When Kerri agreed to collaborate with Bloom and be featured on the blog this week as a Christmas decorating expert, I was thrilled! Not only did this mean you would be getting all her pro tips, but I would be getting a professionally decorated tree for the first time in my life! I loved this collaboration and am totally in love with my tree! Let’s jump right in so you can decorate like a pro this year!
Photo credit: J. Sellers
Meet Kerri! She’s a wife and mom of two kids Sydney (14) and Brennan (10). She mostly works in her home and loves using her creativity and housekeeping skills to beautify her space as well as her client’s. 2019 will be the third season she is offering her decorating services professionally.
When Kerri arrived I had put our tree up, fluffed the branches and plugged it in. That’s literally all I did all day, unless cutting ornament tags, drinking two cups of coffee and having a salad counts… Yeah I didn’t think so!
She did everything, start to finish, and I’m so glad she did. She decorated for about 3 1/2 hours. Including shopping for ribbon and a few ornaments the day before, she spent about 5 hours total to create the finished look.
1. Shopping
According to Kerri, there are a few main things to keep in mind when shopping for your tree decor. She recommends that before you shop, you decide on a color scheme and overall style of your tree. Pinterest is a great place to find inspiration, but no two trees will ever look exactly alike. While pictures help, ‘inspiration’ is better than ‘imitation’. Once you decide on a color scheme and theme (rustic, classic Christmas, glam, etc.) you’ll be ready to shop. I chose a style that reflects the overall look of my home which is “transitional farmhouse-ish”. (The truth is I don’t really know what my style is, I just collect things and hope they look good together. I kinda just find what I like and make it work. I planned to do the same with my Christmas tree and Kerri was very flexible.) After going back and forth, I decided to stick with white/silver and gold, with accents of mint green and copper/brown.
When she shops for her clients, Kerri loves to start by looking for ribbon! A nice, wide (4”+), wired ribbon can make all the difference in her opinion. Once you find one you love, look for 1-2 others. These can be more narrow and understated. Choose ribbon that compliment each other. Purchase plenty of each! It’s better to have more ribbon than not enough, plus you can always use leftover ribbon for gift wrapping.
When shopping for ornaments, she recommends staying away from giant boxes of balls! “Sometimes people go overboard with balls of the same size. Varying the size, shapes and colors of even the most basic ball-type ornaments will take your tree to the next level in terms of design”, Kerri says. So while shopping, buy a few boxes of balls as fillers, but focus on more unique ornaments. Her best tip for unique ornament buying is, “always buy an odd number of them. A collection of 3, 5, or 7 ornaments always feel better than an even amount”. For mine, we used a lot of ornaments I had, and bought a few new unique ones! Unfortunately I was a “chronic ball-buyer” from way back!
Before you begin decorating, make sure your tree is fluffed, lit, and your ornaments are laid out so you can see everything you have.
2. Decorating with ornaments
Before Kerri begins, she puts a fluffy blanket around the base of the tree. If a glass ornament falls, the softness of the blanket may keep it from breaking. If it does break, the glass is easily picked up since it’s contained in the blanket. I imagine this tip will be especially valuable if you’re decorating with little helpers!
Kerri began with a few basic ornaments and hung them toward the back of the branches. This was a great use of some of the balls I already had. Once she had a few on, she began hanging the larger ornaments to be sure they had a spot. She says, “Larger ornaments can MAKE a tree! People often think large ornaments are just for really big trees. Using a few large ornaments strategically in odd numbers will really make it feel professionally decorated”.
Once the larger ornaments were placed, she began to fill in with a few floral accents. She was using velvet poinsettias in various sizes and colors, gold glitter feathers, and berry branches. She placed about half of these and then began filling in with the more unique ornaments. She hung the most beautiful ornaments towards the end of the branch so they would be seen. She says, “Don’t be afraid to hang more than one ornament on the same branch. Just because you already hung a ball towards the inner part of the tree, doesn’t mean you can’t hang a more unique ornament towards the outer part of the branch. This is another great way to create a designer look”.
Always be aware of how the tree will be viewed while you decorate. For example, my tree is against a window, not seen in the room on all sides. Kerri was very careful not to “waste” unique ornaments on the side no one would see, so keep that in mind when decorating yours as well as shopping. How much of the tree is seen, will affect the quantity of unique ornaments you purchase as well.
-Jamie
Once she hung most of the ornaments, and rearranged things… and hung some more… she was fairly happy with the placement of them, so it was time to start adding ribbon!
3. Decorating with ribbon
I am not particularly a “bow person”, and I don’t usually use many bows in my decor, so I had very little ribbon. She picked out a few fabulous rolls and I was going with it! The ribbon technique she used on my tree was so clever. I would’ve never thought to do it, and it created such a beautiful look. “To make the poinsettias feel more grand, I add ribbon and it visually enhances them and makes them feel bigger. Cut two or three pieces of coordinating ribbon, cinch them in the middle, place them together on the branch under the poinsettia and gently bend the end of the tree branch over the ribbons to hold them in place”, she explains. No tying! I loved this idea and no tying means no untying when it’s time to take it down! She used this technique in a few places strategically around the tree. It added so much to the look!
4. Decorating with bows
Honestly, bows could probably have their own blog post, so I won’t even go there! Again, I’m not a “bow person”. Of course Kerri makes her own bows, but hasn’t always. She said she started making them after a lot of trial and error. She figured it out by practicing over and over.
She decided to make a double bow for the top of my tree. She knew a bow was not something I had in mind for my tree, but she wanted to try it. She mostly wanted to complement the angel topper that I’ve always used and was insistent on using again this year! She tried it and I’m so glad she did!! Her beautiful bow was just what the tree needed to be able to accommodate the large angel topper. I absolutely love how it turned out. She left the ribbons a little long and I really like how they flow down the tree.
5. Finishing touches
To finish things off, Kerri added a few handfuls of the floral picks she had picked out. Pine cone stalks and berry branches finished the look. Surprisingly it made the tree feel larger and gave it a bit of a tousled look that I often find myself loving in decor around my home.
We moved her masterpiece into its spot and we celebrated! It. Was. Finished! I feel so blessed to be able to have such a beautiful creation in my home to enjoy all season!
After hearing her tips, and knowing the small changes to make, I feel confident I can decorate like a pro next year. I’m even going to use some of what I learned on our family tree in the foyer this year! I hope you’ll join me and use these tips and tricks to level up your tree!
If you’re interested in having Kerri decorate for you this year, contact her through Facebook here. Or if you’re tackling your own tree, feel free to message her with questions if you hit a snag.
FYI: All of the new ornaments on my tree, ribbon and angel tree topper were purchased 40% off from Hobby Lobby. The Christmas tree was purchased from Amazon (I linked it below) and I’m still shopping for a tree skirt! The total amount spent was $500 for the items including the tree.
Kerri’s work is lovely! Very talented!
I agree!!