How Many Ornaments Should You Put On Your Christmas Tree?
Ok, I’ve done some research and trial and error on this subject. I have a huge love for shiny glass Christmas ornaments, and I love to see a holiday tree just dripping with ornaments. So, needless to say, I’ve found the standard advice on how many ornaments per foot of tree to be a bit lacking! Not to mention just confusing!
Here are some photos to demonstrate different numbers of ornaments on my tree. This blog post is going to take you step by step through the process of decorating the tree. If you just want to skip to the end and see everything you need to put on your tree, then just click here.
I still don’t think I have enough “stuff” for my tree, so I’ll keep adding more each year. It feels like the tree just eats up the ornaments. I keep putting them on, but it keeps looking like there’s hardly anything on the tree!
As for ornaments and baubles, in my opinion, you really can’t have too many! I mean, if you can’t go overboard for Christmas, when can you?!?!?!?!
My 2021 Christmas Tree – The Tree We’re Working With
Some stats about our tree:
- 7.5 foot “Sparkling Pine” purchased from Home Depot in 2018. Sparkling refers to the glitter that is dusted on the branches, I love it!
- 1,197 branch tips
- 600 warm white LED lights
Our tree was branded as Martha Stewart Living, and that brand is no longer sold at Home Depot…but they have a similar tree. SO similar that I suspect it’s made by the same company under a different brand name:
Link to Sparkling Amelia Pine at Home Depot
Step 1 – Put Up The Tree
This is the bare tree, all by itself, with branches fluffed and ready for decoration!
Step 2 – Added Ribbons and Base Ornaments
I did the ribbon first and then added 24 mercury glass ornaments (my new Ornaments from Balsam Hill, blog post here) Since these were the first ornaments to go on, I focused on placing them “in the heart of the tree” like I’ve seen on other decorating tutorials. As a result, you can barely even see them. I did wire them to the tree instead of using ornament hooks.
Now on the tree:
- 24 mercury glass ornaments – 12 green “regular” size and 12 red “jumbo” size
- 70 feet of 3.5 inch sheer sparkly wired ribbon (it is Holiday Time brand from Walmart, similar to this one)
Step 3 – Add Picks and More Red Ornaments
Now on the tree:
- 24 mercury glass ornaments – 12 green “regular” size and 12 red “jumbo” size
- 70 feet of 3.5 inch sheer sparkly wired ribbon (it is Holiday Time brand from Walmart, similar to this one)
- 18 large jingle bell picks, 17 red adorned mercury glass ornaments from Pottery Barn (there were 18, but I had a casualty)
- Total for Step 3: 41 ornaments, 18 picks, 70 ft of ribbon
Step 4 – Add More Ornaments
I added 42 ornaments which were an assortment of glass ornaments purchased in previous years from Crate and Barrel and Target. Also added 20 red small pom pom picks.
Now on the tree:
- 24 mercury glass ornaments – 12 green “regular” size and 12 red “jumbo” size
- 70 feet of 3.5 inch sheer sparkly wired ribbon (it is Holiday Time brand from Walmart, similar to this one)
- 18 large jingle bell picks, 17 red adorned mercury glass ornaments from Pottery Barn (there were 18, but I had a casualty)
- 42 assorted glass ornaments – I wired several of these together as ornament clusters
- 20 small red pom pom tree picks from Michaels
- Total for Step 4: 83 ornaments, 38 picks, 70 ft of ribbon
Step 5 – Add Snowflakes
I added 20 of these snowflakes and I need to add more. These come in packs of 20 for just a few dollars at Walmart – I’ve seen them available several years in a row. The great thing about these is that they are flat and take up almost no room at all for storage! Plus they add more sparkling glitter to your tree!
Link to Snowlfake ornaments at Walmart.com (20 for $2.98) – there are more colors in-store.
Now on the tree:
- 24 mercury glass ornaments – 12 green “regular” size and 12 red “jumbo” size
- 70 feet of 3.5 inch sheer sparkly wired ribbon (it is Holiday Time brand from Walmart, similar to this one)
- 18 large jingle bell picks, 17 red adorned mercury glass ornaments from Pottery Barn (there were 18, but I had a casualty)
- 42 assorted glass ornaments – I wired several of these together as ornament clusters
- 20 small red pom pom tree picks from Michaels
- 40 glitter snowflake ornaments
- Total for Step 5: 123 ornaments, 38 picks, 70 ft of ribbon
Step 6 – Add Sentimental Ornaments
Finally I added 39 more snowflakes and 25 sentimental/family keepsake ornaments.
Now on the tree:
- 24 mercury glass ornaments – 12 green “regular” size and 12 red “jumbo” size
- 70 feet of 3.5 inch sheer sparkly wired ribbon (it is Holiday Time brand from Walmart, similar to this one)
- 18 large jingle bell picks, 17 red adorned mercury glass ornaments from Pottery Barn (there were 18, but I had a casualty)
- 42 assorted glass ornaments – I wired several of these together as ornament clusters
- 20 small red pom pom tree picks from Michaels
- 79 glitter snowflake ornaments
- 25 miscellaneous sentimental/family keepsake ornaments
- Total for Step 6: 202 ornaments, 38 picks, 70 ft of ribbon
New Things I Tried This Year
- Attaching ornaments with floral wire. Loved this!
- Added ribbon. My technique could use improvement, but I like it!
- Ornament clusters- I used floral wire to make ornament clusters. I’ll be doing a LOT more of these!
Thoughts for next year
- Add more picks for fullness, probably a mix of green and frosted design. I still feel that there are too many gaps in the foliage. This could probably also be solved by buying a more expensive tree with higher tip count😁
- Add another ribbon, maybe a very wide ivory or champagne color
- Add more lights, needs some magical fairy lights.
- More ornament clusters! My tree has a lot of gaps. These clusters really help fill up space.
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