hope you love it as much as I do!
Time to Trim The Tree
And that’s a wrap on one of my Christmas trees. (I’ll be sharing the second one soon. I’m just finishing up a few details. Stay tuned.)
I hope this post has given you a few ideas to try with your tree decorating OR the inspiration to break the “rules” and create a Christmas tree in your own unique way.
As far as I’m concerned there’s no such thing as an ugly Christmas tree. I love them all.
If you need a little more inspiration, I’ve got it! Check out this post HERE for 26+ of my unique Christmas designs that I’ve created over the past 12 years.
Merry Christmas!
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Michael, it’s very beautiful! Love the little plaid embroidery hoops- so much impact for such a simple idea. I also adore your popcorn garland. I may have to try it for myself. Merry Christmas!
Back in Dec 2020, while being alone in the first Christmas after COVID, I longed for nostalgia. That year and last I embraced the large vintage lights in bright multi colors of my childhood. I even found vintage stockings similar to the ones my siblings and I had more than 50 years ago. This year will be very different. I had ankle surgery two days before Thanksgiving and I cannot decorate this year as I am non weight bearing and live alone. I have help from friends and family, but I cannot manage having decor out while I wheel around in my wheel chair or knee scooter. I am looking to memories from books, music and movies to keep my spirits bright. Love your blog. Thanks for all you do.
Tell us about your snowflakes. They remind me of some that my mom crocheted. They really pop out as well!
I love how you incorporate vintage into your decorating. The idea of making ornaments out of embroidery hoops and plaid shirts is adorable. I am excited to use my dad’s shirts and your idea for a memorable ornament for our tree. Thank you for sharing your homemade crafts! I look forward to reading each of your posts. You give me so many inspirational ideas and wonderful recipes to try. Your tree is beautiful. Going to get a strand of big bulbs. I haven’t used them in years and I do miss them. Your way of decorating your home is my style. Merry Christmas!
This is lovely. I tire of trends and I love a handmade, old-fashioned feel for Christmas decor.
My all time favorite tree!!! I love colored lights, we use them every year. I really enjoyed all your handmade items this year. It’s nice to slow down and just enjoy the season. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
Love the addition of the popcorn garland on the staircase. It makes it just “pop”! Haha. I look forward to your Christmas decor posts every year, Michael. I always find inspiration.
Michael, you did it again!! You inspire me every year with your creativity. Amazing things you do over and over! I’m mostly excited that you just went with what YOU desired. That encourages me to branch out more also! So grateful for your talent but also your example of putting yourself out there! Thank you!!
I love it so so much. Bravo!
You never disappoint. Wonderful tree as always but also nourished your spirit. Win win. We were just reminiscing about the big bulbs of those colored lights. Oh how I miss them.
Love how it turned out…so cute!
Every year, every tree you create is so meaningful. I love how you always change what you do, but remain so true to you. Your personality and warmth come through every year. Thank you once again inspiring me to be more authentic and true to me and not a trend. I can’t wait to see what else you are doing this year.
It’s wonderful! I also use the old-fashioned big colored lights and have since my childhood—the little white lights are beautiful, but I love the nostalgia the old-fashioned ones bring. And red for Christmas is always terrific!
Michael,
For some people, Hallmark movies are what swing them into the Christmas mood. For me, it is all your holiday posts leading to the big reveal . . . your Christmas tree. As always, spectacular and so inspiring. Based on your earliest pre Christmas posts on cutting back and feeling stressed I was worried, now I see your vision and embrace its worth. Good for you. Retro conning ornaments from years past and adding the home made wonders made me smile. The colored lights! I giggled in joy .Thank you. I hope you feel the love we’re all sending you this season and throughout the year.
Very kind of you say Bri. You are incredibly thoughtful. This made my day. Thank you. Thank you.
xo Michael
Colored lights! I had to do a second look on the photo and then you confirmed it in the post – I LOVE colored lights. I grew up with colored lights – white lights became a “thing” during my lifetime and they are beautiful, but at Christmas I want my colored lights. Thank you for showcasing them. Love this tree and your handmade touches. It is beautiful.
I love it so much, the hand made touches are so sweet!
I love this and every beautiful tree you’ve done. The ‘trendy’ ones are beautiful but this captures that sentimental traditional feel I love for Christmas. The handmade touches are adorable- I will use some as inspiration! It’s just too bad our dog would eat the whole tree if I used a popcorn garland :).
SO lovely and warm! You might not be following a trend, but I hope your tree is the start of a new trend – heartfelt and personal.
Beautiful, so warm and cozy, and the memories of homemade ornaments are so precious
LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!
THE POPCORN IS THE SHOWSTOPPER ON THE TREE AND STAIRWAY GARLAND!!! LOVE THE SOFT, GENTLE WAY OF ITS DRAPING…I GOT GOOSEBUMPS AT THE VERY FIRST GLANCE OF IT!!! SO WARM & DELIGHTFUL!!! THIS IS THE ROOM TO RELAX AND BE COZY IN ALL SEASON!!
YOU ARE JUST THE BEST, MR. MICHAEL!!!
ADORE EVERYTHING YOU DO—INCLUDING YOUR NEWEST HOBBY OF “POTHOLDER-ING”!!!!
I always enjoy your décor – every season. I so agree there is no ugly tree. Thank you for making smile today. Have a wonderful magical December and holiday season.