Is there anything prettier than a lit Christmas tree? It might as well be a piece of art in a museum, because I spend every evening gazing at our tree. Everything from dinner to TV time is made more special when done under the glow of a Christmas tree.
That said, there is nothing harder for me to photograph than a blasted lit Christmas tree!! It definitely falls under the category of ‘Looks Better in Person!’
If you were here last year, then you know Mr. Sugarplum got his way, and our tree was one big, green, glowing Kermit! So this year, it was my turn to pick…and I chose pink! We do like to mix it up each year, but I’m not about to buy a new set of decorations every time. Simply by changing the green lights to white, and creating some DIY ornaments, we had a new accent color.
The first thing I did was hit up Hobby Lobby’s 50% off Christmas decor sale, for boxes of clear, pink and silver balls…all $4 each. These projects were also fun for the kids, so $12 was a great investment for an afternoon spent together.
For the clear ornaments, we simply squeezed in some craft paint and rolled it around inside. Then repeated with other colors in the same color family until the entire inside of the ball was coated.
Second up was a marbleizing technique I learned from my aunt. Fill a disposable container with water, spray a thin layer of paint on the surface, then dip an ornament one time before hanging it to dry. We dipped hot pink balls in white paint, and silver balls in pink paint.
Our last project was to make these nickel-sized hanging mirrors. Add a dollop of hot-glue to the back of one mirror, lay the ends of a looped piece of ribbon on the glue, then press another mirror disc on top. They look like tiny prisms on the tree and reflect even more light.
Here are our DIY ornaments in action on the tree.
Adding wide strips of pink and silver ribbon was another inexpensive way to ‘pink’ our tree.
See what’s happening on the windows? Yep, I went a little bonkers with wreaths this year. I’ll show you that one tomorrow.
Today I’m excited to share this tree with Megan, as the Christmas Cheer Link Party continues!! I can’t wait to see all the gorgeous trees, and hopefully pick up inspiration for next year’s palette! (Along with tips on how to photograph this elusive tree!)
I love those little mirrors! Your tree looks beautiful!
Christmas trees are the hardest thing to photograph – I totally agree. But your's still looks amazing! I love the handmade ornaments with the kids – I might do this with my nephews. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Adore all the pink! You really did a nice job of tying it together with the DIY ornaments! And you're right…WHY are they so hard to photograph!?! Glad I wasn't the only one! 🙂
Your tree is beautiful and your ornaments turned out fabulous. What a fun project to do with the children. YOur photos are great too. Hugs, marty
Your ornaments are beautiful! You guys did a great job with them
Your tree looks so good! I just love these ideas too!
Your tree is so pretty. The cloudy effect makes it feel like a dream.
You are so good at the DIY projects, and your tree looks great. I too have pink on my tree:)
Your tree is beautiful and I love all the ornaments. I'm going to give that marbleized trick a shot. How cool is that!
I like the marbleized ornaments best – so pretty and easy!
Your Christmas tree looks divine! I love to look at ours in the evening too; it's so calming to me. Love the diy ornaments!
Your little one is just so cute doing her ornament. I love your tree! Is that white chair new?
So pretty! I LOVE the tie dye ornaments! LOVE the white chair with the green pillow too! 🙂
Those ornaments are so cool!! Love it!
ooh great (cheap) way to change the look of the tree. I would've thought damnit, I have to find/buy all new ornaments in my theme!
Love the mirror idea too!
The pink is awesome!! I adore all the ornaments. I think your pictures are awesome (:
OMG you are a genius. I am not a fan of our tree since the Hubs insisted on traditional red and green. After seeing these easy techniques I may be able to change it up next year!
This is so cool! Loving the pink!
Rachie xo
Great pink tree! My husband and his family made some similar tie dye ornaments back over 10 years ago while we were still dating. Sadly, this tie dye ornament was one of the ornaments that shattered when our tree fell over this year… perhaps we need to make one together to replace it 🙂
LOVE those mirror ornaments!
awesome! and i was looking at your pictures from last year, it's amazing the difference with your home makeover!
love it. love the pink. 🙂
I know I say this every time, but you are so inspiring and such a great mom! Your tree looks beautiful. I, too, have been working on spreading Christmas all around the room. Can't wait to read the scoop on the wreaths!
Abby
What a beautiful tree! I love all the handmade ornaments!!
ok that marble technique is just too cool!! love all the pink with silver & mirrors!
Beautiful tree! I really love the DIY ornaments. Very very fun! My six year old daughter would love making those!
Oh my gosh the tie dye ones are AWESOME!! I am in the process of making a DIY ornament every day til Xmas… here they are…so far:
http://www.hardlyhousewives.com/search/label/Christmas
Thanks for the inspiration! My daughter and I made some of these ornaments this weekend!
http://lifelovelarson.blogspot.com/2013/12/diy-marbleized-ornaments.html