Wish you could decorate for Christmas with affordable evergreen branches and garland? Here’s how to get the charming and abundant look for free! Teamed up with rustic Christmas decorations, real branches provide the perfect fillers to get the natural look without paying a cent!
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I personally don’t store that many Christmas decorations. One main box sits under the stairs, along with one for Christmas lights and of course another that stores our faux Christmas tree.
However there’s one secret that makes it possible to stock so little rustic Christmas decorations, yet still get a full, lush look with Christmas accent decorations. And that’s thanks to using real evergreen branches!
Why use real evergreen branches?
I love to decorate with real evergreen branches because they offer a rustic Christmas decorations vibe that seems to go with anything you already have out. Especially if you already have rustic decorations filling your home. Natural elements never seem to do it wrong!
Plus, there’s nothing to store, since it all gets tossed in the green bin once dry.
And you certainly can’t beat the free price!
Cons of using real branches
Of course, there are a few disadvantages to using real evergreen branches as well. They dry out quickly, so I ensure if I’m using lights, they go up very close to Christmas. However it is easy to hide dry branches that won’t be illuminated by using faux spray snow.
Check out how I add snow to branches from THIS POST.
However I’ll take the cons since you just can’t beat free!
How I gather free branches
There’s one particular road near me that is lined with massive evergreen trees. So after a good wind storm, I drive past the row of trees to scavenge any new fallen branches. I’m rarely disappointed. All it takes is one haul to fill nearly every nook and cranny of my home!
Since the branches indeed eventually dry out, I tend to gather them closer to Christmas so I can still add lights to the fireplace branches before they turn into a fire risk.
You can also slightly extend the branch life if you snip off the ends and soak them in water, but I rarely do that. Up they go, then down they come! Hard for them to get in the way with that rapid fire way of decorating, so there’s that.
So welcome to my Christmas home tour 2014: filled once again with branches galore!
Rustic Christmas decorations with branches: home tour
Christmas mantel with branches
The fireplace is the main focal point to my entire upstairs, and since the scale is so big, I go big on the branch decoration as well!
This year, I left a large twig wreath in place, then added evergreen branches, topped with white mini lights and neutral ornaments and pinecones.
If desired, the loose branches could be wrapped using floral wire, then attached to the mantel with removable hooks if you prefer a more secure arrangement.
Get the look with:
White incandescent mini lights on green strings
View tutorial: Gingerbread Village with MDF houses HERE
See Gingerbread Village stencil HERE
Gingerbread Village wreath on a mantel
For an extra special touch, I outfitted the inside of the twig wreath with a small standing Gingerbread Village made with MDF house cutouts. It fit so perfectly, with the lights tucked inside the wreath as well to help highlight the feature! Those sweet and simple Gingerbread Village houses really added to the rustic Christmas decorations vibe perfectly!
I leave this large twig wreath on my fireplace all year around, so this was such an easy add!
Get the look with:
Gingerbread Village tutorial with MDF houses HERE
Each evergreen branch was placed one at a time, with no attaching done since the fireplace mantel is so large. It’s a neat look that comes down just as easily, straight to the green bin!
Evergreen branch tucked inside a vintage door knob
I also tucked a battery operated pillar candle with a little sprig of evergreen branch sitting in a vintage door knob, inspired by A Pretty Happy Home from THIS POST. It’s simple, yet adorable!
The whole fireplace most certainly has a charm all its own, but with the added branches creates a cozy atmosphere filling up the entire space upstairs, especially with the wood burning fireplace crackling away!
This rustic design for this year’s Christmas mantel suits the fireplace perfectly.
Get the look with:
Vintage rustic crate for firewood storage
Battery operated pillar candle
Christmas tree purchased online from Rona in Canada
Small realistic Christmas tree in a basket
I do love rustic Christmas trees! So this one is no exception, except for the fact that this year’s much smaller Christmas tree was not planned.
We had brought out our taller IKEA Christmas tree, when both my cats promptly got sick! Not taking any chances, I hauled the tree outdoors right away just in case it was the culprit.
Then this little tree I had purchased from Rona in Canada was promptly delivered at my front door step. I had ordered it to decorate my bedroom, however as you can see, it didn’t make it that far since we needed a main tree in the living room.
Since it’s only 4 feet tall, the tree was placed on top of a small antique trunk to give it more height, and also so it wasn’t quite as accessible to my curious cats.
Both cats have thankfully recovered, even though I’m not 100% what the cause was! It may have been their food which I completely changed out as well.
But know what? It must have been meant to be because the tree is adorable! However this Christmas tree came with LED lights that were hard on my eyes. So I decided to unplug the lights and add 4 strings of my own old school white mini lights that don’t hurt my eyes. The result is perfect!
As luck would have it, I had been frequenting the local MCC thrift store, and came across a box of these vintage green pear shaped ornaments.
They were teamed up with other Christmas tree decor such as some long wicker garland,rustic Christmas ornaments in wicker, a branch star, burlap ribbon and some neutral Christmas ornaments with a bit of sparkle to complete the natural materials look for the warmth only a good rustic touch can provide.
I’m super hopeful I can have this darling tree in my bedroom next year, providing our other or another tree comes back into play first!
But what timing, huh?
Get the look with:
Vintage green pear shaped ornaments
Rustic ornaments made with wicker
Gingerbread village on a cake stand
On a dresser coffee table in the living room sits a tray topped with a cute wood Gingerbread village made from 2x4s! It’s displayed on a cake stand, with real winter branches acting as trees, along with real winter greenery with fairy lights down below on top of a wooden tray. The look really offers such a cozy corner!
View tutorial: Gingerbread Village made with 2x4s and stencils
I love how the white cake plate pedestal elevates the village to give the Christmas vignette some height!
Beside the tray sits two vintage bean pots, that we stock with our favorite homemade Christmas cookies! I bake Peppernuts and sugar cookies flavored with peppermint, topped with peppermint icing.
This makes treating yourself to a handful of cookies during the holidays effortless!
View tutorials:
Revamped wooden stool with a clock motif and twine HERE
Oil funnel junk lamp with branches and Christmas cards
Also in the living room, our oil funnel junk lamp is also decked out with real evergreen branches and serving as a Christmas card display!
I think the scraggly evergreen branches marries the rustic charm of the lamp perfectly! Along with few neutral ornaments, wooden bird houses and Christmas cards to complete this unique and effortless rustic holiday decorations look.
Video tutorial of the branch valance will be on Hometalk Facebook – coming soon!
Grapevine and evergreen branch kitchen valances
This Christmas, I did something completely different to each of the 3 kitchen windows, by hanging branches in each window for a true rustic Christmas decorations look!
A video tutorial of the branch valance will be up on Hometalk soon, which I will link to as soon as it’s live!
However for Christmas, I enhanced the plain branch valances by adding some evergreen branches, alongside a few star decorations.
The branches appear to float, which is what I love most about them most!
Then each window received various Christmas star decorations. The above starburst ornament and star wooden ornament were both found at a local thrift store just this year!
I also desired a star ornament for this window, so I made one in minutes by wrapping thinner burlap ribbon around an embroidery hoop that acts like wooden ornaments in a star design. And it’s easy to take apart again to use for other projects as well!
I plan to substitute the stars for snowflakes after Christmas.
Neat look, isn’t it?
Get the look:
grapevine twigs
View tutorials:
Coffee crate appliance garage HERE
Gingerbread Village on MDF standing houses HERE
Gingerbread village on a DIY bread box
And since I had another standing gingerbread village, I placed these wooden pieces on top of the coffee-themed appliance garage housing all my coffee gear.
Teamed with a few white bottle brush trees, it adds a touch of sophistication and Christmas charm without being in the way at all. Honestly, these houses fit anywhere!
View tutorial: OFFICE sign in a blog office HERE
Vintage laundry wheel wreath
I use to make lots of junk Christmas wreaths back in the day. So here’s a new one!
Also situated in the kitchen is my Office. So I decided to dress up the large office sign with a vintage laundry wheel styled like a wreath using an evergreen branch and small burlap ribbon I tied into a bow.
The vintage wheel wreath is simple and cute, and of course chimes in perfectly with this rustic branch vibe perfectly!
This rustic wreath would also look completely charming hung from a front door, don’t you think?
View tutorial: Shutter bathroom storage shelf HERE
Branches through bathroom shutter shelves
I also like to add a little touch of rustic Christmas decorations to the primary bathroom as long as it isn’t in the way of our daily living! So an evergreen branch got pushed through this shutter shelf situated on a wall above the toilet.
It rather looks as if a tree fell and broke through the house. LOL But I like it! Bonus that these evergreen branches had so many pine cones attached as well!
And the little plastic jar ornament with bottle brush trees and snow inside, tied with baker’s twine was also a recent thrift store find. It offers a perfect finishing touch that won’t make a mess.
Christmas book bundle shelf sitter
On the bathroom window sill sits this vintage book bundle. I gathered up old red and green vintage books, bundled them together with twine, then hung a metal red and green snowflake ornament topped with a green bottle brush tree.
The red faux berries were separate and simply wrapped around the tree to bring some red into the theme.
View tutorial: Chevron wood Christmas tree with wood scrap presents HERE
Wood chevron Christmas tree with fairy lights
To dress up the primary bedroom, I placed this Chevron wood Christmas tree sign beside my bed, which adds a charming evening glow thanks to the added fairy lights!
What a perfect spot to appreciate it!
Winter mobile with ornaments and pinecones
On the other side of the bed is this winter mobile with hanging neutral ornaments, pinecones and a few evergreen branches to chime in with the rest of the branches.
This project was also created for Hometalk, in which I’ll share the video tutorial as soon as it’s live!
The clear ornaments feature features and twigs inside so it really chimes in so well with the nature look!
Also in the bedroom, the antique mirror got a branch along with a few copper bells for just the right touch.
So as you can see, the branches are certainly a charming natural rustic Christmas decorations vibe that was effortless to add to the rest of my home without really moving anything out of the way. Just add it in to what you already have going to create your own instant Christmas look wherever you desire!
And that’s a wrap my friends! You will still see some late Christmas projects going up that I didn’t finish that I will work into winter decor, coming soon!
I hope you enjoyed this year’s Christmas home tour and learned a few neat tricks you too can implement in your own home for winter this year or Christmas next year!
Here’s hoping your holiday season was and is restful and enjoyable! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Soooooo glad that your kitties are okay. It’s always such a scare when our furkids get sick.
Thanks Pat, you are so very right. I wasn’t interested in anything Christmas when all that was on the go! Thankfully, I think we are in the clear now.
I love the fresh greens — so natural and I like that they’re free and can be “recycled”! Could a person use a flower water pick/tube for the larger branches, to keep them fresh longer? Depending on where they are and what other filler is around the ends to hide the picks, it might be an option.
Maybe you’ve posted on your branch valances in the past, but are they just attached to a small tension rod? Very cool idea!! I like how you tucked in the small greens for a winter and Christmas touch. I had a simple Christmas decorating scheme this year and it was a nice change. Happy New Year!
Thank-you Melanie! I have not yet posted how to make the branch valances, as that is a tutorial that was created for Hometalk. I’ll be linking to it as soon as it’s live! Will include the heads up in newsletters and on social media once that transpires! However I didn’t use a tension rod… but that indeed could work!
Well the gingerbread houses are super of course and those green pear ornaments 😍, but even better is healthy cats.
Happy New Year Donna Dear.
Love your whole home Christmas decorations. I need to remember to have pen and paper at the ready, to list everything I love. And I love it all. Two things that really caught my eye are the twig branches valances in the kitchen and the mobile in your bedroom. I am so looking forward to your Hometalk presentations for them. I do love my twigs and sticks! Happy New Year to you and your son and of course, your kitties. Glad they feel better.