Everything On This Tree Is From the Hardware Store

While it’s safe to say that the majority of us have decked the halls and trimmed the tree, there is a select subset of idlers who have yet to get on the festive train. If you’re one of them, then you’re in luck. We created a tree-decorating hack that’s a far cry from the traditional and is ultra clever. In lieu of resorting to the slim pickings of ornaments left in stores, we looked to an untraditional source for our holiday decor this year: the hardware store.

Read on to see how we hacked this last-minute Christmas tree decorating ideas, and how you can easily re-create the look at home.

What You’ll Need:

• Lemons (we used faux lemons to prevent the tree from being weighed down—and to reduce waste!)
• Various chains
• Shower drain protectors
• Springs
• Copper Mesh
• Ornament hooks

Before you begin…

Establish a color palette with specific metal finishes in mind. Copper was a top choice for us, given the warm and lustrous quality of the metal—the way it complemented the cheery hue of the lemons was an added bonus. From there, we filtered in silver hardware, which doubled as ornaments, to inspire a statement-worthy finish.

Directions

Fill the copper mesh with a lemon and tie the ends to lock it in place. Allow enough room between the lemons so that they’re not too clustered. Keep repeating this step until you end up with a lemon-mesh chain that can be liberally dispersed around the tree.

Once the lemons are in place on the tree, filter in the thinner chains for an added touch of luster and textural interest. We used a mini steel ball chain and a slightly thicker brass safety plumber chain, mixing and matching the high-contrast finishes.

Wrap each of the individual chains around the tree, weaving in between the lemon-mesh link. Once your makeshift garland is in place, you’ll be ready to put the ornaments in place.

We hung shower drain rounds (which we effectively disassembled) using regular ornament hooks and wrapped the springs, as is, to the branches throughout. Feel free to get creative and filter in various other pieces that can double as ornaments just as well.

Finally, in lieu of a star up top, we added on a hollow metallic ball. If you have trouble finding one, spray paint a styrofoam ball in a metal finish and it’ll do the trick.