Once the turkey coma has lifted our own family will be trekking into the woods and bringing home our own evergreen beauty to decorate. The tree has always been one of my favorite Christmas decorations. It just seems so magical once the lights are on and the branches are laden with ornaments. I’ll be the first to admit that I am a little, ahem, picky about my Christmas décor. I like a simple, neutral color scheme and tend to lean towards more natural elements. My preferences (and my pickiness) definitely carry over into my Christmas tree. This actually works out well for a house full of rowdy kids. However, I’m pretty proud of our Christmas decorations and especially our Christmas tree every year. I like to think that our Christmas tree is absolutely beautiful, even if it is incredibly kid-friendly.
how to have a kid-friendly Christmas tree
paper
The idea of having paper on your tree might make you think of a child’s craft project. Don’t worry though, there are actually lots of great options for paper or paper mache ornaments. I have a few small pom poms on my tree that I made myself. These are also great because it’s inexpensive to make more if your color scheme changes. I also have some ornaments that my husband and I made together.
fabric
A few years ago I made a super simple ornament out of some leftover lace and a small embroidery hoop. I feel like this project would be a great way to tie in something meaningful. What if you used a bit of your child’s blessing or christening gown or even a piece of your wedding dress? You can also find lots of small shops that make adorable fabric ornaments. Or make your own with your kids! I also like to use burlap ribbon as an inexpensive garland.
wood
I love bringing in wooden elements, especially since they tend to be pretty sturdy. If you come into my home at Christmastime you’ll notice wooden Christmas décor everywhere! Think outside the realm of ornaments and get a great wooden bead garland, or you could even easily diy your own!
metal
Metal is another sturdy material that I love incorporating. I try to keep the metal more as accent pieces so that the overall look isn’t too “cold”. However, I think that it blends well with the other elements on the tree. Last year I even picked up some fun tree lights that reminded me of metal cookie cutters and they were one of my favorite things on my tree!
pieces easily replaced
If you take a look at my tree you will definitely notice some ornaments that are breakable. However, the majority of glass pieces on my Christmas tree are generic ones that are easily replaced if they do happen to break. I use small, clear glass ornament balls to fill in empty spaces, and larger clear, glass balls to house sentimental things–like our wedding announcement. If that ornament happens to break than I can easily place the bits of our wedding announcement into another round ornament and it isn’t the end of the world.
what about all those “other” ornaments?
So now we’ve got a kid-friendly tree but what about those other ornaments? The ones that are really special? Maybe they’re antiques, or maybe my husband and I picked them up on a trip. These ornaments will find their homes in big glass jars or vases during the holiday season. That way I can still enjoy them but they’re a little more protected.
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Are you picky about your holiday décor? Or do you let your kids take control?
