This Taylor Swift-inspired Christmas tree trend has us shaking off traditional decorations

We'll be leaving the Christmas tree lights up until January

Colourful Christmas tree in living room with peacock as tree topper.
(Image credit: Future/Colin Poole)

It's no secret that the majority of the Ideal Home team are huge Taylor Swift fans, so when we spotted this Swiftie-inspired Christmas tree idea, we were obsessed. If you're up to date with the eras tour then you'll be in tune with the friendship bracelet trading system, but did you ever consider trading with your tree?  

This simple Christmas decoration DIY will ensure your family and friends undeniably know you're a Swiftie at heart, but it's also just a fun way of sprucing up your Christmas tree for a unique 2023 approach. 

So even if you're not so much of a fan, this playful Christmas colour scheme is a great way of achieving one of this year's biggest festive trends - retro maximalist with a hint of kitsch. So how do you get the look in your own living room this Christmas? Luckily it's even easier than it looks. 

How to get the Taylor Swift Christmas tree look

Christmas decor is always better when you have a theme to follow. Whether it's a minimalist, Scandi-inspired design or a traditional green and red palette, it helps you figure out how to decorate a Christmas tree cohesively and stylishly. 

And with Taylor Swift (and Travis Kelce) all over our social media feeds, as well as their love story which began with a homemade friendship bracelet exchange, what better route to go down?

The friendship bracelet design means you can customise the message to something personal to you, whether that's a simple 'merry and bright' or a phrase unique to your family. It acts as a garland around your tree so it's easy to add on and remove. 

It's also even simpler to make, you just need some round pieces of polysterene, letter stickers, ball pit balls, a jumbo needle and some fishing wire

@chelseazeferina

♬ Wes Anderson-esque Cute Acoustic - Kenji Ueda

As @chelseazeferina shows in her TikTok video, round pieces of polysterene will work best for this DIY. Once you have your letter stickers, stick them onto each piece of polysterene so that it spells out the message you'd like.  

Next comes threading them together. As you would a bracelet, you need to thread the fishing wire through a jumbo needle, which Chelsea writes in the comments measures 10 inches, and tie in a knot. Then, carefully pierce through each piece of polysterene and the ball pit balls so that they form the design that you want when it's hung up on the tree. 

Aligning the message on a table will help with this so that it's easier to thread the pieces together, so find a large flat surface where you can plan out the order of the 'beads'. 

Once you've threaded each piece onto the fishing wire, you should be able to lift your newly formed garland so that it reads correctly. If you're designing a phrase then it might be wise to create multiple smaller garlands that you can arrange more easily. 

This doesn't just have to act as a Christmas tree garland either - you can add this to a  Christmas mantel idea or even around a staircase for some added pizzazz. Plus, you can easily reuse it as a birthday decoration idea by switching out the letter stickers.  

So whether you're dedicating your Christmas decorations to Miss Swift or you're just looking for a playful way to align your tree with the trends of 2023, we recommend giving this DIY a go.

Holly Cockburn
Content Editor

After starting out her journey at Future as a Features Editor on Top Ten Reviews, Holly is now a Content Editor at Ideal Home, writing about the best interior ideas and news. At Top Ten Reviews, she focussed on TikTok viral cleaning hacks as well as how to take care of investment purchases such as lawn mowers, washing machines and vacuum cleaners. Prior to this, Holly was apart of the editorial team at Howdens which sparked her interest in interior design, and more specifically, kitchens (Shaker is her favourite!).