Add metallic and reflective decorations
Have you ever wondered how to make your Christmas Tree sparkle even more than what you have already? There's lots of ways to do this and I'd like to show you a few ideas to try this year.
More Lights
It's very common for us to put only 1 strand of 100 non-blinking white or clear Christmas lights on our trees. However,
For a 6 foot tall Christmas tree, use 12 to 18 strands of lights.
For an 8 foot tall Christmas tree, use 16 to 24 strands of lights.
Keep in mind that many of these lights will be covered by ornaments, so it will be less bright once decorated.
Even if you have a pre-lit Christmas tree, you can still add more lights!
Make sure that all of your lights are the same, since clear and white lights come in cool or warm colors that can vary among different manufacturers. If you must use different types of lights, make sure they are evenly distributed throughout your Christmas tree to make it cohesive.
Add lights to your Christmas tree along every branch - apply them towards the trunk of your Christmas tree, then towards each branch tip, then back towards the trunk. You might add more than one string of lights to each branch.
Twinkling Lights
In addition to your standard lights, a designer trick is to add twinkling lights to make your Christmas tree sparkle.
Make sure to get twinkling lights, not basic blinking lights that just turn on and off. You might want lights with multiple settings to choose from.
Add at least 4 strands of white or clear twinkling lights only near the center of your Christmas tree, but you can add as many as 1 strand per foot height of tree (7 strands for a 7 foot tall tree).
Since different sections of Christmas string lights twinkle at the same time, run the lights up and down your tree many times instead of keeping the strands grouped together so it feels like your entire Christmas tree is twinkling at the same time, not different sections of the tree blinking at different times.
You want your Christmas tree to twinkle and sparkle, not feel like an obnoxious flashing street sign, so don't use too many flickering lights.
Larger Lights
Add at least 4 stands of white or clear lights in a larger size to your Christmas tree to really make it sparkle.
You can add as many as 1 strand per foot height of tree, so a 6 foot tall tree would get between 4 and 6 strands of larger lights.
The larger lights add variety to your lighting.
Shiny Decorations
Add metallic and reflective decorations to your Christmas tree to really make it sparkle.
You can add metallic tinsel, silver or gold metallic ornaments, mirrored decorations, mercury glass, rhinestones, glitter, or other items that will reflect light.
You can even use a special that will rotate your reflective ornaments and make your Christmas tree really sparkle. You can purchase this from Amazon.
Glitter
Using Mod Podge with gold or silver glitter is the perfect addition to your tree. Apply Mod Podge to the tips of your Christmas Tree and sprinkle your glitter over this area. Definitely add a large covering on the floor when doing this.
DIY
glitter ornaments
Take clear glass ornaments, and brush on some Mod Podge over the ornament and sprinkle glitter all over the ornament. You'll want to spray them with a coat of clear.
This will definitely give you bursts of sparkle all over your tree, or depending on how many you make.
sequin ornaments
What you'll need:
glass ornaments
white glue
tweezers
sequins
- Remove the metal hanger from each ball and set aside. We’ll add it back later.
- Starting at the top, dip the sequin into glue and place onto the glass ornament. You’ll want to get the spots around the ornament hanger first, so you don’t have sequins overlapping where the hanger goes.
- Continue to add sequins to cover the rest of the ornament. It’s okay if your sequins overlap a little bit – that’s to be expected. There’s no right or wrong way to place them.
- Once you’ve covered the ornament in sequins, take the ornament hanger and dip the prongs into the glue and place back on the top of the ornament. Let ornament dry for 24 hours before hanging.
glam ornaments
Materials Needed:
- glass ornaments
- metallic gold and silver acrylic paint
- different silver and gold decorative ribbon
- gold and silver vase filler
- gold and silver large glitter
- silver glass glitter
- Mod Podge
- Sponge brushes
Take one of your ornaments, remove the metal hanger and start with the gold paint.
Pour into the ornament and move the ornament around to spread the paint inside. Pour out any extra paint.
Allow to dry for 24 hours.
Clean each ornament with alcohol.
Take one of your silver ribbons, measure how big you'll need. Then place flat onto a paper towel and brush on glue, spreading out with your brush.
Start at the top and bring around to the other side. Do the same thing with a different silver ribbon, bringing aroung the middle.
Do the samething with the silver ornaments, using silver ribbons. Glue around the middle.
Here we'll mix to different mixtures. (1) First we'll mix your gold vase filler with a bit of silver glitter in a bowl. Mix up these two with your hands. Work between the gold vase filler and silver glitter to get a near perfect blend.
Pour your Mod Podge into a bowl (don't worry, you can wash this bowl out) and add both your gold and silver glitters, the same amounts of each. Using a sponge brush, paint the glue inbetween the sections inbetween the ribbons. Take your time to ensure the glue is everywhere.
Now cover with the mixture you made with vase filler and glitter. Patting down really well as you go. Repeat this till your ornament is completely covered.
Repeat the above using your 2nd mixture that has much more silver glitter, including the silver glass glitter in this batch. Repeat above.