If you’re not in the holiday spirit yet, you have some catching up to do!
Between her and John’s house, their guest pad and her mom’s house (all of which are upstate!), Rach had already put up SEVEN different trees last year!
(Believe or not, that’s actually conservative compared to her NINE trees the prior year!)
And of course, Rach shared her tricks of the trade with her loyal viewers (that’s YOU)!
TIP NO. 1: FEATURE A "CHEAT" TREE
One of Rach’s favorite trees is one she actually places on a table on her back porch!
"It looks like the tree is so much bigger than it actually is, so you’re cheating," Rach says. "You’re decorating half the height of what the tree appears to be."
Genius!
TIP NO. 2: MIX UP YOUR TREE SKIRTS
Rach’s "cheat" tree doesn’t have a traditional skirt. Instead, it’s skirted with fake snow, pine cones from the backyard and fake pheasants and squirrels.
"It just looks like it could’ve happened in nature," Rach explains.
Adorable!
TIP NO. 3: CREATE A KID-FRIENDLY TREE
This is the tree that Rach says kids love the MOST.
Makes sense, right? SO colorful.
It’s skirted with a big, crocheted blanket -- and it features elves that look like they’re decorating the tree themselves. PLUS, there are fake deer jumping out from the tree!
TIP NO. 4: CREATE A SCENE IF YOU DON’T HAVE ROOM FOR A TREE
No space? No problem!
If you don’t have room for a full-size tree (Rach admits she has this problem in her NYC apartment), she suggests creating scenes around your home, using what Rach calls sprig trees (you may also see them referred to as sparse, stick or Charlie Brown trees!) and cotton batting from a craft store, for example.
In fact, she and John use this festive space as a landing pad for presents. So clever!
"If you have no space," Rach continues, "you can do Christmas in as little as a strip of a table."
As you can see, this other quaint scene features what Rach calls her "Charlie Brown trees," accompanied by a Santa, deer and candles.
TIP NO. 5: IF YOU HAVE TWIN WINDOWS, PUT UP TWIN TREES
"It's really pretty when you’re outside of the house to see both windows lit up," Rach says of her dreamy twin trees.
Rach also considers these her “adult” trees (Spoiler: Caviar and glass ornaments hang from them!), as they live in her guest home, where mostly adults stay.
TIP NO. 6 : MAKE YOUR OWN ADVENT TREE
As an alternative to an Advent calendar, Rach has an Advent tree in her home, which was made and gifted to her by one of our amazing art department staffers, Jackie.
To create your own, all you have to do is buy a “Charlie Brown tree” at a craft store, spray paint hollow ornaments for decoration -- and fill them with chocolate!
Want to learn how to DIY your own Advent tree? Learn how here!
TIP NO. 7: FAKE THE SMELL OF REAL TREES WITH SOME FRESH PINE
If, like Rach, you’re too busy to babysit a real tree around the holidays, just bring home sprigs of fresh pine so your house still smells divine!
