A Natural Woodland Christmas Tree

Ok, as luck would have it- our new house allows for more than one Christmas tree!!!!! What?!?!?! Yes. Ma’am! As someone who has a passion for all things “Holiday” I am beyond excited about this (can you tell?)

In my book, if you have room for a second tree, it would practically be a sin not to put one up. That said, I didn’t quite have enough ornaments to fill another tree. So what does one do? Head to the nearest Michael’s Craft Store or Steins (or whatever your favorite place is to buy all things Christmas) and reward yourself for a “year well done.” Hey, if your husband can find excuses for new hunting gear all the time, surely you deserve a few sparkly ornaments- I mean, come on! Some women splurge on shoes and handbags…not me, I splurge on decorations. It’s just one of those things that makes me happy. Every time I pass a decorated fireplace mantle, lit tree, or well-appointed garland I can’t keep from smiling. SO worth it.

So this year for the new tree I wanted to do something a little different, since our main tree in the living tree is very traditional. It is all red/gold/silver/plaid/etc. and I adore it, but I thought it’d be fun to do something a little different on the upstairs landing. And now that it’s finished, I honestly can’t decide which I love more. Here is a picture (which doesn’t even do it justice since trees are always better in person) of the new one lit up at night…

Here is the time lapse video (someone remind me to get some cinematic lighting in here!):

Here are a few tips to create a beautiful, natural and glowing tree:

Always add more lights. This was a pre-lit tree that I purchased last year. I can’t remember how many lights are on it, but I still ended up adding about 500 more. The goal is to get it to practically glow from within. In my experience, more lights make a huge difference on the overall effect, especially at night time.
Start with some sort of base layer before your ornaments. In fact, the ornaments should be the last thing you put on. For me, it’s usually ribbon, along with a light garland of greenery, pine cones, or beads.
Don’t be afraid to add additional “swag.” By this I mean berry or greenery sprays, or even faux flowers (like poinsettias). In this tree I also added large pine cones and some woodland friends like owls, squirrels, small foxes, and other various birds.
Have fun with it! Don’t be afraid to use unconventional items that aren’t necessarily meant to be ornaments. One year, in lieu of a traditional tree, my mom did a grouping of those skinny “pine tree” Christmas trees in various sizes and heights. She lit them all in white lights, put fake fluff snow all around the bottoms on the floor, and put tons of pine cones and stuffed animals (think black bears, cute little raccoons, squirrels, etc) in and around them. It was awesome you guys! She was doing woodsy way before it was even trendy!

The colors of this tree were mainly greens, whites, and browns, with accents of blue (the juniper berries on the garlands) and red (a few red bird houses and berry stars to add a little pop of color). I also used a burlap type ribbon to start. Here are a few of the items that I used: