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Vintage Christmas Tree Ideas For A Vibrant, Colorful Retro Look

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vintage Christmas tree ideas

Do you love all things antique, retro and old fashioned? Miss the Christmas tree decorations from years gone by? If so, let these vintage Christmas tree ideas influence your creativity this year!

Keep reading to learn how to create a vintage Christmas tree theme inspired by Christmas decorations throughout the decades.

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Basic Christmas Tree Themes

Did you know that there are 8 main Christmas decorating themes? It may seem like themed Christmas trees are just a random mix of colors and creative styles.

vintage Christmas tree with old world glass ornaments, presents, Santa figurines

But in reality, any Christmas tree that looks well put together will have at least one general theme. When Christmas product designers start on a new collection, these are the 8 main themes for Christmas trees that they use:

Because of this, when you go to shop for Christmas decorations in the store, you’ll see items from these main themes! Once you decide on a theme or two to use, it makes shopping that much more simple.

Now you don’t have to stick with decorations in just one Christmas tree theme. In fact, the most creative Christmas trees will often feature elements from two or more Christmas tree themes.

But it helps to get started by focusing on one Christmas tree theme and building out your tree decorations from there.

Vintage Christmas Tree Ideas

Let’s explore one of the most iconic themes for Christmas trees: Vintage!

In olden times, people had limited availability of Christmas tree decorations. Items from nature were used, along with creative, DIY ornaments.

vintage Christmas tree with lights, ornaments
via Flickr

There were also considerations with how to add light to a Christmas tree. Candles & early electric lights often triggered fires. Things like tinsel, bubble lights and color wheels were used to help reflect light onto the Christmas tree while keeping things safe.

As our technology has grown, so has our ability to decorate a Christmas tree in a wide variety of styles & colors. But many Christmas decorations from olden times have become classic Christmas tree decor staples.

You can make your Christmas tree look vintage by using the following decorations:

  • Old fashioned, retro or antique themed ornaments & details
  • Multicolored light strands with large bulbs, bubble lights
  • Clip-on Christmas tree candles
  • Glass icicles & mercury glass ornaments
  • Homemade garland, beaded garland & tinsel
  • Tree toppers such as stars, finials & angels
  • Bright, neutral & classic colors – hot pink, sky blue, bright green, classic red, white, beige, gold & silver
  • Any decorations that read as “vintage”, “antique”, “old timey”, “old world” or “retro”

Vintage Christmas tree decorations often make people think of their childhood or how their grandparents decorated for Christmas in the past. They also inspire thoughts of historical Christmas celebrations such as in Victorian times or the 1950s & 1960s.

vintage Christmas tree ornaments

Now you might not realize it, but many Christmas tree decorations are considered vintage by default. Why? Because what’s trendy & modern is to decorate a Christmas tree with a specific theme and color scheme. If you decorate your Christmas tree in this manner, then it would be considered a modern Christmas tree.

But if you just like to put up ornaments you’ve collected over the years on a Christmas tree with some lights, then that would be considered a “vintage” Christmas tree by default.

Vintage Christmas Tree Decor

Vintage Christmas Tree Styles

There are several different Christmas tree styles you can use for retro Christmas tree ideas.

To start, consider using a “tinsel” Christmas tree. These silver, aluminum Christmas trees were popular back in the space age 1960s and are still used today for those looking to have a retro inspired Christmas.

You can buy new tinsel trees from online shops & big box stores. Or you can search for vintage aluminum Christmas trees on sites like eBay & Etsy. You can also find vintage aluminum Christmas trees at estate sales, flea markets & antique stores.

Consider using a Christmas tree “color wheel” with you tinsel tree. These moving, colorful light wheels are designed to cast different shades of light onto tinsel trees for a fun glow.

Tinsel Christmas Trees

Another good pick for vintage Christmas tree ideas is to use a real, fresh cut Christmas tree. Before artificial Christmas trees came along, real trees were used for Christmas decorating.

If you don’t want to use a real tree, there are several companies that make rustic looking artificial Christmas trees. These types of trees are designed to look more sparse than a traditional faux Christmas tree and are perfect for retro themed Christmas trees.

Rustic Christmas Trees

If you already have a traditional artificial Christmas tree, then it will work great for the Vintage Christmas tree theme. The fullness of the branches makes a lovely backdrop for displaying antique Christmas tree ornaments, lights and tinsel.

If you like to change out your Christmas tree decorations each year, then a traditional Christmas tree will serve as a nice baseline for your designs.

Traditional Christmas Trees

Finally, flocked and frosted Christmas trees also work well for vintage Christmas tree ideas. Flocked trees look beautiful with lots of bright, vintage style ornaments.

Flocked Christmas trees have faux snow that covers the branches, giving it a look of a tree covered in freshly fallen snow. Frosted Christmas trees are the same, but with less faux snow. So they appear to have more of a “dusting” of snow than a flocked tree.

You can buy an artificial Christmas tree that is already flocked. Or you can buy special snow flock powder that can be used to flock a Christmas tree.

Flocked & Frosted Christmas Trees

Vintage Christmas Tree Theme Colors

What colors should you use for these antique Christmas tree ideas? Here are some of the colors & shades that will work best for vintage Christmas tree ideas:

  • Bright colors: hot pink, sky blue, turquoise, yellow, bright orange, bright green, royal blue, bright purple
  • Classic Christmas colors: green, red, white, gold & silver
  • Neutrals: light brown, white, off white, beige, taupe, black & grey
  • Shiny metallics: gold, silver, copper or platinum

Vintage Christmas tree ornaments and decorations were usually made in bright colors with shiny finishes. Think of the colorful mercury glass ornaments you often find in antique shops.

vintage Christmas ornaments

You can also use decorations in classic Christmas colors – reds, greens, whites, gold & silver will work just fine for retro Christmas tree ideas.

One of the things I really like about the Vintage Christmas tree theme is that you don’t have to use a specific Christmas tree color scheme. Any colors will work, and part of the fun is seeing a rainbow of colors against an evergreen background. Or you can stick to using just a few vintage colors – it’s up to you!

Shopping for Vintage Christmas Tree Decor

There are so many ways to find ornaments and decorations to use for vintage Christmas tree ideas. To start, consider using actual antique Christmas tree decorations.

vintage Christmas tree with Victorian ornaments, homemade garland

You might be able to find some items by asking friends and family if they have any vintage Christmas tree decorations they aren’t using. Many people have old Christmas tree decorations in storage that they are happy to get rid of!

Apart from hand-me-downs, here are a few places to hunt for real retro Christmas tree decor:

  • Antique stores
  • Flea markets
  • Estate sales
  • Craigslist
  • Facebook Marketplace
  • OfferUp
  • Poshmark
  • Mercari
  • eBay

The cool thing about vintage Christmas tree decorations is that they are timeless. Because of this, you’ll always be able to find companies that are making new versions of your favorite retro Christmas decor. Here are some of my favorite stores for vintage Christmas tree decorations including ornaments, toppers, skirts, ribbon, stars, etc.:

vintage Christmas tree with ornaments, garland
via Flickr

When shopping, use the following keywords for decor items in the Vintage Christmas tree theme (for example, search “old world Christmas tree ornaments”):

  • Vintage
  • Retro
  • Antique
  • Old World
  • Old Style
  • Old Fashioned
  • Old Time
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
  • Victorian
  • Nostalgic
  • Kitsch

Combining Christmas Tree Themes

vintage Christmas tree with ornaments, multi colored lights

Because of the timelessness of the decorations, the Vintage Christmas tree theme works well with every other Christmas tree theme. Consider decorating with one of the following Christmas tree theme pairings this year:

Remember, there is no right or wrong way to decorate a Christmas tree! Whatever inspires your creativity and feels right for your space is what will work best for your tree.

vintage Christmas tree with tinsel, ornaments

But if you want to your Christmas tree to look like something in a magazine or something your favorite home decor blogger designed, then you’ll want to stick with at least one Christmas tree theme.

Personally, I find this helps narrow down my options and keeps me from buying too many random things that don’t really work well together in my Christmas decor.

vintage Christmas tree with lights, garland
via Flickr

What are your thoughts on the Vintage Christmas tree theme? I hope article series on Christmas tree themes this gives you a good starting point for creating a beautiful Christmas tree this year!

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More Christmas Tree Themes

For more info on various Christmas tree themes and decorating ideas, check out these posts:

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