WATCH THIS BEFORE YOU DECORATE YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE! | Tips & Tricks for a Designer Look

Hi sweet friends, it's Amy and welcome back. Today we're going to be decorating two of our main Christmas trees and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share some of my favorite tips and tricks for creating a beautiful full professional looking Christmas tree every time. I'll be decorating our living room tree with a traditional Victorian vibe, along with our gingerbread themed pencil tree in the kitchen. Since these trees are quite different, I'll be sharing how I approach decorating each one to create the full layered look that I love. Well I hope you enjoyed today's video and find it helpful. If you do, don't forget to give it a big thumbs up and subscribe if you haven't already for lots more Christmas decorating still to come. So we have plenty to get done. Let's go ahead and jump straight in. The very first step in creating a beautiful Christmas tree is making room for it. Since most of our rooms are already fully furnished, a little arranging is sometimes necessary. This year I'm moving our black cabinet to make room for the living room tree, and in the kitchen you'll see I'll simply slide over the table to give myself more space to decorate. Sometimes temporarily moving a piece of furniture to a spare bedroom or basement is the best solution. A few simple adjustments can really give your Christmas tree the space it really needs to shine. As you begin assembling your tree, don't forget to put your tree collar in place. I've made that mistake before and trust me, lifting a fully decorated tree into a collar is no easy task, especially if yours is one that doesn't come apart in sections. Now if you do have a tree collar that comes in sections, don't be afraid to overlap them a little if you need a smaller fit. That's exactly what I'm doing here. Since the gingerbread collar is a bit too Large, I'm simply overlapping the sections in the back and no one will ever know. Well, except for you and me, of course. One of the most important steps in creating a beautiful full Christmas tree is taking the time to properly fluff and shape your branches. Our living room tree is the Grand Duchess from Home Depot, and one of the things I love about this tree is that the branches pretty much fall right back into place once it's assembled, so there really isn't much fluffing required. I can rotate some of the individual branch stems to help fill in any gaps, but otherwise this tree is pretty much ready to decorate once it's assembled. Now with most artificial Christmas trees, I do spend quite a bit more time fluffing the branches, and I wanted to share a few tips that can really make a difference. First, as I'm assembling my tree, I like to work on one layer of branches at a time. Rather than dropping all the branches down at once, I'll lower one row, fluff each individual branch, and then move on to the next. This gives me plenty of room to work without the other branches getting in my way, and I find It makes the entire process so much easier. When fluffing, I like to start near the trunk of the tree and work my way outward, separating the smaller branch tips and positioning them in different directions rather than having every tip pointing straight out. I'll angle some upward and others slightly to the sides to create a fuller, more natural appearance. Both of these trees are pre-lit, but I wanted to show you how I prefer to string lights on the tree that isn't. Instead of wrapping lights round and round getting dizzy, I mentally divide the tree into four vertical sections. Starting at the bottom, I zigzag the lights from side to side, working my way to the top. Then I'll move to the next section and work my way back down, repeating this pattern around the tree. I also think it's important to tuck some of those lights deeper toward the trunk to create that beautiful glow from within. And if your pre-lit tree could use a little extra sparkle, try adding a few strands of tiny battery-operated lights. You can just tuck the battery pack along the trunk of the tree and no one will know it's there. Next, I want to share one of my favorite tricks for creating a beautiful, full Christmas tree topper. If you happen to have an extra Christmas tree stand, I highly recommend trying this. What I like to do is place the top section of my Christmas tree into that extra stand so I can decorate the entire topper right here from the floor. I'll start by attaching my Christmas star. This particular one has a small clamp that makes it easy to secure in place. Beneath the star I'll add several sections of ribbon, which I'll explain later how I made them, securing them with floral wire. I make sure to give all those beautiful dangling ribbon tails a movement by creating little waves in the wired ribbon. I like to work my way around the entire topper making sure that it looks beautiful from every angle, not just the front Then I begin adding smaller decorative picks. I'm using some pretty red berries with gold glitter, along with a few gold frosted picks as well. Once I'm happy with the overall shape, I'll take a few pieces of the same greenery that I'll be arranging throughout the rest of the tree to tuck among the ribbon and decorative picks. This will help tie everything together so that it feels like a natural extension of the tree. One final trick is I love to weave in an additional strand of those teeny battery operated string lights throughout the topper. When you're adding lots of ribbon, greenery, and decorative picks they tend to absorb the light making the top of your tree appear darker. So adding these extra lights brings back that beautiful glow and really helps to highlight all of those pretty details. Creating the topper from the floor makes this process so much easier especially when you're working with a taller tree and would otherwise be standing on a ladder trying to arrange everything. But if you don't have that extra stand or you don't want to add ribbon to your tree you can see that my kitchen topper I created from a step stool and instead of ribbon I just added more of those individual small picks. I included some curlicue ones that give that whimsical touch along with a few gingerbread men with alligator clips. And some white berries to create a more playful, festive look. Alright, so once you've finished your tree topper, the next step is to fill in any bare spots throughout the tree. A great way to do this is by incorporating a different type of greenery. I'm using this Norfolk Pine Stem, and rather than tucking them completely into the tree, I like them to extend slightly beyond the existing branches. This helps to create a fuller, more natural appearance, while adding beautiful texture and dimension. Now it is time to add ribbon. I typically like to choose three different ribbons. One statement ribbon, like this beautiful damask pattern, and two coordinating solid colors that complement it. Starting with my largest wired ribbon, I'll create a loop and secure it with floral wire. Be sure to leave enough wire to form your loop while still having plenty left over to attach it to the tree. I like to leave two ribbon tails, one slightly shorter than the other, and finish each end off with a dovetail cut. I really think that this is one of the steps that can take your Christmas tree to the next level, giving it that polished designer inspired look that feels a little bit more upscale and unique. Next, I'll repeat that same process with my solid red wired ribbon. The only difference is that I don't need quite as much floral wire since the ribbon will be attached to the larger ribbon rather than directly to the tree. For my third ribbon, I'm using this pretty wired gold ribbon. I'll create another loop, but this time just a bit smaller than the others since it's meant to be an accent that complements the other two larger ribbons. Now all that's left to do is to range your ribbon throughout the tree, spacing each piece so everything feels balanced. Now be sure to give those ribbon tails some movement by gently bending and shaping the wired edges rather than just letting them hang straight down. This year, I'm also adding red velvet poinsettias to some of the ribbon clusters, along with a few paired with berry picks for a fuller, more dramatic Victorian look. Now, if you're opting out of the ribbon altogether, another striking alternative is adding a garland. That's exactly what I'm doing with our kitchen tree, using holly berry garland to add color, texture, and a festive touch without the ribbon. The next step is adding your ornaments. The trick to creating a different look each year without having to buy all new is sticking to an overall base or majority of returning ornaments. These are the ones that always fit your theme. For me, those are my clear and glass ornaments for our living room tree and gingerbread ones for our kitchen. After you've added your base favorites, I like to add my ball ornaments next, and this is where you can really change the look of your tree from year to year. Start by choosing a color palette. For our living room tree, I'm using red and gold, while our kitchen tree features red, white, and those warm gingerbread tones. I recommend choosing ornaments in a variety of sizes and finishes. Mix smooth, simple ornaments with others that have texture, sparkle, or beautiful details that catch the light. Now when it comes to placement, I like to be a little bit more strategic. Starting with your first ornament, work your way around your tree in a diamond pattern, keeping the spacing a little wider towards the bottom and narrower as you reach the top. This helps distribute your colors evenly and creates a more balanced look. Another great trick is to hang some of your ornaments deeper inside the tree, closer to the trunk. This adds dimension and don't be afraid to layer smaller and larger ornaments on the same branch for even more interest. And remember, step back occasionally and look at your tree as a whole. This year, I noticed our living room tree needed a little bit more gold, so I went back in and added a few extra ornaments. So don't feel like you have to follow a specific order if something catches your eye that needs adjusting. And lastly, don't forget about the back of your tree. You don't have to decorate it quite as heavily, but adding a few ornaments back there really helps to fill in the gaps. You'll be surprised how many of those ornaments can actually be seen from the front, giving your tree that beautiful depth and polished designer-inspired appearance. We are getting so close to finishing and this next step is one that I think is often overlooked and it's incorporating decorative picks and sprays. It's one of those small details that can take your tree from ordinary to absolutely stunning. For our living room tree, I chose three different berry varieties and here's a little money-saving trick. If you have larger picks, don't be afraid to cut them down or separate them into individual stems. You can often get several smaller pieces from just one larger pick. I also recommend being a little generous with the number you use. Rather than adding just four or six, consider using anywhere from 12 to 20, depending on the size of your tree and how full you want it to look. This is where you can really have some fun. Simply tuck your picks into areas that could use a little extra color, sparkle, or texture. There's no need to follow a specific pattern, just work your way around the tree. Adding those little accents wherever you think they're needed. For our gingerbread tree, I'm using some of those same sparkly holly berry picks, some red berries, and I've also incorporated white berries to bring in a little bit more contrast and tie in with our red and white color palette. It's such a simple finishing touch, but I think it really helps bring the entire tree together. And with that step, our kitchen gingerbread tree is finished. Well, almost. I love finding creative ways to disguise those not so pretty details, like the cord running to the outlet. So I placed this adorable gingerbread man near to help camouflage the area while adding a sweet little surprise at the base of the tree. And I think our fur baby Nyla also likes this little guy. I'll be sharing the final reveal of our kitchen gingerbread tree here shortly, but for now, let's head back to the living room for a few finishing touches. If you love those little extra details and want to add another layer of sparkle, consider incorporating a delicate beaded garland. I'm using this beautiful gold beaded garland, which almost reminds me of a piece of jewelry for the tree. I'll simply drape it along the outer branches, allowing sections to gently swoop down between them, much like the way a necklace would drape. It's such a pretty way to add that little extra elegance and sparkle and bring in that Victorian look that I'm going for. The last step before our final reveal is adding the tree skirt. Since I'm not using a tree collar this year, I want to give the base of our tree a little bit more height and fullness. I'm using some bubble wrap to build up the area around the tree stand, but you could easily use some packing paper or an extra blanket. Then I'll simply drape the tree skirt over everything, creating a soft gentle slope that I think finishes off the tree beautifully. Well, sweet friends, I thank you so much for watching. I hope you found today's tips helpful. If you did, please give this video a big thumbs up and subscribe for more Christmas decorating. As always, let's end our time together by going to God's word. Today's verse is from Psalm 121, 7 and 8. The Lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore. I thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. I pray your Christmas season is filled with joy, peace, and beautiful memories. I hope to see you real soon in my next one. But until then, take care and God bless, friends. Bye.