How To Plan A Themed Christmas Tree

It is that time of year again when your social media feed is full of gorgeous and inspiring “themed” Christmas trees that others have created.

Have you ever considered putting up a themed Christmas tree but haven’t done it because the process seems a little daunting? Or do you think you can’t pull off such a creative endeavor to rival those you see on Pinterest?

Themed Christmas trees take a little planning, and in this post, I will share the steps I have used for years to plan my themed Christmas tree decorations.

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For the last five years, I have been part of a group of bloggers who shared themed, decorated Christmas trees in a combined blog hop. It was so much fun, but also a lot of work—work and planning that usually started months in advance for some of us. At least for me, it did.

I would come up with my idea for that year’s themed tree in mid-summer and, by September, be already working on the little details. Since the blog hop was the weekend right after Thanksgiving, I had to put the tree up early and spend some time tweaking and adding to it before the big reveal.

This year, the host closed the event after five years.  I can completely understand her decision. Honestly, I didn’t have the inspiration this year for a new theme anyway.  But if I did, below are the steps I would have followed to plan my themed tree.

Step one – start with an idea or an inspiration.

Usually, the inspiration for the themed Christmas trees I have created in the past has come from something I am already interested in, such as my Vintage Red truck-themed tree or my silver Retro-Themed Tree. 

Last year, when I created my faith-themed Christmas tree,  the idea came from working my seasonal job at a Christmas store.  The owner recreated a themed tree she had seen at the Christmas market and brought that look to a themed tree in the store.  It was a beautiful mixture of white, gold, glitter, and Faith-inspired ornaments, and I just wanted to bring some of that splendor into my own home last year.

Visiting a Christmas store is an excellent resource for spectacular themed Christmas trees. You can usually purchase the items that make up the overall design, such as the ornaments and ribbon, right there in the store.

Yet I understand that not everyone has access to a beautifully decorated Christmas store for inspiration. So, you have to find inspiration from other sources.

Wondering where to start to find your inspiration?

Magazines are always an excellent resource for themed Christmas tree ideas.

Are you surprised I didn’t say Pinterest first?

Most home décor magazines feature full spreads of people’s homes decorated for the holidays, and their uniquely decorated Christmas tree is always a focal point for the magazine spread. There is just something about seeing a decorated tree in full color that speaks to my designer heart.

Then, of course, I turn to Pinterest and Instagram to see what others are doing that year or find ideas for whatever look I have swirling around.  My goal is never to make a copycat of someone else’s decorated tree, but to gather inspiration and little details I can borrow for my own style of a similar-themed tree.

Sometimes, the theme for my Christmas tree happens over time. For instance, my Snoopy and Peanuts-themed tree was never featured on the blog hop. I have been collecting Snoopy items since I was 4 or 5. Family and friends always give me ornaments or stuffed animals, so a themed Christmas tree became necessary to display this collection.

Even the most experienced holiday decorators start their themed Christmas trees with an inspiration and a plan.

You are ready for the next steps once you decide on the look and inspiration for your themed Christmas tree idea.

Step two – is the timeframe reasonable?

Do you have time to pull it all together this year?  Will this be a one-time themed style or a favorite theme you will add to each year, like I do with my Snoopy tree?  If your themed tree idea is once-and-done, you must get hyper-focused to pull it off this year.  If this is a theme you want to enjoy and cultivate over a few years, then the timeframe isn’t an issue.  Enjoy the journey. Will you build the collection for your themed tree?

Step three – set a budget.

The budget always gets us with design projects, especially for holiday decorations. Not all of us have an unlimited budget to start completely over with a new look for our Christmas tree, so you need to crunch some numbers and ask yourself some honest questions.

Can you purchase the items you need within the budget? Will you need to visit thrift stores, better options, and prices?  Do you need to DIY some items to stretch the budget as much as possible?

Again, your available budget will affect the final look of your completed tree, especially if it is a one-year-only theme. If you plan to use this themed tree for several years, you can stretch the cost over time.

Step four: Start sourcing your ornaments, ribbon, and other unique items for your themed tree and get to work.

This step is where the real work of creating a themed tree starts to kick in. You are either shopping for just the right ornaments or buying craft supplies to make them yourself. You need to make decisions about the lights, the trim, the ribbons, and the tree topper—especially the tree topper itself.

I am still looking for a mid-century-style tree topper for my retro-themed tree that won’t break the budget. I know one day I will find the perfect one.

Themed Christmas trees usually require a bit of creativity in the ornaments and styling that make them unique, so be on the lookout online, at Walmart or Target, of course, and at any available thrift store to fit your budget.

Step five – start the DIY projects.

I always seems to have some type of DIY project for every single one of my themed Christmas trees.  I just can’t help myself from wanting to add my own little bit of creativity to the tree.

If this is not you, then you can skip this step and go straight to decorating your new tree with the ornaments and baubles you meticulously shopped for the right look.

However, for the rest of us, we will be using every spare block of time, even late at night, to craft our inspired ornaments and trinkets for our tree.

Budget your time wisely and plan a day or an afternoon to complete the next step in the process.

Step six – pull it all together.

You found your inspiration, planned your budget and your little craft projects, went shopping for just the right combination of glitter and shine, and the final step to planning a themed Christmas tree is to pull it all together and decorate that tree!

This step is usually the fun part and can be very rewarding: finally, you turn on the lights, hang the ribbons and ornaments just right, and step back to admire your handiwork.

At least I hope that is the way it works out for you.

Never have I decorated a themed tree just once and it was done.  For me it usually goes like this.  The tree gets decorated, I step back to look at it all finished and done, see that some ornaments are off balance, move them around, step back again, repeat that step several more times, and then usually end up driving to the store to find more things to add to it.

I will continue to tweak the look of that themed tree until I need to take the photos for the blog post I had planned.  But that is okay.  Designing a themed Christmas tree is just like designing a room in your home.  Something always needs tweaking or repositioning up to the last minute.

And there you have it—six steps to follow to find inspiration, plan the schedule and budget, source or make the decorations, and then bring it all together to create a spectacular-themed tree.

Are you wondering what my Christmas trees will be like this year? The answer is a combination of all the trees from the last few years.

My largest tree will feature the Faith ornaments, vintage truck ornaments, a few of the rustic wood slice ones I made for the Rustic and modern-themed tree, and, of course, our favorites from when the kids were younger, along with ornaments we picked up from our travels.

Last year, after the holidays, I donated or sold some of the ornaments I had collected for my themed trees. A friend was creating her own vintage red truck-themed Christmas tree, so I gave her some of my duplicate ornaments. Ornaments from my rustic-themed tree and my faith-themed tree are going to my vendor booth this year to recoup some of the cost.

Except my favorites of course. I always keep the favorite ornaments from every themed tree.

The Snoopy-themed tree and the retro-themed tree will continue to evolve this year as I add more fun and collectible ornaments to the mix. In fact, the retro-themed tree has already been upgraded to a vintage-style silver tree. I have wanted a silver tree for years. These two themed trees will be around for some time in our home. 

I think I will change my mind about my earlier statement.  An idea for a themed tree has been on my mind for a couple of years so I do know what themed tree I would have created this year.  It would have been a Harry Potter tree because I think it will be a fun one to envision and create.  A small one would be okay to try out this year don’t you think? Just a 4 foot tree should be easy to pull off.  Stay tuned for that idea later.

Hugs and good luck on your tree!

Matthew 1:22-23 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”