9 Creative Ways to Decorate Your Christmas Tree with Food
Getty / Olga Mamedova
If we learned anything last year, it is that there is something to be said for a cozy Christmas and a return to more homemade aspects of the holiday. Families unable to travel looked for projects that involved the kids, took on some fabulous cooking projects, and made the season special and unique as a result. A return to this crafty spirit is something to really embrace, so this year, think about making your Christmas tree have some seriously foodie fabulousness!
Here are 9 ways to decorate that tree straight from the kitchen whether you combine with traditional decorations or go for an all-food Christmas tree this year.
Related—5 Easy Ways to Make This Family Christmas One the Kids Will Cherish
Garlands
Stringing popcorn and cranberries or a combo of both is a beautiful addition to a food-themed tree. Want some pops of color? Add the occasional kumquat to your cranberry strand or gumdrops to the popcorn.
Scent
Oranges studded with cloves are traditional, and cinnamon sticks can be hung on ribbons to provide that warm spicy scent all through the house.
Dried fruit
Rings of apple, orange, and grapefruit all have a natural hole in the middle for a ribbon, so dehydrate them in a low oven until crisp, and string on pretty ribbons to hang on the tree.
Fresh fruit
Little fresh fruits—tiny Seckel pears, crab apples, lady apples, clementine tangerines, Key limes—are fun ornaments. If they have a stem, tie a ribbon on to hang; if not, wrap the ribbon twice around the fruit like wrapping a present with a bow on top, and slide a hook through.
Candy Canes and Ribbon Candy
This year, think about buying these classic Christmas candies in multiple sizes, hanging large ones towards the bottom of your tree, and getting smaller as you go up. Ribbon candy can get a string or hook added to hang if the holes aren't large enough to slide over the branches.
Cookies
From hard-baked sugar cookie ornaments you can decorate, to gingerbread cookies or chocolate chip cookies you can eat right off the tree, just poke a hole in the dough to accommodate a ribbon or hook and fill your tree with baked goodies that are as delicious as they are festive.
Related—7 Clever Ideas for Packaging Cookies as Holiday Gifts
Edible chains
Licorice whips come in all sorts of colors and flavors these days. Tie one strip into a circle by overlapping the two ends and tying with a small piece of ribbon or twine, then thread the next whip through before tying to link into a chain. Plain Twizzlers make a traditional red chain but add some other colors if you like it even fancier.
Bread wreaths
Your favorite white bread dough can be plaited into thin braids and then baked in circles to make wreaths. Give a good egg wash for shine, add sanding sugar in any color you love if you want sparkle. Hang on ribbons as ornaments.
Toppers
Bake a cookie star or angel, or go exotic with a Buddha's hand citron brushed with egg white and glittered with silver sugar crystals.
