Add Sparkle to Your Christmas Tree

Don't have a ho-hum Christmas tree. Add some bling to make your tree sparkle and shimmer. You'll find it mesmerizing to relax with a cup of tea and gaze at the crystal, the gold, and the silver on the tree reflecting all the lights.

Here's what to look for to add that glamor to your tree. Start with lots of lights, then add ornaments that capture and multiply that light. In particular, glass is excellent for this. You'll also want shiny silver and gold ornaments and strings of beads.

These are the kind of comments I hear from my friends when they see my holiday tree, "Very pretty. I like how they reflect the light," and "Ooh, I love how glittery it is!"

The tree shown above uses mesh ribbon to add a gold glittery look throughout the tree.

Here's a video that shows how to cut the wide pieces and insert them into the tree. The look is glittery and gives the appearance of a single long swag of ribbon wrapped around the tree.

Clear glass ornaments add sparkle to a Christmas tree. I like to use vintage chandelier crystals on my tree. They come in a variety of shapes and reflect the lights in a beautiful way.

Where do you find these? They show up at yard sales, flea markets, and antique shops. If it is just a few stray pieces, they can be quite inexpensive. I've found some priced at just a quarter each.

If you are lucky enough to find a whole chandelier, it's pretty easy to take all the prisms off. Then add ornament hooks or use thread to hang them on your tree where they will catch the light.

You can find shaped glass ornaments to hang on the tree too. This star is an example of that. I decorate my tree with an eclectic mix of ornaments but like to include glass for the shine that it adds.

These can be expensive but look around at craft fairs and discount stores.