Since I have a different colour scheme for our Christmas tree each year, that leaves a majority of ornaments sitting on the bench. I still want to enjoy them so I put this reserves team to work in other ways, like in a silver dish on our coffee table:
In a bowl
This is the simplest way to add some festive sparkle to any corner of your home. Just place a pile of tonal baubles in a bowl or dish and place it on a coffee table, mantlepiece, sideboard, console or dining table. For extra impact, opt for one with a metallic surface (like my dish here) or glass.
In a window
String up ornaments on ribbn tied to the curtain rod to let them catch the light.
Real Simple | Bower Power | House & Garden
Make a chandelier
Cluster together a bunch of baubles and hang in an entry way (as above) or over the Christmas table.
Incorporate into table settings
Make your table festive with ornaments at individual place settings, as a centrepiece or just scattered along the length. Place on a mirror to double the sparkle.
Make a wreath
Go traditional and oh-so-elegant with a bauble wreath. Choose from classic tonal shades (as above) or have fun with contrasting colours. I love how they’ve mixed up matte and shiny to give added depth.
Better Homes & Gardens | Young House Love
Top candlesticks
Group tall candlesticks on a mantlepiece and top with a bauble each to add colour to your holiday mantle. Make them all-matching (right) or subtely different (left) but either way make sure they’re different heights so they don’t look too formal.
Better Homes & Gardens | Young House Love
Fill a vase
… or conche cloche*, cake stand or even a hollow glass lampshade. For the latter examples you’ll need to turn fill the vessel upside down, cover the opening with a plate (or similar) and carefully turn right way up.
Country Living | Better Homes & Gardens
Frame them
For something completely different.
These are great ideas if you’re like me and have more ornaments than will fit on the tree, they’re also great if you like to bring Christmas into the rest of your home or if you simply don’t have room for a tree.
*Update: Thank you all for not embarrassing me by pointing out that I got this word completely wrong. A conche, I now know, is a “surface scraping mixer and agitator that evenly distributes cocoa butter within chocolate”. Yeah. That. Since I don’t like anything agitating about my decor, I will now use the right word (although I will feel like a pretentious twat casually dropping ‘cloche’ into a sentence).
