If you feel like a traditional Christmas tree will take up too much room in your apartment, or just don’t have the time or inclination to haul one up a few flights of stairs and then decorate it—but still want to have something like a tree to celebrate the season in your small space—then this list is definitely for you!
There are lots of ways to create an apartment-friendly “tree” in your own special style that will dress up your apartment, without taking up the square footage that a real tree would occupy or requiring all the trouble or fuss of obtaining and decorating the real thing.
These are all wall-based ideas, so remember to use removable tape or 3M Command™ hooks to attach things. This will make clean-up easy when the holiday season is over, and prevent visible, lasting damage to your apartment’s walls. Here are our favorite “tree” ideas to get your creative wheels turning!
Draw Your Own by using a large roll of craft paper or wrapping paper to draw then cut out your tree shape. You can draw the ornaments on with markers or colored pencils; make them out of paper and tape them on; and add garland, pompoms, ribbons, glitter, foil and other embellishments. When you’re all done, attach your tree to the wall with removable double-stick tape. If you want to make your tree even more special, keep ornament-making supplies on hand like construction paper, glue and glitter and have guests add their own ornament to the tree when they stop by for a holiday visit!
Light it up by using removable 3M Command™ hooks to outline the shape of a tree on your apartment wall, then wind indoor Christmas lights back and forth between the hooks to fill in your tree shape with little lights. Choose a place on a wall that’s near an electrical outlet to be sure your lights will be within easy reach of a power source. Choose plain white or colored lights, and use lights that twinkle on and off to make your light tree even more special. You can even hang mini ornaments on the finished tree to lend a little more color and sparkle.
Make a Garland Tree by using the same process as above, but string green or sparkly garland between the hooks instead of lights. You can leave your tree plain or decorate it to suit your apartment’s style!
Create a Card or Photo Tree by taping Christmas Cards or holiday photos in the shape of a tree on your apartment wall using loops of removable, double-stick tape. A variation on this is to use the technique above for a light or garland tree, but use green yarn or any other kind of string to fill in the tree; then use clothespins to hang cards or holiday photos from the tree.
Make a Sticky Note “Wishmas” Tree! Invite your friends to share their favorite, special holiday wish with you on a sticky note. (This is also a great holiday party activity!) Use notes that are all one color or create a different look by using various colors. Assemble all of the notes on your apartment wall in the shape of a tree! You can even put a sticky note with an ornament drawn on it here and there, just to lend a little variation to the theme.
Make a Snowflake Tree by cutting out paper snowflakes of varying shapes and sizes then tape them to your apartment wall in the shape of a tree. You can make your snowflakes out of white paper for a traditional look, or cut them out of wrapping paper, colored paper or foil (heavy-duty works best).
