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The Easiest Tree Decorating Idea (when you move in December)

Nobody asked, but moving in December gets ZERO stars from me – do not recommend! However, if you are looking for ways to keep it simple (and less overwhelming) I’ve got a pretty easy tree trimming hack that still has all the nostalgic Christmas feels. 

“I’m not putting up a tree this year,” I declared to my sisters recently. “I just don’t have the bandwidth since we’re moving.”

It’s been such a joy to have a new space to decorate again, but when I thought about finding all my Christmas tree decorations among the boxes and moving mess, it felt a bit overwhelming.

They decided they weren’t having it. Christmas Eve (which is when us Finns celebrate) will be at our new house, after all!

So last weekend my brother-in-law and sister Lea, helped me get one installed! This house came with two or three heavy metal (they don’t make them this way anymore) tree stands just kicking around, so that part was easy.

Decorating my real Christmas tree with tinsel

Hopefully you saw this fun video montage that I shared on Instagram. It shows the moment I discovered the perfect real Christmas tree and all the glittery-glam results once it was decorated! If you’ve never brought a real Christmas tree home, it’s fun to see the process from picking it out to getting it home.

Greg and my sister Lea with Lucy and Babs

Then, on Instagram, I saw my friend Rebecca’s tinsel tree and immediately fell in love. Did you know silver tinsel is making a comeback? So, I decided I would do the same to keep it simple.

This is the one! (below)

The easiest tree decorating hack

And here it is! Easiest tree in the world! We were at Woodsong Christmas Tree farm in Lindell Beach!

Did you know that tinsel is one of the original decorations for Christmas trees. It’s meant to look like sparkling icicles. Some of us might even remember tinsel trees from our childhood. I love that something this simple can make such a beautiful decoration. 

However, it turns out, it’s not that easy to hang tinsel. Have you tried tinsel on your tree recently? I had to watch a youtube video to get mine right 🙂 There is a bit of a trick to hanging tinsel and you simply can’t just lay it over the width of the branches. But naturally, that’s what I started doing. I was just hanging them over the sides of the branches like I was draping a scarf or something and quickly realized that it looked dumb. 

So, here’s what I learned about decorating with tinsel: You simply LAY the ribbons of tinsel vertically over the length of the branch towards the end – NOT horizontally across the width of the branch. In other words, drape the tinsel over the ends of the branches like long icicles might hang off a tree. 

 All in all though, metallic tinsel combined with white lights is a very pretty and nostalgic way to decorate a tree. And it truly needs nothing else. 

Instead of presents, I added some more glam with extra large gold ornaments under the tree on top of a plush white tree skirt. The biggest gold balls I bought from Canadian Tire and the smaller ones are from West Coast Gardens in Surrey, BC. Anyone else put something other than presents under the tree? 😉

By the way, my living room is looking darn cute. I have added my green outdoor sectional in this room temporarily (not shown) while I decide which new furniture pieces I’m going to order. Follow along with daily updates on my Instagram.

Here’s how we decorated our home last year. And in 2020. And in 2019.

It’s -12 degrees celsius today. Today was originally moving day but seeing that it was going to be cold or even worse, blowing snow, I moved it up to this past Friday. This means we still had a lot of random packing up of the bathrooms, closets, linen closet, etc. 

Hot tip for y’all: DO NOT MOVE IN THE WINTER, haha. 

More on my renovation coming soon but right now I am surrounded by boxes!

Hey, did you get the new colour wheel yet? Get yours here.

Related posts:

2020 Holiday feels Different, so does my Living Room

How to Choose Colours that Flatter your Orange Wood Trim

Two Gorgeous Holiday Garlands

16 Comments

  • Beautiful tree! We had an old Mid Century Modern silver aluminum Christmas tree, so it doesn’t need tinsel! But we add sparkly vintage ornaments – this year I went with a pink, white and gold theme.
    It’s such a beautiful time of year and I think of you when I have my sparkly lights on around the home, they are like little lamps throughout the home!
    Merry Christmas!

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  • Valerie says:

    *****Beautiful nostalgic decorating***** ~ I can still remember my 💖Mom back in the 60s/70s saying to me: ‘Valerie, hang tinsel carefully ONE strand at a time, draping it on the tips and d-o-w-n”….No throwing it by the handfuls just because you want to get the job done faster….haha…. I think about those times every year, when it comes time to hang the tinsel… I reuse mine from Western Germany…the real lead crinkly stuff..’Qualitats – Stanniol Lametta’… Your tree is gorgeous…congratulations on your beautiful new home…and *Merry Christmas* to you and your family!🎄❄️❄️

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  • Martha Hughes says:

    We had to hang tinsel on our tree every year when I was a kid. It had to be hung one strand at a time. If mom wasn’t looking we’d just throw it on. That’s kid decorating. We had to remove it and save for the next year, too. Bleh! Btw, I like you new living room. I love the green in the temporary outdoor furniture, too. Everything is just so pretty.

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  • Susan J says:

    What’s old is new again! I loved tinsel on my tree when it was still popular and your tree brings back many memories. Just a caution for cat and dog owners to be careful that they dont eat the tinsel as it does not always exit easily and can get tangled in their intestines sometimes and require surgery to remove it.

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    • jane says:

      That’s when I quit using tinsel, in late 60’s! My cat knocked over the tree climbing it, broke half the decorations and lights, then was eating the tinsel! The vet said get rid of the icicles or the cat.

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    • Bette says:

      And not just indoor animals. When you eventually compost that beautiful tree, unless you retrieve every single tiny bit of tinsel from the branches, birds and rodents eat it and die.

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      • KNJ says:

        Hello Everyone, I was going to post separately but Bette’s comments reminded me of another event that happened when we too moved in December…the 31st no less since our NYC lease began 1/1….so we decided to celebrate at my in-laws that year…no tree, nothing in our NC apt…just boxes, not many since we were just starting out but still everything we owned … but I had to have a real tree…. with lights on the balcony along with some old, oddly assorted glass ornaments. Everyday we came home from work, more ornaments were broken…and when it rained, some of the bulbs turned from red to silver. Turns out the birds pecked at those glittery bulbs…something about the reflection intrigued them. As for Lametta, had it growing up in the 60s/70s along with bee wax candles on the trees….just remember to vacuum off any remaining tinsel …super easy. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone! Be thankful for being on this side of the dirt…in other words, for living and being able to enjoy life….especially this blog. Never met Maria but feel as if I ever visited, we’d be fast friends. Thank you! Warmest wishes to All!

  • Fran W. says:

    Love your elegant tree, Maria! Happy holidays to you and Terreeia and all your family! 🎄

  • Bette says:

    The tree is beautiful and yes, I grew up having to spread tinsel on our family tree, strand by strand, unless my mother wasn’t looking, and then I’d just throw it on by the handful and be done with it.

    However! Tinsel is super dangerous for animals and bad for the environment. Next year, maybe string some cranberries and popcorn?!

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  • Lorri says:

    Oh boy, do I remember the tinsel.

    Tinsel brought out a person’s inner control freak and rigid rules on how to hang it. 😉

  • Rachel says:

    The tree looks elegantly simple and am glad you got one, despite the craziness of the season. I have also recently used my outdoor patio furniture in an extra space as I am waiting for new furniture for that room too😊

  • June says:

    Maria, you asked what other things we put under the tree. I have a little red wagon that I put a stuffed bunny and stuffed moose in. And then put teddy bears–some rather antique–around the rest of the tree, until it’s all filled up with toy animals. Presents added at the very last minute–prevents shaking and peeking!

  • Gery says:

    Thank you Maria. That sounds so easy that I might bring out my fake tree after all. Just need to find tinsel.

  • Becca says:

    Hi Maria! As someone who tries to stay off the socials, please please please pot progress pics to your blog.

    Also, fyi, in the pic above “Hi I’m Maria” there are teeth above your left shoulder.

    Hope you have the happiest of holidays!

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  • KNJ says:

    Quick question…is there any way to submit/attach a photo with a comment? I would have loved to send a few photos from the annual 4 trees we’ve had over the years…only one had gifts underneath. The “best original” tree was the year we were under construction…we made a chocolate chip and ginger cookie tree for the workers and placed Duncan Hines, etc. cookie mix boxes underneath for them. My kids were really young then …. My son liked to take a bite from a cookie on the tree but leave enough so that it wouldn’t just leave a string….so I wouldn’t notice that he’d had to many. All wonderful memories. Thanks for this post!

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