My tree is very traditional. Classic red, green, and gold colors for the most part. A lot of pretty glass ornaments, but also some fun, child-like ornaments mixed in to the bunch for variety.
So, after Joey finished stringing the lights, I started decorating by stringing gold beaded garland around the tree. I love the gold beads. They add a nice traditional elegance to the tree. And the beaded garland fills in some gaps between ornaments to make the tree look fully covered with decoration. There's no need for the strands of garland to be perfectly situated on the tree. They can be a little droopy in places and straighter in others - just as long as it covers the whole tree.
Following the garland, I start adding the ornaments - beginning with red and gold ball ornaments of different sizes. I try to get the bigger ones hung deep in the branches with the smaller ones on the tips of the branches. It adds dimension.
Next, I cover the tree in gold snowflakes - evenly dispersing them around the tree. I hang them mostly on the ends of the branches since they're very light weight.
Once I had gotten this portion of the ornaments hung on the tree, I decided to move the tree over from the center of the room to the left corner. The tree doesn't take up as much space in the room this way. Also, you can view the tree better from the living room. Here's a shot with just the snowflakes and red/gold balls on the tree.
The third set of ornaments to be hung are all my pine cone ornaments - of which I have a lot. Some are red, gold, green, white, brown. Most are glittery. Some are small. Some are large. It just seems natural to have pine cones on a pine tree!
After this, I add all my remaining ornaments. I collect Old World Christmas ornaments and have a lot of these in addition to a variety of other glass/ceramic/wood ornaments - and some from childhood as well.
I try to get a variety of ornament colors, textures, sizes, and themes throughout the tree. But I tend to hang larger ornaments toward the bottom and center of the tree and smaller ornaments to the top and tips of the tree. It keeps things balanced.
I filled the tree up and it has a nice, Christmas-y glow. Looks great from the outside too.
The last thing to be added was the tree skirt around the stand. I've had this tree skirt for a few years. It's a soft velvet material with cording around the edges. It buttons together to complete the circle in the very back. The patchwork look keeps it kind of old-fashioned and cozy. And the all the colors coordinate so well with my colorful ornaments.
Here you can view the tree from the living room. Notice how placing it in the corner of the den allows it to be centered in the entry way between the two rooms.
At night, the tree glows through the windows on all three sides of the room and even has a twinkle reflection you can see for extra sparkle.
Getting the tree up really ushers in the Christmas season. Now I can move on and add Christmas decorations to other parts of the house!
Beautiful!
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