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Christmas Decorating
> Christmas Tree Decorating
Miniature
Christmas tree decorating ideas
Ideas for decorating miniature table top Christmas trees for
any room in your home.
If you love Christmas, and decorating your home for Christmas,
I am going to tell you how to bring a little bit of the holidays to
every room in your home. This article is going to deal with
miniature Christmas trees. These are wonderfully easy to use in
your holiday decor, whether it be your kitchen, family room, or any
room in your home, these small trees can be placed on any surface
for instant decorating. They are also very easy to store fully
decorated, to be used year after year.
These little artificial Christmas trees come in variety of
styles and sizes. They can be purchased very inexpensively at
department or craft stores. The best time to purchase them is
generally when they go on sale, then purchase a few at a time. They
can be rather addicting, so it is good to have at least one on
hand, in case the decorating urge strikes. In this article I am
going to give you some ideas on a variety of different trees for
your home. At the end of this article, I will also give you some
ideas on keeping a decorated tree out year round.
You also do not have to stick to a purchased evergreen looking
miniature tree, a variety of items can be used. Everything from
tree branches stuck into a weighted flower pot, to a Swedish wooden
tree, which is basically a base, with a flat 1 x 2 attached to it,
for the trunk, then there are branches, again 1 x 2's attached to
the trunk.
After you have purchased your tree, the first thing you will
want to do is put the lights on it. While you can use miniature
white Christmas lights, they of course they come in a variety of
colors or a combination of colors. For the small trees a string of
50 lights should be plenty. Discount stores have these available
for a dollar or two.
The next thing you will need to do, is decorate your tree. This
is where the fun comes in. Let us work our way around the house
with ideas for your tree. I am going to include lists of items that
I would suggest putting on your miniature trees. You can take these
ideas, and expand on them to make a tree to suit your decor.
KITCHEN- a kitchen themed tree has endless
possibilities. Be on the lookout for miniature cooking utensils,
the toy section at any store is a great place to look. Just string
these toys on a colorful ribbon to hang on your tree. Gingerbread
men and women are another great addition, while real home made
cookies will work, you can also make applesauce ornaments and hang
them from a ribbon on your tree. These can be made, then used year
after year, by just adding a touch of a spiced oil, they will also
continue to smell nice. Cookie cutters also make wonderful
decorations on a miniature kitchen tree, again just run a ribbon
through the cookie cutter and hang on your tree. Some miniature
apple ornaments could be used also, while tying bows on the end of
some of the other branches.
A dried fruit and spice tree is also an excellent idea for
kitchens, simply dry apples, oranges, chili peppers and other
assorted food items and add these to your tree, along with some
raffia bows, cinnamon sticks and other dried herbs. Cranberry and
popcorn strings will make an interesting garland for this type of
tree.
Another idea for an interesting tree for your kitchen would be
a candy tree. While wrapped candies could be added to any miniature
purchased trees, what about making your own? All you need for this
project is a cone shaped piece of styrofoam, straight pins and some
assorted wrapped candy. Starting at the bottom of the cone, attach
the candy using the straight pins, around and around until the
entire tree is filled with candy. Just tie a cute bow of ribbon and
attach, again with a pin to the top of your tree. This will look
cute sitting on a counter in your kitchen, although if you happen
to have candy lovers in your home, your tree may end up with a few
bald spots.
SEWING ROOM- What about a sewing themed tree for your
sewing room? First you will need to attach your white lights to the
tree, now look through your old craft magazines and cut out some
pictures of craft and quilt books. You can then make primitive
looking little stockings out of cotton batting and homespun. Then
put the little books in the top of the stockings and hang these on
your tree. You can also hang old wooden spools of thread, miniature
scissors, thimbles, bobbins and miniature quilt blocks. Lastly add
a few bunches of babies breath to the branches, along with bows of
homespun.
LIVINGROOM- When visiting craft shops, gift and
department stores, be on the lookout for those adorable miniature
birds, nests and eggs. Simply attach these items to your tree along
with some dried or silk flowers and miniature bird houses.
You can create very elegant looking table top trees for your
livingroom using a wide variety of florals. Choose some flowers in
a color to compliment your decor, both silk and dried flowers can
be used here. If you are going for a more Victorian look, add some
pretty bows, a garland made from glass beads, miniature glass
ornaments and a bit of lace. If you want a more Country look, start
with some silk holly, add a garland of red beads, a bit of raffia
or jute for bows, and some primitive looking items.
CHILDRENS ROOMS- Be sure to let your child help you with
this one! Let them make paper chains, and hang some of their
favorite miniature toys from their tree. You can also do themed
trees for your childrens rooms. Do they like fishing? Make or
purchase small fish and tackle and add it to the tree. Are they
into dolls or stuffed animals? For those of you that have collected
the miniature Barbies or Beanie Babies that were sold by McDonalds,
this is a wonderful way to display your childs collection.
You can also make a fantasy type tree for your children. I
would suggest starting with colored lights for this one. Several
inexpensive Slinkys will make an interesting garland, and you can
make your own larger than real life candies to put on this tree. By
using plastic containers, a bit of cellophane and tin foil you can
make your own candies. A large Hershey kiss made from foil, a
lollipop by using the lid from a plastic container, covered with
colorful cellophane with a painted dowel rod for the stick.
If your child has her/his room done in the sun, moon and stars
in various shades of blue and gold. Fashion a tree for their room
by taking plain blue Christmas balls, and painting a gold crescent
moon and stars on them. For this step you can purchase glitter glue
pens. Simply draw the moon and stars onto the ball, then wait for
the glue to dry. Then make some gold stars to add to their tree,
along with a gold star garland and gold bows tied on the branches.
You can also use a string of faux crystal and gold angel miniature
lights on the tree, along with a set of blue twinkle lights.
LAUNDRY ROOM- This would be a great place for a cute
angel tree. You will need to purchase a package of small gold
jingle bells, to the tops of these you will attach a prepainted
bead doll head. Now just glue on a little hair and some purchased
tiny lace wings. Last attach a hanger to your mini bell angel and
hang them on a tree. Be sure to add a lot of babies breath, you can
also use miniature pearls for a garland, and finish off by tying
white miniature ribbon bows to the ends of the branches.
There are miniature clothes pins available, try attaching some
doll clothes to your branches with the clothes pins. Now add a
clothesline for a garland along with some small coat hangers,
perhaps a bit of lace, some miniature mittens or socks.
BATHROOM- Yes you can even have a tree in your bathroom!
For a bathroom tree again start with a stryofoam cone. Purchase
some bunches of eucalyptus, but you will have to like the smell of
this, if you dont, this probably would not work for you. Next cut
the eucalyptus in various lengths, you probably will need to stick
the ends of your eucalyptus in a bit of glue before sticking it
into the styrofoam. Starting at the bottom of the tree with the
longer pieces of eucalyptus, fill in the entire surface of the foam
cone. Now add a 15 light set of white lights, and a garland of
miniature gold stars. Not only will this tree look nice sitting on
the counter in your bathroom. But the warmth of the lights will
release the scents of the eucalyptus.
Now on to keeping a decorated tree out all year round. I have
one tree that is about 3 feet tall, that was purchased for my craft
business to display Christmas ornaments on. Since, it is too big
for me to store, it is left out all year round, and is decorated
according to the seasons. If you happen to have a tree, and this
similar situation, here are some seasonal decorating ideas for you.
For Valentines Day, put on a set of pink or red miniature
lights, and add different heart ornaments.
For Easter, add a set of pastel lights. Now take about 50 of
the plastic Easter eggs and poke a hole in one end. Next run a
ribbon through that hole and knot it. Hang the eggs on your
branches, and you now have an Easter Egg Tree.
A Fourth of July tree can be made by using red, white and blue
lights. Try attaching miniature flags, and silver, red and blue
tinsel.
The Halloween tree can boast orange lights, small plastic
pumpkins, purchased spider webs and spiders.
During the time of year when the tree is not decorated for
anything else, try making a tree that will compliment your decor.
If you happen to have a kitchen that is decorated in an apple
theme. Try covering your tree with white lights, apple ornaments,
and red and green checked bows. A tree decorated to match your
kitchen or livingroom decor will look really cute sitting in the
corner of the room. Plus it will add a bit of light to a dark
corner.
I hope this will give you some ideas on making miniature trees
to decorate your home. Be on the lookout all year for various items
to use on your trees, and remember it does not necessarily have to
be something specifically for Christmas for this idea to work. Use
your imagination and your likes to create the perfect decorations
for your home.
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