As part of our family tradition growing up, we'd always string lights around the Christmas tree the first weekend after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we don't have the space to put up a real tree in our apartment but we still like the warm glow of a simple strand of white lights. We rounded up a handful of AT reader ideas and previous posts to make your apartment sparkle (even if you don't have the traditional Christmas tree).
- Tube lighting in your bathroom will certainly keep the festive cheer going throughout your house (and it has an artistic vibe that can hang around once the holidays are done).
- Pinning a white sheet on the ceiling where white Christmas lights are hiding behind will give the room an ethereal glow.
- Try placing an entire string of lights into a loosely woven basket and placing it up high on a shelf. You'll get tiny specks of light peeking through which will make the basket glitter.
- This is a great way to cover up the lighting eyesore (in this case, a chandelier). Try putting the strand on a dimmer to regulate the output of light.
- Try tacking a strand of Christmas lights or tube lighting underneath kitchen cabinets or on the underside of your bed frame for a nice ambient light source.
- Check out this post on how to create your own glittering landscape by using a white canvas and a strand of Christmas lights.
- Take a large cylindrical vase and fill it with a strand of Christmas lights. You'd be amazed how the container glitters because of the glass.
- We spotted this 2-D tree in Domino Magazine this month and thought it would be a great idea for those of us that don't have a ton of room for a real tree. They suggest to lightly pencil an outline on the wall and secure two tiny nails or tacks at each "point" and run the cord around the edge.
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i have a cylindrical garden trellis about 4 feet tall. i twine a set of 50 white lights through it and tuck it in a corner.
I love the 2D tree, that's very cute. Like the garden trellis idea too, rouquinne. Nice post!
LED lights are quite affordable this year, and they take up a lot less energy. You can plug 43 strands of 20 LED lights into one outlet! We bought some for our daughter's college dorm room this weekend. They come in colored strands now, so you don't have to settle for those rather gloomy looking bluish-white bulbs.
I like the first tree, but my boyfriend and neighbors would call me the weird artsy bohemian girl...stating with distaste "why can't she just get a normal tree like everyone else?" LOL
Love it!
I love that first tree too, but hate the pot. Think it would look so much better in a tall, glossy white cylinder.
I also like the first tree. And it would be so much less wasteful than chopping down a larger one.
Sweet! I want the twig tree.
I like the first tree, but less wasteful? Tree farmers grow trees for Christmas use. That's the point.
i used some fairy lights here in a vintage antler set...
fairy antler photo
Maybe they mean it will waste less of your money Palmetto, and be usable over and over.
I recently built a fake fireplace for my girlfriend using lights. Simply sprinkle some white sand on the fireplace floor, add two gallon clear jugs (wine store) or craft store for some large candle covers, and insert those flicker christmas light strings, or white LED"s into the bottles. Gives a nice fireplace glow even with the room lights on. For an added touch - simply add some holiday bow/ribbon around the glass. She loved it.
Disclaimer: I saw this in a book I read at the library.
PS: Like this tip - here's another great one... Want to send a free holiday video card with no strings attached? Check out our site http://www.bubblejoy.com (no registration required).
wonderful!! I love the chandelier cover!
Does anyone know where you can get a twig tree like that or smaller?
I have a Christmas lights DON'T to share. I used lights a lot in college and over the semesters, I'd collected several sets. Being the creative and bright (pun intended) person I am, I decided to make a lamp by putting the lights in a large glass vase. I plugged it in and it was magical! 15 minutes later, half the lights when out and I smelled something weird. I realized that the actual plastic strings of the lights were melting on themselves and I could have burned my dorm down!
It was my biggest failure of a DIY project to date. But it was fun!
Kerbs, I made a few twig trees for my art studio and it was easy. Just grabbed some nice branches that had fallen in the street, dusted them off and painted them white. Put them in some old copper urns, filled up the urns with random heavy-ish stuff so they stand up straight and securely, then hid the heavy stuff with some beautiful river rocks. Wrapped the branches in white fairy lights and voila! The funny thing is several people looked around at my paintings, but asked if they could buy the trees.
Hey, I did the antler thing, too. But with bubble lights!
LED lights don't give off heat and so won't melt anything. They look great dumped in a clump into a glass vase. They cost more than mini-lights to purchase, but use a lot less energy and last a lot longer. They now come in a variety of colors and styles.
We have purple Christmas lights on the back ledge of our sofa. Because of the pillows you can't see the hardware and it looks great! We always get complements on how great the glow looks.
That first tree is gorgeous, but appears to take up as much if not more space than a tall, narrow traditional tree would.