If you love Christmas ornaments and adore the variety of colors, shapes and finishes, you’ll be happy to know that ornaments are not just for the Christmas tree. Tree ornaments can be used to decorate throughout the house during the Christmas season.
Here are 10 of our favorite alternative uses for Christmas tree ornaments.
1. Many types of serving pieces make great vehicles for displaying Christmas ornaments. Try arranging vintage mercury glass ornaments on a silver platter. Place green globe ornaments on a tiered cookie stand, mimicking the look of a Christmas tree. Or combine your favorite glass ball ornaments in a crystal bowl. Scrounge through your buffet and the back of your cupboards for serving pieces you rarely use – they could be the base of a beautiful holiday centerpiece!
2. Enhance an undecorated artificial wreath or garland with ornaments, berries, pinecones, floral picks or bows to display your personal style.
3. Fill a holiday basket with ornaments and greenery. Use ornaments of the same color or use hues that extend the theme of your holiday decor. Silver and gold, silver and blue, red and emerald, or purple and gold are fantastic Christmas color combinations. Add pinecones and berries – even a strand of LED mini lights.
4. Cluster a few ornaments around the base of another decoration or set of decorations, like a trio of flameless candles, a Christmas lantern or even a tabletop tree.
5. Here’s an easy Christmas craft idea: Buy a wreath form from a craft store and hot glue shatterproof ornaments all around it to create an ornament wreath. Keep to one color, or mix together your favorite colors and finishes. A combination of sizes works best. Build a solid foundation with larger ornaments and fill in spaces with medium and small ornaments. Not feeling crafty? Take a look at these ready-made ornament wreaths.
6. Glue together ornaments in graduating sizes end-to-end, interspersed with silver ribbon and stand on a silver candlestick to make an ornament topiary.
7. Dangle ornaments from your dining room chandelier or a window frame. Thread some narrow ribbon through the ring of the ornament cap and tie the other end to the light fixture; use thumbtacks to secure the ribbon to window molding. Hang ornaments at different heights for added visual interest.
8. You also can string ornaments with fishing line and hang them outside from bare tree branches. Add a little sparkle by tying crystal beads along the line.
9. Is your home decor dominated by black and white or shades of gray? Add some dramatic color with a combination of purple, teal, cobalt and magenta ornaments in a white dish. Or stick with the monochromatic look; black ornaments are also stunning.
10. Arrange ornaments with sprigs of pine and bows in the nook of a bookshelf. Add star-shaped fairy lights for a warm glow.
Christmas ornaments are versatile decorations and our list of ideas doesn’t begin to exhaust the many ways they can be used to enhance your holiday decor. Look through your ornament collection – or find some inspiration in our selection of Christmas ornaments – and see how many ways you can combine shiny Christmas baubles to create beautiful holiday decorations.
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