Betty’s Christmas House

17 Christmas Tree Alternatives for Your Home

17 Christmas Tree Alternatives for Your Home

If you cannot have a traditional Christmas tree in your house this Christmas, try these alternatives. Christmas trees are a core part of the Christmas tradition. They’ve been a thing since the 16th century, and you are sure to find them as decorations in many houses during Christmas. In fact, Christmas pines are the core of most Christmas decorations. But then, sometimes people just want to do something different from the regular Christmas holiday season, so they opt for alternative Christmas trees. In other cases, people do not have enough space in their homes to fit a traditional Christmas tree, so they use Christmas tree alternatives.

Pallet Wood Christmas Tree

small wooden Pallet Christmas tree alternative
Details Here: ThistleWoodFarms

Pallet trees are one of the most common alternative Christmas trees. They are pretty easy to make; for the most part, you can create one using regular home tools.

Pallet Christmas trees are highly customizable. While creating them, you can work with different colors, styles, and sizes; basically, you can make it yours. The pallet tree in this picture is just one style of pallet Christmas tree style you can recreate.

Ladder Christmas Tree

Ladder Christmas tree alternatives
Details Here: Instructables

If you are literally trying to take your Christmas tree decorations to another height, you should take a look at this ladder Christmas tree.

Compared to a traditional tree, a ladder Christmas tree does not have dense branches/stems/needles. For this reason, it is easier to wound Christmas lights and hang ornaments around a ladder tree.

That aside, ladder trees will not shed leaves in your home, but a traditional Christmas tree will.

A PVC Christmas Tree

A PVC Christmas Tree on a wall
Details Here: Martha Stewart

This PVC pipe Christmas tree works for people who have limited space for a regular Christmas tree. You can hang it on a wall or let it rest against a wall. In either case, it will not take as much space as a regular tree, and this makes it one of the best alternative Christmas tree ideas for small spaces.

As you may have guessed, PVC pipe Christmas trees are easy to modify. For one, you can use pipes of different sizes and colors when making yours. You can also work with your favorite ornaments, not necessarily the same ornaments in the picture. Of course, if you are using small pipes, you will have to find small ornaments that fit into them.

Let Your Tree Be String Lights

String Lights Christmas tree
Details Here: Collective Gen

Many of the alternative Christmas tree ideas you will come across will lead you to make a DIY Christmas tree, and this one is no different. However, unlike some other Christmas tree alternatives, string-light Christmas trees are pretty easy to pull off.

The layout of string light Christmas trees is pretty straightforward. The basic idea is to get string lights into a Christmas tree shape on a board, as shown in the image. It should not take much time, and you can complete it with regular home tools.

Chalkboard Christmas Tree

alternative chalkboard Christmas tree
Details Here: Simply Radiant

This alternative Christmas tree comes with simplicity and flexibility. It is one of the simplest options amongst the Christmas tree alternatives on this list. All you need is a chalkboard or a black canvas, some chalk, and steady hands.

You may also attach ornaments to your chalkboard tree like they did in the picture. While the picture uses paper ring chains, you could use other ornaments, including flower petals and baubles.

Sticky Notes as a Christmas Tree Alternative

Sticky Notes on the wall as a Christmas Tree Alternative
Photo Credit: @jeffpatton

This alternative Christmas tree idea is flexible, easy to recreate, inexpensive, and perfect for small spaces. If you choose to use sticky notes as your Christmas tree alternative, you may involve every member of your family in the process. This gives you a chance to bond with them, it may also add some sentimental value to the tree. Everyone may even write lovely messages on the notes as they stick them to the wall or board.

While this alternative Christmas tree is lovely, I would use a different Christmas tree topper. The bull’s eye paper just seems off amongst the colorful sticky papers.

Toy Brick Christmas Tree

Toy Brick Lego Christmas Tree
Details Here: Hello Creative Family

Letting your child take part in building the alternative Christmas tree is one way to get them in on the fun of the holiday season. So, if you have a young child who loves playing with toy bricks, you could encourage them to recreate the little Christmas tree in the picture. Your child may even end up creating something even more endearing.

Because Paper Comes From Trees

Christmas tree made of books with lights
Photo Credit: Dayton Book Fair

You can create alternative Christmas trees using books, and if people wonder why, tell them because paper comes from trees.

Stacking books on each other in a tree shape and using them as a makeshift Christmas tree is another simple option. It does not cost you anything, and you can get the Christmas tree ready within a few seconds or minutes.

Wine Bottle Alternative Christmas Tree

Wine Bottle Christmas Tree
Photo Credit: @spark1988

While it looks somewhat elaborate, this DIY Christmas tree could work as a minimalist Christmas tree. It is a clever way to recycle used wine bottles, but beyond that, it is pretty elegant.

While simple, using wine bottles as Christmas tree alternatives can be time-consuming if you do it alone. So, to ensure you spend as little time as possible on this project, get some extra hands to help you.

Origami Christmas Tree

Origami Christmas Trees
Details Here: Sugar and Charm

Origami trees are the perfect Christmas tree alternatives for your dining table, shelves, mantels, and other similar places. You can make many of them in various colors and place them in various parts of your home.

Many Christmas tree alternatives – such as origami Christmas trees – require craft skills. But even if you are not very skilled with crafts, you might just be able to get such Christmas tree alternatives at a craft store.

Besides using them as standalone Christmas trees, you may use an origami Christmas tree as a tree topper.

Copper Pipe Christmas Tree

Copper Pipe Christmas tree on the wall
Details Here: A Joyful Riot

Here’s a modern DIY Christmas tree idea – simple yet sophisticated. It is an ideal option if you do not have enough space for a real Christmas tree.

This alternative Christmas tree is absolutely beautiful; I wouldn’t change anything about it. But you could play around with ornaments of different colors while making yours.

Fairy Lights Christmas Tree

Fairy lights Christmas tree alternatives
Details Here: Oh Me Oh My

Arranging lights from your ceiling down to the floor in the shape of a pine tree gives you another alternative Christmas tree.

Fairy lights Christmas trees light up in the evening or at night, breathing more life into the holiday spirit. They are an easy DIY Christmas tree with enough simplicity for modern interiors. While they are compatible with minimalist designs, they work well with maximalist decors too.

Alternative Christmas Tree on Plywood

alternative Christmas tree on plywood
Details Here: Dans le Lakehouse

Here’s another one of the Christmas tree alternatives that require you to bring your artistic skills to the game. Like many of the others, it is pretty simple to pull off, and it is perfect for a small space.

This alternative Christmas tree idea is most compatible with modern interiors. If you use it in non-modern interiors, it may get muted.

Plywood Tree

Christmas tree made with plywood
Details Here: The Merry Thought

Still on Christmas tree alternatives made with plywood, here’s another plywood Christmas tree for modern interiors. Like the other plywood-based Christmas tree, it is easy to recreate.

If you love this plywood Christmas tree idea, you can try recreating yours using plywood of other colors. Of course, ensure the color of the plywood you choose is compatible with the color of the backdrop.

Cardboard Christmas Tree

Cardboard Christmas tree
Details Here: Abfabulies
Cardboard Christmas trees

Cardboard Christmas trees are Christmas tree alternatives you can have fun making. You can have your kids join you to make them, and you can make multiple pieces for various spaces in your home.

You can modify this cardboard tree idea in various ways. You can change the shape of its edges and its size. You may also paint the cardboard in your desired color. Then you may add other decorations you consider fitting for your holiday decor.

Lit Cardboard Christmas Tree

lit cardboards as Christmas tree alternatives
Details Here: FabArtDIY

Compared to the other cardboard tree, this Christmas tree idea infuses more dreaminess and magic into the air. When recreating yours, you could try using LED lights of different colors in one Christmas tree. Alternatively, you may build multiple trees and use a different LED color in each one.

One upside to using cardboard as Christmas tree alternatives is portability. Cardboard Christmas trees are lightweight, so you can readily carry them around. Besides being portable, a cardboard Christmas tree is generally a budget-friendly idea.

Kraft Paper Christmas Tree

Christmas tree made from paperboard
Details Here: Lia Griffith

Last on my Christmas tree alternatives list is this Christmas tree made from paperboard. As you can see, it works well for modern interiors and has a soft yet prominent presence.

While this paperboard Christmas tree does not have evergreen branches like traditional Christmas trees, the free form of its brown tree branches brings a festive mood.

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