Watch the video tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/
How to Extend the Base of Your Christmas Tree for a Cascading Designer Look
Have you ever wondered how designers take a traditional Christmas tree and make it look larger, fuller and completely custom?
One of the tricks is to stop thinking of the natural shape of your tree as your limit.
In this TMI Gifts tutorial, Blaide shows us how to extend the base of a Christmas tree using garland, creating a beautiful cascading shape that flows beyond the tree’s original branches. Even better, this technique doesn’t require a complicated structure. Blaide uses the existing limbs of the Christmas tree to secure the garland as he builds the shape.
Here’s how to recreate the look on your own tree.
Why Extend the Base of Your Christmas Tree?
Most artificial Christmas trees have a traditional triangular shape that ends evenly around the bottom. Extending the base allows you to break away from that shape and create something that feels much more custom.
By adding garland to the lower portion of the tree, you can create an extension that moves outward and even cascades toward the floor.
It’s a great way to add drama, create an asymmetrical design and give yourself more space for ribbon, ornaments, sprays and other decorative elements.
Step 1: Choose Your Garland
Start with a greenery garland that coordinates with the branches of your Christmas tree. Here Designer Blaide Hodge used 72 Inch Soft Touch Norfolk Pine Garland which can be found at https://tmigifts.com/
Before attaching anything, fluff your garland and open the branches. This will make it easier to shape once you begin securing it to the tree.
Step 2: Decide Where You Want Your Tree to Extend
Take a look at your tree and decide where you want your cascade to begin.
The extension doesn’t have to go around the entire base of the tree. You can concentrate it on one side to create an asymmetrical look that gives the tree more movement and visual interest.
Think about the overall shape you want before you begin, but don’t worry about making it perfect right away. The garland can be shaped and adjusted as you work.
Step 3: Use the Tree Limbs to Tie in Your Garland
Here’s the key to Blaide’s technique.
Instead of adding a separate frame or using a lot of additional materials to attach the garland, use the existing limbs of your Christmas tree to secure it.
Position the garland along the lower portion of the tree where you want your extension to begin.
Take one of the tree limbs and wrap or twist it around the garland to hold it in place.
Because you’re using the tree itself to secure the garland, the two pieces of greenery immediately begin to blend together.
Step 4: Work Your Garland Back and Forth
Rather than simply pulling the garland straight out from the tree, Blaide works the garland back and forth to build the desired shape.
Secure one section of garland with a tree limb, then move the garland outward before bringing it back toward the tree and securing it again.
Continue this back-and-forth motion as you work your way down and away from the tree.
This technique helps create width, fullness and movement. Instead of looking like a single piece of garland hanging from your tree, it begins to look like the tree itself is growing outward.
Step 5: Create Your Cascading Shape
As you continue working the garland back and forth, begin directing it toward the floor or farther out to the side.
This is where you can really customize the shape of your tree.
Want a subtle extension? Keep your garland closer to the tree.
Want a dramatic designer look? Continue working the garland farther out and down to create a longer cascade.
There’s no exact formula. Keep shaping the garland until you achieve the look you want.
Step 6: Fluff and Blend
Once the garland is secured, take a few minutes to blend everything together.
Fluff the branches of the garland and the surrounding limbs of your Christmas tree. Pull some of the tree branches outward and work some of the garland branches back toward the tree.
You want to disguise the point where the original tree ends and the added garland begins.
The more you fluff and blend the two together, the more natural your extended base will look.
Step Back and Check Your Shape
One of the best things you can do while decorating is simply step away from the tree.
When you're standing right beside it, it can be difficult to see the overall shape you're creating.
Walk across the room and look at your tree from a distance. You may notice that one section needs to be fuller, the cascade needs to extend farther, or one attachment point needs to be adjusted.
Keep shaping until the extension feels like a natural continuation of the tree.
Decorate Your New Extended Base
Now comes the fun part!
Once your garland is secure and you love the shape, decorate the extended portion just like you would the rest of your Christmas tree.
Carry your ribbon, ornaments, picks, sprays and other decorative elements from the main tree down into the cascade.
Repeating those same colors, textures and materials throughout the extension is what will make the entire design feel cohesive.
Think Beyond the Traditional Shape of Your Christmas Tree
One of our favorite things about this technique is how much it can change the look of a tree.
Your Christmas tree doesn’t have to end where its original branches end.
With a garland, the existing limbs of your tree and a little shaping, you can completely customize the silhouette and create a dramatic cascading base that looks like it was part of the tree all along.
Watch Blaide’s full tutorial from TMI Gifts to see how he works the garland back and forth, secures it using the tree limbs and shapes it into the perfect cascading extension.
Then try it on your own Christmas tree and make the shape completely your own!
Looking for greenery, ribbon, ornaments, sprays and everything else you need to create a designer Christmas tree? Shop TMI Gifts for all your Christmas decorating favorites.
Watch the video tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/