Nature-Inspired Christmas Tree with Handmade Decorations

Handmade mushroom ornaments, a DIY woodland paper chain garland, glass ornaments, and handmade star anise wreaths decorate this nature-inspired Christmas tree. I’m sharing how it all came together along with tips for recreating the look. 

A Christmas Tree Inspired by Nature

Merry Christmas! I am excited to show you another one of my Christmas tree designs. It is my nature-inspired Christmas tree. 

This year I had the goal of a handmade holiday. In my designing process, I wanted to use a combination of decor that I already had and handmade items that I would make. And that’s exactly what I did. Last week you saw an example of this when I shared the Christmas tree in my family room. (You can see that HERE if you missed it.) For that tree, I crafted some clay cookie cutter ornaments and embroidery hoop ornaments; I even strung a popcorn garland. 

For my nature-inspired tree, I created two ornaments and a pretty spectacular garland (made from leftover wallpaper). Let’s take a peek at what I created. 

The Same But Different

I know I’ve mentioned the phrase “the same but different” a lot this holiday season; that’s because it’s been a big goal of mine and has influenced my design choices. Instead of buying a bunch of new decorations (which I usually do) I wanted to use what I have but in a different way. 

In retrospect, this tree has evolved into its current form over the past three years. 

1. Snowy Pinecone Christmas Tree

2. Blue Green and White Christmas 

To go even further back, I’ve also decorated this tree in all green HERE and navy and green HERE. In fact, the all-green tree was featured in Better Homes & Gardens magazine and their Christmas Ideas magazine.

Since moving into this home, the decor and color scheme in this room has remained the same so I design my holiday decor to fit into it. It’s been exciting and fun to come up with something the same, but different every year. 

Handmade Christmas Tree Decor

I thought I would walk you through some of the handmade elements on this nature-inspired tree as you might like to recreate them in your own home. 

1. Paper Chain Garland 

When I was thinking about nature-inspired elements, I immediately thought of the wallpaper I recently used in my guest bedroom. I had some leftover pieces from the installation and thought I could use them to create a paper chain garland.

To elevate the look a bit more, I lined the wallpaper with emerald green and dark teal papers.  When I first started I was a bit nervous, but after making a few feet of the garland I knew I was going to love the look. In the end, I loved it so much that I decided to add some to my mantel!

Find the tutorial HERE. 

2. Rustic Star Anise Christmas Wreath

This was a project I wanted to make for a couple of years but never got around to it. When I started out, I originally thought I would make one and simply hang it as a wreath somewhere in my house.

However, I was having so much fun that I decided to make more of them and use them as ornaments on my tree. (I used some on my mantel too.)  I think these star anise wreaths add a wonderful natural element. As an added bonus, they add such a wonderful fragrance to my tree. I smell them every time I walk by.  

Find the tutorial HERE. 

3. Clay Mushroom Ornaments

I had so much fun creating these. I love a mushroom Christmas ornament. (In fact, they have a special meaning when used on a Christmas tree. Read more about it HERE.)

Instead of just going out and buying some new ornaments, I decided to craft my own and I’m so glad I did as I was able to customize the size, color, shape, and sparkle. What’s not to love? 

Find the tutorial HERE. 

And that’s a wrap on my homemade tree decor! 

Under the Tree

It’s also worth mentioning that I enjoy decorating under my Christmas trees. I never like to leave this space empty so I decorate it with things like:

• vintage picnic baskets
• wrapped presents
• vintage thermoses and lunch boxes
• vintage ornament boxes
• vintage scotch tape tins
• wooden trays/carriers

As you can see, there’s a trend toward vintage. Ha! If you like vintage Christmas decor too, this post HERE is for you. I talk all about my favorite vintage Christmas decor and how I like to style it.

I may write an entire post about under-the-tree decor in the future. I think that would be fun! 

Trimming the Tree: 

In other blog posts over the years, I’ve talked a lot about the process I use when decorating my trees. Therefore, I won’t get into that here. However, if you want more info, here are a few resources. 

1. Check out my other tree HERE where I shared a handful of my best tips. 

2. Learn how to add ribbon to your Christmas tree HERE. It’s my foolproof method. 

3. I’ve designed over 26 Christmas trees,  so if you just need a little inspiration or design ideas, check out this post HERE. 

That’s a Wrap! 

And that’s about it! 

It’s amazing that after 14 years of blogging and designing/decorating 26+ Christmas trees I still have something to say about them. Let’s hope I always do! 

I also hope that you enjoyed this little tour of my nature-inspired Christmas tree. It was so fun to style and a joy to share with you! 

Merry Christmas! 

Enjoy this Christmas tree and want more decor ideas?

Join the IBC Mailing List to get all of my recipes, projects, and ideas sent straight to your inbox! I hope you’ll also follow along on Instagram and TikTok for daily updates and behind-the-scenes looks at my process. There’s even more inspiration on Facebook and Pinterest! 

Have you tried this recipe? Follow me on Instagram, then share YOUR dish with #myIBC and tag @inspiredbycharm. It’s fun to see how folks are using recipes from IBC.