Goth Christmas Tree Decoration

Christmas. It's just so damn cheery. If you want to approach the holiday season with a touch of irony, why not festoon your tree in goth trimmings?

Start With the Tree

You can either start with a conventional Christmas tree and then goth it up, or you can go ahead and buy an unconventional tree.

There's the obvious-the black Christmas tree. That's right kids, Christmas trees come in nearly every color of the rainbow, plus black, which sadly is not included in most rainbows. Treetopia.com offers funky trees in various shades of black, with or without lights. My favorite so far is their pitch black pine. They've also got a handsome dark cranberry colored tree that would fit in nicely to a goth décor. Don't bother with their so-called "purple" trees, because they look more cotton candy pink than goth purple.

Type "black Christmas tree" into google and you're sure to get lots of links to various e-tailers. (Yes, I am now using the word e-tailer.)

There are also bare limbed trees that you can find at ornament-trees.com. There's link to the specific section to the left of this article. These are great because there's not a bit of foliage to contend with. They're simply tree branches without leaves. I love this because even fake trees shed. These are metal and they'll last!

If you're not willing to spring for a tree, or don't have room, you can buy the little birch jewelry stand from urbanoutfitters.com. It's not very tall at 19 inches, but it means you don't have to find many ornaments, and the ones you do have to get can be very small. It also means that you don't need to find space for a tree and you can use it later for its original purpose.

You can also use any decorative branch which you can find at the craft store and stores such as Pier One. You'll have to have a way to hang it or stick it in an oversized vase. Decorate it the way you would your goth Christmas tree (except on a smaller scale) and you have a cheap but interesting "tree."

Alternatively, you can find free, dead branches outside, which you can then spray paint black and decorate.

Choose Your Colors

That's right goth boys and girls. I said colors. Black is great, but it needs friends to argue with. Purple and black are a great color combo, as are purple, green and black. You can also go for a dark cranberry, red and black motif. Once you've got the colors picked out, you can go from there.

To choose your colors first find an item for your jumping off point, whether it be a funky ornament or special holiday garland. Find something you love and use it as your reference point for color.

Or you can go multicolored and just use black as your base. A black Christmas tree already makes a huge statement, so you can get away with being more conventional otherwise.

Tree Skirt

Tree skirts are actually not that hard to make. While you might find the perfect goth Christmas tree skirt out there in the world or on the interweb, well-it's unlikely. Instead, search for color scheme.

But I'm not going to lie to you. If anything in this world is relentlessly cheery it's the Christmas tree skirt. Shop around and you might get lucky, but if not, head to the fabric store.

Choose a stretchy or crushed velvet-like fabric or dark felt in your colors of choice. You might even be able to find trim for it in black.

Check out one of the links to your left on how to make your own.

Holiday Garland

Like trees, garland comes in a remarkable variety of colors. Head to your local party store before hitting the 'net.

Consider the Many Varieties of Gothness

Goth can be many things. It can be Anime inspired, Victorian goth, goth punk, retro goth (inspired eras from the 1920s-1960), fairy goth and a host of other sub-sub goth cultures or niches. If you go for a particular type of gothness, it can help in finding decorations. If you like retro goth and you're into the late 1930s and early 40s, you can find decorations that, while not exclusively goth, can fit in with your theme. You can also throw in whatever else you like.

Ornaments

Head to your local Hot Topic and/or make your own. If you've chosen colors other than black, it's quite likely that there are ball ornaments out there in that color. There's a fun ornament at cafepress of a gothic Christmas tree that I like. You'll find the link for it on the left.

Lastly, Show Some Dedication

You might have to hand make some stuff, like black snowflakes for the windows and the tree, but you can have a very goth Christmas. You'll also have to do some searching. A goth Christmas is fun because of the juxtaposition, but that also means that not every store will carry what you need. Don't give up. Even if you can't totally goth up the place this year, build up a collection. When you're ready, spring for the tree and you'll have the darkest goth Christmas on the block.

For more on goth Christmas décor click here.