All Natural Christmas Tree Decor

This year, keep the flashing lights and fancy ornaments packed away when you decorate your Christmas tree. If you don't have the latest Hallmark ornaments, don't buy it! All natural Christmas tree décor works great with real or artificial trees and gives your home and your holidays a feeling of authenticity. This Christmas tree décor is great for log cabins, farm houses, country homes, or anyone who wants to simplify their Christmas season. Here are some great ways to achieve an all natural Christmas tree look.

Lights

Contrary to popular belief, you do no have to have lights on your Christmas tree. You can save energy and money this year, and achieve a more natural décor, by not lighting your tree. If you must have lights, use soft white lights, or find lights that work with the natural theme. Christmas people.com have a 12' string of 35 red berry LED lights for $12.71. Target sells 10 pine cone lights on a 136" string for $9.99.

Garland

Target offers a beautiful Dark Red Berry and Twig Garland for $12.99 or Beaded Garland w/ Leaves for $12.99 for the natural woodsy Christmas tree décor. Also at Target, find Glitter Garland ($15.99) for a sparkling snow effect. Combinations of the darker berry and twig garland and the sparkling glitter garland would be striking! But, the great advantage of an all natural Christmas tree décor is that homemade decorations will look right at home. You can craft garland by twisting together dried corn husks or using small grape vines. Using a needle and thread, you can string together real dried berries and offset the bright red with pop corn, pine cones, or wood beads.

Ornaments

Less is more for the all natural Christmas tree décor. Resist the temptation to crowd your branches with ornaments. Instead, you want to use ornaments sparingly, in a way that doesn't distract from your Christmas tree's natural beauty. Pine cones are a natural choice for a natural Christmas tree ornament. If you don't have your own source of pine cones, go to the Balsam Hill Christmas Tree Company (balsamhill.com) for their Big Pine Cone Kit. For $29, you'll get 30 "medium" cones, 2 - 2.5", and 20 large cones, 4 - 4.5", each with a wire attached to make hanging easier. You might also use some natural animal ornaments, like Target's Smith & Hawken Bird Ornament, 4 for $19.99, or their cute and furry Sisal Animals, 6 for $9.99. Finally, don't be afraid to eschew store-bought ornaments all together. In the Garden Online has some wonderful suggestions for natural, handmade Christmas tree decorations, including hydrangea heads, branches from evergreen trees in your yard, and pressed flowers.

Tree-Topper

Once again, when it comes to topping off your all natural Christmas tree décor, don't be afraid to just leave the top of the tree as it is. Ignore the societal demands that say you must put some shining beacon of capitalism on top of a now stunning tribute to nature. However, if you must top your tree, Target has a Twig and Berry Tree Topper for $9.99 that matches the Dark Berry and Twig Garland mentioned above.

By now, you should be able to achieve the subtle and sophisticated natural Christmas tree décor. Remember that less is more in the natural décor, and that the homemade is more appropriate that what you can buy in a store. Merry Christmas!