When you pass by those trees in the department stores, the mall or in the White House…(just had to throw that in)…I think most people look at the lush decorations and think to themselves “Self, how do I get that look at home?” I’ve seen you. You do. But then that thought is quickly replaced with the idea that you can’t possibly have THAT much time on your hands. I mean an army of people put those decorations up right? Uhmm…take it from me who has decorated trees in both department stores and in The White House…not really. You too can have this look because there aren’t that many people working on those installations. Trust me. So that means all excuses are out the window. Yes, you can decorate your tree like that.
It’s really only about 2 things. Enough lights and enough ornaments.
Is it that simple? Well let’s break it down even more.
At home, most people string lights around all sides and hang ornaments on the ends of the branches and call it a day. But…here’s the secret: With both things, you should start deep inside towards the center of the tree and work your way out to the tips of the branches. Yup. That’s it.
Lights placed deeply in the tree give that twinkle off all sides of the ornaments and add depth and fullness to ANY size and shape of tree. If you wrap your lights around the tree at the end of the branches you’re leaving the inside dark. Think about the black hole you’re leaving at the center. All that darkness just becomes a void keeping your tree from reaching its full (pun intended) potential. Work those lights up and down the branches people!
Likewise, putting small groupings of plain ornaments deeper back and tighter on branches reflects more light (from all those extra bulbs back there now) and adds to the depth and fullness. I think its universally called bundling ornaments by those of us blessed and cursed to have learned this trick. Once you learn it and try it…you can’t unsee it. You need it. It’s sad really.
Ok. So your bundle can be anything from 2 or 3 same or completely different shape, size and color ornaments all tied together at their hanging loop by a piece of wire. If this doesn’t make sense yet, there are pictures below. You can even use those wire ornament hangers that are a little more flexible to bundle with if you can’t see yourself running out to the Home Depot today. But I like doing things once – and I’m here to tell you that the wire will last longer and you can keep your ornaments bundled for next year.
If you decide to do it up right…head out and get some wire like this and some very basic wire snips to cut it with. It comes in different “thicknesses” which is really about how stiff and heavy duty it is. This is a lightweight more crafty wire than a heavy, thick construction wire.
And you just need a couple boxes of super inexpensive, plain Jane ornaments like these:
These are about $10 for 18 ornaments. Plain but very effective fillers.
One year I used all of the boring plain balls I had sworn off from 10 years ago but was still holding on to. Didn’t buy anything new. Use your super simple, plain ornaments for this inner layer and save your more cherished, fun or pretty ornaments for the showstoppers on the ends of branches.
OR…you can of course go all out and use some with more character inside as well.
Whichever way you go, just pick 3 or so ornaments and start bundling! Don’t overthink it. Don’t spend a lot of time trying to make perfect groupings. Just go!
The simple way to do this is to string your ornaments onto a piece of wire and twist it all together. You can now use this wire to attach each bundle tightly to the branches in the tree.
Here, I’ve bundled in the plain with some fancy for a mixture of sizes, colors and shapes. These bundles are not only great for trees but it is a quick way to bulk up garlands and wreaths as well!
The whole point is that now you can take a bulkier, but still pretty grouping and place deeper in the branches. Use this technique to fill out bald spots, uneven branch areas and just give some more color to the overall picture when you step back and look from across the room. And now those big trees you see in public spaces? They were decked out from inside to outside with some big plain filler ornaments to give a super lush, “we know something you don’t” look to the trees. But now…you know. Their secret is out. And your trees can have that same feeling if you put a teeny tiny bit more time in creating a good inner layer of both lights and ornaments. Try it!
edit. your. life. 