Giving Your Christmas Tree A Perfectly Cohesive Look Is So Easy With This Budget-Friendly Hack

When it comes to Christmas tree decor, there seem to be two major camps. Some celebrators embrace the red, green, gold, and silver traditionally associated with the Christmas holiday; others prefer to match their tree's decorations to each other and also to their year-round home decor. Creating a monochromatic or color-coordinated theme for your tree that reflects the colors around your home — or just your personality — can minimize the disruption of your home's core aesthetic that holiday decorating can cause.

Unfortunately, replacing your basic Christmas tree ornaments with new ones that meet your desired aesthetic each year can be a rather costly endeavor. Fortunately, TikTok has come through with an ingenious decorating tip for Christmas on a budget to make over your ornaments at a stunningly low price. You only need one item other than your ornaments: balloons. Covering your ornaments in solid-colored party balloons allows you to change your tree's color scheme every year without purchasing a single new ornament. 

As demonstrated by TikTok user @illustriusandy, covering your Christmas tree ornaments with balloons is not at all a difficult process. All you need to do is cut the lip off of a balloon and remove the ornament's base. Then, carefully slide the balloon over the ornament. Once the ornament is fit snugly inside the balloon, cut off any excess and replace the ornament's base. Just like that, your ornament is given a new life in the color of your choosing.

Balloons — especially when stretched — also provide a soft matte finish that allows the texture of your ornaments to shine through. Some TikTok commenters, like @Beki0671, even compared the appearance of the finish to much pricier material such as velvet. To create a cohesive look, you can cover all your ornaments with the same color balloons, two complementary colors, or two contrasting ones. If you're feeling bold, experiment with non-traditional color schemes for your holiday decor. If you want to change your color scheme again next year, all it takes is a new package or two of balloons.

Covering your Christmas tree ornaments with balloons can completely change the look and feel of your home, thanks to the effects of tweaking both the color and the finish at play. However, this isn't the only benefit of using the balloon method if your tree's ornaments are made out of glass. It stands to reason that a glass ornament engulfed in a rubber balloon would be a little less likely to shatter if it were to be dropped or fall from the tree.

Even if a glass ornament that has been covered with a balloon does shatter, it will do so inside the balloon. This makes cleaning up the mess much easier, more convenient, and safer than picking up or sweeping shards of glass, especially if the area under your tree is already packed with stacks of Christmas gifts for your loved ones. If you felt less than excited when you were reunited with your Christmas tree decor this year, consider giving a balloon ornament makeover a try.