We are real tree people! Every year we get two real trees and decorate them in different ways. The living room tree is a little more pulled together and pretty with white lights. The basement tree brings the fun! It has colored lights and ornaments from our travels, kid ornaments that were made in preschool and grade school. We love looking at all of the memories each year. I love having two very different trees to enjoy in December. For the living room tree, I decided to jump on the trend of velvet bows. I ended up liking it more than expected! Here’s how to add velvet ribbon bows to a Christmas tree.
The Evolution of our Real Christmas Tree
We like fir trees, which don’t grow in Kansas. Therefore, we just go to a big box store to pick out a tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. We always have good luck after searching and searching. This year, we found a Noble Fir, which we have never had before. It almost looks fake it’s so good!
After we get it home and in the basket, I sit with it for a few days. I absolute LOVE a bare real tree. We have placed the tree here, in between the living room and dining room, every year we have lived here (12). You can see the tree from the dining room, living room, kitchen, nook, and the street in this spot. I’m plant obsessed, so a bare tree in here feels very “me”.
After a few days, we add white lights to the tree. I also love it just in this state! This year, it had only lights for a few days too.
Adding Ornaments
For this tree, I like to add colorful ornaments in similar tones. There isn’t really a theme, just pretty and sparkly bulbs I’ve collected over the years. One year, I added tinsel to the tree which was amazing! I decorate all the way around the tree as you can see all sides where it sits. The only rule I like to follow is that the colors are distributed around the tree, otherwise, I just start adding.
Adding Velvet Ribbon Bows
This year, I wanted to add colorful velvet ribbon bows to the branches. You can find the exact ribbon I purchased here. I liked that this set had many different colors and tones. Most of the colors were used on our tree, but I keep out colors like yellow and dark green for obvious reasons! For each color of ribbon, I had my kids cut in half. You can adjust the length based on your preference, but just know that each color in the set will produce two ribbon strands. A beautiful mess, right?!
Much like the ornaments, I just made sure the ribbon placement and colors/tones were distributed around the tree. This is of course, all eyeballed! I don’t tie ribbon in any fancy way, just tie onto a branch and create a bow. The effect will be there. Don’t stress yourself about this.
I love the different tones of the ribbon against the dark green tree. They add dimension and a layering effect that is easy on the eye. The best part is, we can untie these at the end of the season and reuse for next year. You can also use this ribbon to tie up packages, gifts, hang ornaments from them, tie in your hair, etc!
We love to spend time in this cozy room with this tree. There is something very magical about a living tree in our home for 1/12th of the year. I just love it. You can view our fireplace mantel decorated for the holidays here.
I hope this inspires you to maybe add some colorful velvet ribbon bows to your Christmas tree! Real tree or fake tree, these add some much personality and sweetness to a tree! XO