I always find myself with a dilemma at Christmas time. I love bright and colorful Christmas decorations, but I also like neutrals, and I like traditional reds and greens, but I also like incorporating other colors into my Christmas decor. So this year, I came up with a solution to this problem: combine reds and greens with a few other colors and mix in neutral and natural items so that it isn’t overwhelming. I give you a bright and natural Christmas! (That somewhat sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? :)

To get the look, you need a few components:

Pom Poms and Tassels in your choice of colors. I started with a red and green base, then added a few colors that complement those colors.
Natural Wood beads. I bought a bunch of different sizes in multi-packs from Amazon. You can find those beads HERE and HERE
Colorful wood beads. I like THESE from Amazon.
Jute cord found HERE.
Burlap inspired stockings. I bought THIS three-pack.
Pom Pom trim. You can find a cute multipack HERE.
Branches from your yard (or your neighbor’s yard, but just ask them first!)
Wood embroidery hoops in various sizes. Find some HERE.
Hot glue
Kraft wrapping paper. THIS is a cute set.
Wood dowels cut into various lengths.

Let’s get crafting! If you are short on space and can’t fit a full Christmas tree into your home, this wood dowel and pom pom tree could be the perfect solution! I mounted my tree on a foam board, but you could also connect your dowels with hooks and hang it directly on your wall. I cut dowels into different lengths, then added large, colorful pom poms to the dowels for ornaments. You can have your very own pom pom tree!

I also love wrapping gifts with yarn and pom poms. I use a natural, kraft wrapping paper so that I can add lots of colorful touches with yarn. You can tie your pom poms directly onto a string around the gift. I made an extra large pom pom for one of the gifts, but the beauty of this one is that it can double as a Christmas ornament as well! I attached these extra large pom poms to a lot of the gifts I gave out last year, and then told the recipients that they could hang them on their trees. It’s the gift topper that keeps on giving!

The garland possibilities for bright colors and natural wood beads is endless! I made three different garlands for my home. One I used only beads but I used natural wood beads with colored wood beads. I tried to match the colors of the beads with the colors of my pom poms. I made another garland with pom poms and natural wood beads. The third was a combination of wood beads, tassels, and pom poms. I also attached large tassels to the ends of the garlands for a little added pop. I like to string these on jute cord because it is a little stronger than just typical string. Plus it adds to the natural look. You will need to use a needle for stringing through the pom poms, so choose a needle with a large eye that can fit the jute cord.

Next up, I made a few wood embroidery hoop wreaths. I wanted each one to be a little different, so I used different techniques for each one. On one, I just hung a bunch of yarn and pom pom trim that would drape down. On another, I made mini garlands out of tassels and beads to string from side to side. On the last, I hot glued pom poms directly onto the hoop. Each hoop can be hung with chunky yarn. These would be perfect above your mantle, on your wall, or on your door.

To make colorful, burlap stockings, I used plain stockings then added pom pom trim, yarn, and wood beads to dress them up. I hot glued the trim to the stockings for some instant color. I also used yarn to “embroider” little x’s to one of the stockings. To one of the hangers, I looped in a strand of beads and tassels that would dangle down.

The last fun addition to my decor are these pom pom branches. My husband was cutting branches off of one of our trees recently, and I thought that they somehow needed to show up in our home decor! You can’t get much natural than wood branches, so I decided to incorporate them into our Christmas decor. I hot glued a few pom poms to the branches to dress them up a bit. When I finished making these branches, I realized that they looked a bit like Whoville on the Grinch…which made them even more perfect for Christmas!

Don’t be afraid to use those bright colors in your Christmas decor! By adding the right amount of natural neutrals, you can easily decorate with all of those oh-so-fun bright colors! Have a Merry Christmas!