And so it begins! The first of November is often, mostly-comically considered the start of the holiday season. The commercial industry practically jumps straight into Christmas mode, skipping Thanksgiving in favor of more “red and green” things on shelves.
While I normally wait at least a little closer to Thanksgiving to start my decorating, this year I’ve gotta get my decor up now, or it’s never! I have a major medical procedure coming up and I won’t be able to be doing anything other then solving sudoku puzzles in bed for a good chunk of my prime decorating time. So I figured, why not just start a few weeks earlier? May as well have something to look at while I’m resting in bed all day.
Besides, I already had my Florals and Flourishes tree up. May as well go full Christmas at this point!
Which brings us to our Royal Jewels themed Christmas tree, complete with luxurious drapery cascading down the tree, dazzling oversized jewels and gems, and layers of vintage jewel ornaments, finials, and super unique icicles.
Join me as I demonstrate how I created this magnificent, jeweled Christmas tree. We’re layering luxurious jewel tone fabrics with oversized gem ornaments and completing the look with layers of vintage jeweled finials and icicles.
Here’s the video tutorial, complete with chapters so you can jump to your favorite section quicker:
Almost all the ornaments are vintage finds from Ebay and estate sales. The larger oversized gemstone ornaments that you see in emerald, green, a ruby / garnet red, and sapphire blue are all purchased new.
I love how the facets on the jewels catch the lights on the tree. I especially love these super unique vintage icicles that are almost like little gems stack on top of each other, creating a jeweled icicle in shades of blue and green.
The fabric used to create this gorgeous, swaged drape effect on the Christmas tree is from an estate sale, while the fabric you see in the backdrop was all at Goodwill. It’s an unusual design concept, but it was so fun to design with and I enjoyed testing out the different looks as I shared in the decorate with me video.
When I finally found this traditional plaid wired ribbon on Etsy, I was over the moon! It was the perfect combination of red, blue, and green, with just enough pops of a yellow gold and a little platinum white to tie all my colors together. Plus, I was really looking forward to using my bowdabra again! It makes creating bows so much easier.
I had searched SO many websites and boutiques online searching for the perfect ribbon for this tree. I found plenty of hand stitched spools of ribbon with intricate jewels embellishing them, but they were way out of my budget. Something about this plaid really struck me, and I loved how the facets of the gems and vintage finials somewhat matched the concept of tartan, or plaid. They are both geometric, but multi-faceted in their layers, and both make sense for a Christmas theme though not often paired together.
There was a pleasantly unexpected surprise when I was setting my tree light colors, and got to a red, green, and white combination. It just really made the whole tree look like it was covered in dazzling jewels, even in the middle of the day.
Don’t get me wrong, the warm white lights are my go to! You can never go wrong with warm white lights on a Christmas tree. Here’s how the tree looks with warm white lights:
The warm white lights just make everything sparkle and shine!
But let’s talk beyond the gem covered Christmas tree. Let’s forget about the gorgeous swag draping cascading down the tree.
Let’s talk about styling!
This tree has the perfect backdrop thanks to my friends at Shop Wild Things, who were kind enough to send me their pipe and drape kit to use along with their super fun LED Light Curtains which make this Christmas tree pop even more. And with the addition of the champagne beaded curtains– well that just takes this backdrop wall to a whole new level! The lights illuminate the crystal curtain from behind, making the gems sparkle that much more.
Additional SWT items that can be used in this design:
- Burgundy Draping Panels (will need to hang lights with hooks if you use these).
- You can also skip the lights and take this to the next level with a full on floral wall with these panels.
Doesn’t this easy DIY backdrop make the tree look like it should be in a mansion somewhere? I think so!
I kept my green chairs with deep rich blue throw pillows and a red throw blanket for styling, along with my blue sequin no sew tree skirt.
Wally is helping me out on photo day! Make sure you follow him on IG if you need more cuteness in your feed.
Make sure to check out the description box for all my links to where I found these products and some great alternatives.
I was really fortunate to find so many great treasures on Ebay that went with my theme. You can see these mini finial ornaments, which are vintage, with icicles, and fun faceted crystal like drop ornaments. All vintage. Some of the hanging jewel ornaments, like the ones above with a few tones, were found at a local estate sale.
The way the sapphire blue, emerald green, and garnet red mix together is mesmerizing. From the literal oversized jewels and gem ornaments to the rich jewel tones picked up in the sheer fabric draped down the tree, I love how this Royal Jewels inspired tree came together.
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