How to use Holiday Lights Without a Christmas Tree

By Ande Waggener

 

No Christmas tree this year? You may be asking how to light up your house for Christmas without a tree. You’ll find the answer here.

 

The holidays are upon us. It’s time to pack away the fall décor and get out the seasonally appropriate decorations.

 

For Christmas, the most common and traditional decoration is a Christmas tree. Christmas trees, however, aren’t cheap. Whether real or artificial, a Christmas tree may not be in your budget. Or even if it’s in your budget, you may not have the space for it.

 

That’s okay. Don’t let a lack of Christmas tree discourage you from decorating for the holidays.

 

Christmas decor without a tree may sound second-rate and inadequate, but it’s not. Many stand-alone Christmas decorations are as stunning and as delightful and mesmerizing as the most beautifully decorated tree.

 

If you want to know how to decorate for Christmas without a tree, check out these five Christmas decor ideas.

 

1. Light Up a Wreath

Among the many Christmas decorating ideas that don’t involve a tree, one of the easiest and most beautiful is bringing the traditional outside decoration inside. Wreaths aren’t just for front doors. If you string lights on a wreath, add a pretty bow, and hang it on the wall, you won’t even miss a Christmas tree. This technique is especially fun when it’s combined with playful Christmas themed toys like teddy bears.

 

 

Be sure that for this and all other decorating you do with lights, you safely use extension cords. 

 

2. Light Up Garland

If you don’t have wall space for a wreath, you surely can clear some space on a table or shelf for some garland and lights. You can choose either fresh or artificial garland, and you can pick lights in whatever color you prefer. Combine these with some Christmas themed prints, a poinsettia (real or artificial), and some pinecones for a classic Christmas look.

 

 

3. Light Up Packages

If you don’t have a tree to put packages under, don’t worry. Make the packages themselves your Christmas decor. Cluster some colorfully wrapped packages on a mound of snowy white material and sprinkle the presents with Christmas lights for a magical vignette that will make you forget you don’t have a tree.

 

 

4. Light Up Candles and Lanterns

If you don’t want to hassle with Christmas lights and extension cords, you don’t have to. You can still light up your home. Just combine some traditional Christmas decor like garland and Santa Claus figures with candles and a gas lantern. If you have a wood or gas fireplace, such a display arranged nearby will set a cozy Christmas mood.

 

 

You can also just pair candles with a simple Christmas centerpiece. Use your imagination to create a dining table display using festive decor items you find at your local thrift store. Cluster them together in a basket or other container, ring them in greenery, fresh or artificial, and frame them with bright candles for a jolly table-scape.

 

 

5. Just Light It Up

If you’re feeling lazy or you simply have a minimalist design aesthetic, skip the wreath, the greenery, the candles, and the centerpieces. Just drape some lights over Christmas-colored fabric for a bright cascade of magic that is sure to get you in the holiday spirit.

 

 

If you use any or all of the above Christmas decorating ideas, you’re not going to miss having a Christmas tree. Capturing the look and feel of Christmas can be done in so many ways, a tree simply isn’t necessary.

 

Even without a tree, you can transform your home into a holiday paradise that will have visions of sugarplums dancing in your head. And when Santa shows up on Christmas Eve, he’ll be so impressed, he’ll leave your presents without even noticing he didn’t put them under a tree.

 

Images used with permission, courtesy of Ande Waggener