Christmas Decorating Tips, Tricks, and Hacks

Inside: My best tips for Christmas decorating that will make decking the halls easier and more enjoyable!➡

Mercury glass Christmas ornaments on tree

Many of us see the day after Thanksgiving as the official kickoff of the Christmas season. Heck, even some of us holiday “enthusiasts” have been decorated for a month (don’t judge).

But if you’ve been putting off decorating for Christmas, wait no longer. Because I’m sharing my favorite top Christmas decoration hacks that make decking the halls so much easier!

Over my 35+ years of Christmas decorating, and through lots of trial and error, frustration, and fallen decorations I’m always on the lookout for ways to improve the process.

I’m physically exhausted by the third day (yes, it takes me days) so anything that helps me save energy I’m all over. There’s a mix of products, tools, and decorating hacks that I swear by now.

This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase something through any link, I may receive a small commission, at no extra charge to you. I only recommend products that I love or would purchase for myself. See my full disclosure here.

Layer different garlands together.

This really beefs up garland and gives it a more custom, expensive, and professional look. Using a skinny, cheaper, nonrealistic garland with bendable branches makes a great base for other garlands because you can use those wired branches to help hold the other garlands and even the whole thing in place where you want to hang it.

See more details on how to make cheap garlands look lush and expensive here.

I layered in picks on my staircase garland instead of layering different garlands together but it’s the same concept. I started with a basic skinny, puny garland and instead of adding other garlands in this instance, I filled it in with lots of picks of different greenery.

You can see huge difference in the before and after on the left and right hand sides:

staircase garland before and after inserting picks

Layer up wreaths to make them appear fuller and more expensive.

You can use your own wreath that’s seen better days on the back. Or double up cheap skinny ones from Dollar Tree or the craft stores. Wire or zip tie them together and the end result will be one nice full wreath that will really shine from the front door.

Christmas wreaths on double doors with red and white ribbons

Make your own wide designer ribbon.

Wide ribbon can be expensive or hard to find in the color you want. One easy idea is to make your own custom ribbon by hot gluing two 2 1/2″ width ribbons together and covering the seam with a narrow ribbon:

smaller Christmas ribbon glued together to make a wide ribbon

Combine fake snow.

Use blanket snow under loose snowflakes to get better coverage and make it go further.

Red, silver, and white dining tablescape with artificial snow, mercury glass ornaments, jingle bells, red roses, candles

Stick to a single style, theme, and color scheme.

You’ll need less holiday decor, you’ll be able to move it around, and it will look much more cohesive.

traditional red and white Christmas living room and dining room

Focus on decorating just a few key areas.

Concentrate on decorating only the areas you see the most – the Christmas tree, the entry, the fireplace mantel, or any other focal points. You will be surprised how full of decor your house feels, even though you may be using less!

Put your tree topper on the top section before you insert it into the tree.

I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of trouble getting the topper bow attached and centered on my tall artificial tree if I put it on afterward. So I find the best way to save my back is to attach it first and make final adjustments once the top is in the tree.

To put ribbon on your tree, cut it into manageable pieces.

You can see this easy method in this post.

Use a wall tree when you have no room for a tree.

No floor space for a Christmas tree? Consider using one of these cool wall trees.

Take advantage of timers.

Save the daily task of turning tree lights on and off by adding a timer. And while you’re at it, have the flameless candles light themselves every evening to set the mood. These are my favorite pillars and these are my favorite tapers – both with the moving flame.

Make notes and organize well for the next year.

Don’t reinvent the wheel every year. All of the holiday decorations will go up much faster if everything is well organized and you’ve made notes to yourself about where things go and what you need to buy. Consider boxing up the decorations by room, by type, or by color.

Use the right Christmas hanging supplies.

Command hooks.

Command hooks are your best friend for almost anything you want to hang without damage. And one of the best inventions ever in my opinion! Here are a few different ways to use them to hang Christmas decor:

French country range hood with Christmas greenery, copper pots and brick backsplash

To hang garlands. This is one of my favorite things to use them for. On the fireplace mantel, I attach the hook facing toward the wall on each side and lay the garland behind it, making sure it catches a good sturdy branch:

Command hook holding Christmas garland on fireplace mantel

To hang wreaths. You can hang the wreaths directly on the hooks, or from a pretty ribbon. Or even place a command hook upside down on the inside of a door and attach a ribbon over the door to hang the wreath on the other side!

Christmas wreath hung on french doors next to rocker with plaid Christmas pillow and lantern and greenery arrangement in basket

To hang stockings. By the chimney with care (and no damage).

red and white Christmas stockings hung with champagne ribbon next to garland of greenery and red and white berries

For more tips on hanging all your holiday decor, see “How to Hang All Your Christmas Decorations without Damage” here.

These command hooks are excellent for hanging wreaths and garlands. And these smaller hooks are great for lights and smaller Christmas decor.

Command picture velcro hangers and Command poster tape are also a great way to keep things in place.

I used the velcro picture hangers to create the illusion that these plates were hanging on the ribbon, but they’re actually attached to the wall:

I used two different Command products for this DIY Christmas decoration. This triple wreath wall hanging is a great craft for non-crafters!

Triple Christmas wreaths on plates hung on red ribbon on the wall

Zip ties.

Another awesome, non-damaging tool. We keep zip ties in different sizes in the garage year round and I use them in so many ways during the holiday season.

To attach garland to the staircase banister. I used to use brown pipe cleaners, but I’ve found that zip ties don’t damage my banister and hold so much better. I tie ribbon over them to cover. Zip ties do the heavy lifting and let the ribbon take the credit.

Christmas garland on staircase with pine, magnolia, and cedar tied with ribbons

To attach the tree topper bow to the tree.
To hang the icicle Christmas lights from our iron fencing outside.
To hang wreaths from our iron fencing and gate.

Floral Wire.

Another essential for Christmas decorating. I use it to:

Hang ornaments on the tree. To achieve that professionally decorated look, attach Christmas baubles with floral wire right up next to the tree branches, rather than letting them hang by a string or ribbon. It’s an easy way to control the position of ornaments and those fragile ornaments are less likely to slip off of the tree and break. I usually use ornament hooks made with floral wire and wrap those around the branch – it saves time cutting floral wire!

closeup of red and champagne ribbon on Christmas tree with white ball ornaments

Hold garlands together.

Hold picks into place.

Christmas wreath with piner, cedar, red and white berries, red and black and white gingham bow

Hot Glue Gun.

To hang garland on brick. Do you ever wonder how people are hanging those beautiful garlands around their front entrances? It’s not magic or fairytale mice. Hanging Command hooks with hot glue applied to the bricks is a great hack! The glue easily peels off of the brick when you are done.
To fix the inevitable broken decor. I always find myself having to glue things back every year, especially ornament ball tops that pop off.

And maybe the most important tip.

Don’t suck the holiday cheer out of Christmas by overdoing decorating so much that you can’t enjoy it!

I hope at least one of these tips I’ve shared will help save you some frustration while you make your house merry this year. What did I miss? I’m always on the lookout for ways to make decorating better and more efficient. What’s your favorite Christmas hack? Share in the comments!

As always, I appreciate your visit, comments, and shares here on the blog! I’d love it if you also follow along with me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook so you won’t miss any of my inspiration and ideas.

Don’t forget to sign up for updates to keep in touch…I have lots of fun and useful freebies you may be interested in in my subscriber-only library like my cheat sheets for where to place lighting, bathroom fixtures, artwork, and furniture!