The Hack That'll Instantly Fluff Up Your Skinny Christmas Tree

Nothing says Christmas like an elaborate dinner, warm carols from your neighbors, and beautiful lights and decorations around the house. The gift of family and friendship is rivaled only by the gifts underneath a robust Christmas tree. However, if you've been using that same Christmas tree for a few years now, its appearance could be telling. It's starting to look a little skinny and scanty, which means you'll have to give it an emergency makeover — especially if buying another one is totally out of the question. TikTok creator Mikayla (@mentormikayla) offers up a great hack that will literally save your Christmases for years to come: wrapping the tree with a garland to boost its volume.

Lots of Christmas trees are made with plastic needles these days and you don't need to spend a lot of money on a real tree every year. Fake ones are very affordable and can last years, but all the decorating and handling causes the branches to thin out over time. As one of the foremost symbols of the Yuletide, trees should be teeming with life, not looking so skeletal that you can make out the iron framing. By using a lengthy tinsel garland, you can keep the tree — and your holiday — from falling flat.

To make your Christmas tree look fuller, you need to get a tinsel garland that's long enough to spiral around it. Walmart retails a 50-foot foil garland that would be ideal for the job and it only costs $16. Compare that to the price of purchasing a brand-new tree and you'll quickly realize that TikTok user @mentormikayla is onto something. Simply wrap the garland strategically around the tree to make the illusion work. After that, you can proceed to throw on the lights, candy canes, and other decorations for the perfect hallmark look.

This hack works amazingly well if done right, but you have to make sure that the tinsel garland you buy matches the texture of your tree's fake leaves so it blends in. It wouldn't have the natural effect if the garland is shinier or duller than your tree. On the other hand, if you're not afraid of a little pop, you can even go for a colorful garland that would serve as both a filler and decoration for your tree. Also, if your tree is pre-lit, this hack isn't the best for you because the lights are already installed onto the tree.