While all Christmas trees are special, choosing a particular theme for your tree can add to its uniqueness.
You may be considering a theme for the tree in your living room or want to add an additional tree to another room in your house, like a bedroom or guestroom.
A tabletop tree is a fun treat for a kid's room or for special guests. It's also a great way to display extra ornaments.
When it comes to choosing a theme for your Christmas tree, there are endless possibilities but I had to narrow it down or I’d be writing this list into the New Year!
Here are 7 themes that to get creative with.
- Woodland
- Retro
- Victorian
- Angel
- Music
- Travel
- Sci-fi
1. Woodland Tree
A Woodland tree is the epitome of nature at its wintry finest. The use of simple, natural elements will give your Christmas tree a charming, rustic feel. I love this type of tree because of its magical forest feeling.
Decorations are typically made of ingredients that represent a part of nature. These can include pinecones (with or without white-painted "snowy" edges), wooden ornaments, bristle wildlife ornaments, dried cinnamon sticks (tied together in little bundles with twine or ribbon), dried orange slices, and anything else you like.
A great choice of garland for this style of tree is strung popcorn and cranberries. You can make these if you have the time and ambition or purchase an artificial one. Alternatively, wooden beads also look great.
Delicate white lights complete the look and Fairy lights look especially amazing!
2. Retro Tree
The retro Christmas tree is a classically loud, shiny tree characterized by thick metallic garland and large, bright, and colorful lights.
You’ll want to trim your retro tree with satin balls, glass bulb-shaped ornaments, decoupage glass ornaments, and a smattering of handmade ornaments.
Growing up in the ‘70s, I get a little nostalgic for my childhood Christmases and remember the excitement of adding a finishing touch to our family tree - my handmade pipe-cleaner Santa Claus.
Hallmark actually started their classic Keepsake Collection in 1973 so Hallmark ornaments are a great fit too.
For a tree topper, a classic shiny star or angel fits the theme perfectly, or you can opt for a more contemporary minimalist style.
3. Victorian Tree
The classic Victorian Christmas tree is known for its timeless elegance and ornate style. It's both beautiful and surprisingly simple to decorate.
As I mentioned in my brief history of the Victorian Christmas tree, these trees were actually decorated with trinkets, toys, and treats rather than Christmas-themed ornaments as they are today. This means that when deciding what to put on your tree, you may not need to look any further than what’s already in your own Christmas stash.
If you have any miniature doll ornaments, angels, miniature Christmas houses, classic toy ornaments (like a sailboat or a sled), or single-wrapped candies (like Lindt truffles or candy canes) you can tie up with a string, these are great decorations for your Victorian tree!
Other easy DIY ornaments you can add are dried fruits (as mentioned in the woodland tree), paper dolls, and miniature presents or paper cards, real or simply decorative.
Fabric bows add to the Victorian feel.
Originally, Victorian trees were lit with real candles positioned on the branches. Because having real candles with open flames on an indoor tree is an obvious fire hazard, faux candles like clip-on battery-operated candles or classic white Christmas lights are ideal for this style of tree.
For the garland, shiny beaded strands are both extremely elegant and fit the theme beautifully. I use one on my main tree every year.
Feel free to add silver metallic tinsel "icicles" to complete the look.
4. Angel Tree
A gathering of angels makes for a heavenly Christmas tree.
When my daughter was young, we put a small artificial tree in her bedroom every Christmas. She loved decorating it with angel ornaments. While some were gifts from family members, others she made herself from various materials including painted shells.
You may love decorating an angel tree too.
You probably already have some angel ornaments and it can be fun to shop for new ones. There are alot of cute, inexpensive angels out there.
Mix various sizes and textures of angels on your tree - ceramic, glass, metal, beaded, tin, lace, doll style, and even paper angels.
For an elegant look, add wire ribbon with hints of metallic or shiny satin.
White lights or fairy lights add to the "angelic" look of this tree. Top it off with a beautiful angel tree topper.
And don't forget to add a few bells so your angels get their wings!
5. Music Tree
Everyone loves a good Christmas song and if you or someone in your family plays an instrument, all the more fun.
If you're a music buff, chances are you already have multiple music-related ornaments which may include violins, cellos, pianos, drums or music notes. Make sure you don’t forget any toy soldier or nutcracker holding an instrument or an angel playing the harp.
Homemade ornaments made out of old sheet music are not only festive but eco-friendly.
If you have an Elvis fan in your life as I do, you may have one or two odes to the “King of Rock” that you want or feel obligated to display.
While you are putting the finishing touches on your tree, don't forget the silver bells!
6. Travel Tree
Do you love to travel?
If you're anything like me, you've accumulated plenty of destination-themed ornaments over the years.
A travel tree will bring back happy memories of vacations past and destinations still to explore.
This style of a tree can include modes of transportation too. So feel free to add any trains, cars, airplanes, hot air balloons, or Santa’s sleigh.
Just add the lights and tinsel and you're off!
7. Sci-Fi Tree
For the true fanboy or fangirl.
Light your sci-fi tree with bright LEDs, wrap it with a shiny silver garland and decorate it with ornaments from your favorite science fiction shows.
This is your chance to create a retro-futuristic Christmas tree. You can even get away with using a metallic artificial tree.
Look for individual ornaments and sets from movies or TV series (fun to mix them up a bit too). Include robots, aliens, and space-themed ornaments like round solar system planet ornaments.
A mini set of shimmering or glittering stars would also look great on this tree, and should be easy to find.
Top it off with a bright retro star or, if you’re a hardcore Trekkie - and price isn’t a huge factor - check out this musical, lighted U.S.S. Enterprise tree topper from Hallmark. Amazing, right?
And don’t forget the Tardis!
