Sustainable Decorations for Christmas

2021 welcomes sustainable decorations for Christmas including glass, ceramic, terra cotta, metal, stone and wood. Even paper, natural fabrics, cork, earthenware, grapevine and pinecones! If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, this Christmas trend is for you. So let’s get started.

DIY Pine Cone Wreath

Photo collage with lighted pine cone wreath hanging on white wall and closeup of wreath for sustainable decorations for Christmas..

Our pine cone wreath is sure to be a staple in your collection of sustainable decorations for Christmas. In addition to being inexpensive and easy to make, it’s multi-seasonal.

Supplies

18-inch grapevine wreath (or your choice of size)
About 7 dozen pinecones of varying sizes/lengths (You may not need them all.)
glue gun
glue sticks

Directions

Well in advance of crafting day, spend some time outdoors collecting your pinecones. Is your wreath going to hang in your house? If you are concerned about spiders or other bugs possibly relocating, you can wash and dry the pine cones before using.
Begin by gluing larger pinecones around the top center of the grapevine wreath. In this case, think of it as building a circular, two-lane road. (Don’t worry; it won’t be a very straight road – ha!) In fact, be generous with the glue as you secure the pine cones.
Then fill the inner and outer surfaces of the grapevine wreath with additional pine cones, gluing various sizes into place to cover the surface.
Lastly, to give it a little something extra special if your looking for a subtle “POP!”, we recommend lighting it with our warm white ultra-thin wire of 36 LED InvisiLites. In this situation, use a chenille stem (pipe cleaner) or wire to secure the battery pack to the back, bottom of the wreath. Gently wrap the lights onto the wreath working back and forth from the inside to outside of the wreath. Our miniature gold glass ornament set of 24 (1079782) are perfect for tucking in to the pinecone scales with a dab of glue.

Decorating the Mantel

White fireplace with birch logs wrapped in battery-operated lights and white faux fur rug in front of it. White-washed nesting angels and Nativity on the mantle with a garland. Lighted pine cone wreath hanging above the fireplace provides sustainable decorations for Christmas.

Our sustainable Christmas mantel will warm your home all winter long! Featured products not available online can be found in-store or by contacting customer service. Reach our team at (989) 652-9931 or customerservice@bronners.com.

Nesting Angels and Wooden Nativity Silhouette are sustainable decorations for Christmas.

Our whitewashed wooden nesting angels (#1220613) and Nativity silhouette (#1220612) serve as natural, sustainable decorations for Christmas. Indeed, they keep the focus on the reason for the season.

The mixed garland starts out with our wispy 6-ft. garland with glitter and pine cones (#1202162). Next, we added our 4-ft. garland with snowflakes on wood disks (#1215845). In like fashion, you can add a pine pick or two. We chose our frosted balsam (#1202152). Finally, our set of 4 holly bronze mantel clips (#1133402) holds the garland onto the fireplace mantel. This multipurpose metal product does more than just hold stockings! And it comes in a second finish: antique brass.

Bronner's MantleClips™ are great for hanging garlands in addition to stockings from the fireplace mantel.

As you can see, we did bring some faux accents into our fireplace display. Using sustainable decorations for Christmas doesn’t have to be an all or nothing venture. Alternatively, you could substitute a live-cut pine branch, wired with pine cones and wood disks, keeping your decor fully sustainable.

As shown above, we tied a couple of metal snowflake ornaments from our Christmas Trends of 2021: Natural post, which features a DIY faux rust finish, onto the garland. The technique works on a number of surfaces. See how simple it is to create with our video tutorial!

Decorating the Tree with Sustainable Decorations for Christmas

A Christmas tree stands next to a staircase and is decorated with a gray burlap bow tree topper with long tails, metal Santa and reindeer ornaments, leather and faux leather jingle bell straps, and matte and shiny red glass ornaments. Under the tree, a wood Nativity stable is home to a wood set of Nativity nesting dolls atop two burlap coffee bags serving as a tree skirt. Packages wrapped in red and silver paper are also under the tree. — Featured above stairway: 3D cardinal scene on wall (#1209809).

Certainly, our simple tree is big on sustainable style! First, we topped the tree with a bow with long tails running down the length of the tree. We chose our gray burlap ribbon bolt (#1216016) to match our sustainable theme. (Learn how to make a bow from Bronner’s decorators!) Second, we hung black leather jingle bell straps (#1124593) paired with Nativity faux-leather gray jingle-bell straps (#1217735) throughout the tree. Third, we cut our 6-ft. Santa and reindeer metal garland (#1199625) into individual ornaments. What a deal for the budget-conscious: 13 ornaments for the price of the garland! For pops of color, we hung red mini shiny and matte red glass ornaments (#1189636) throughout the tree.

In keeping with our theme of sustainable decorations for Christmas, we opted to use burlap coffee-bean bags for the tree skirt. Lastly, we tucked a wooden Nativity stable (#1068511), made in the USA – right here in Frankenmuth – atop the bags. As can be seen, we displayed a wood set of 5 Nativity nesting dolls (#1088084) within its walls.

For sustainable decorations for Christmas, the photo collage includes pictures of the nesting doll Nativity in the stable under the tree atop burlap coffee-bean bags, the gray burlap ribbon bow atop the tree, the metal Santa and reindeer ornaments, and the jingle bell straps.

In brief, items featured in this decorating idea are available in-store or by contacting customer service at 989.652.9931 or customerservice@bronners.com.

Terra-Cotta for a Sustainable Christmas Tree

For sustainable decorations for Christmas, the photo collage features the terra cotta tree on the mantel surrounded by silver glitter trees with closeups of a wire rattan star in a tree and mini gold ornaments on the grapevine wrapped on the terra cotta tree.

I love the look and feel of terra-cotta. Perhaps we are most familiar with this natural, sustainable element in the form of flower pots. Even so, we turned those pots upside down and stacked them from largest on the bottom to smallest on the top. And there we have a festive Christmas tree for our mantel or table top! To decorate it, we wrapped grapevine around the base of each pot and hung mini gold ornaments (#1079782) from it. To finish our terra-cotta tree, we wove the top of a thin branch through a wire star with rattan and silver glitter (#1185572). Lastly, we stuck the branch down through the drainage holes in the bases of the pots. As a result, we have a star tree topper!

The white fireplace mantel is topped with the terra cotta tree, silver glitter trees with wire rattan stars, wood "Be still and know I am God" wall art, an earthenware Nativity luminary with animals, and is draped with a silver and gold bead garland with vintage-look "Silent Night" sheet music for sustainable decorations for Christmas.

Indeed, our terra-cotta tree is at home atop our mantel with a burlap skirt and surrounded by silver glitter trees (#1212415 and #1214156). For additional dimension, we tucked a few more of our wire star with rattan and silver glitter ornaments into the branches of two trees. At this point, we added our “Be still and know that I am God” wood wall art (#1250712). Similarly, our earthenware Nativity luminary with animals brings the peace and holiness of the holiday home. To conclude, we printed and edged a free, vintage-look arrangement of “Silent Night.” Then we strung it on twine to mix with our 6-ft. silver and gold bead garland (#1209084). Love crafting with paper? Try our Silent Night DIY crafts for all seasons.

Closeup photo of the earthenware Nativity luminary with animals on the mantel. Made in Nicaragua and provides sustainable decorations for Christmas. — Featured: Earthenware Nativity luminary with animals (#1220778)

HERE’S AN IDEA: If having a live flame in your space is an issue, consider illuminating the earthenware luminary with battery operated lights. They tuck neatly inside!

Closeup of the silver and gold bead garland and vintage-look "Silent Night" sheet music draped along the front of the mantel. — Featured: 6-ft. silver and gold bead garland (#1209084).

Sustainable Decorations for Christmas for Your Table

If you would like to bring sustainable, yet colorful, decor to your Christmas table, we have some ideas for you.

Wall decorated with pinecone wreath,, Joy to the World and Silent Night, Holy Night signs and 3D snowflake and snow shadow box. Table set with plaid runner, candle ring with Santa mug centerpiece, cork side of placemat, skating Santa plate, and Egyptian glass stemware.

To begin with, our colorful plaid runner (#1204438) is 100% cotton. A faux evergreen candle ring (#1217795) adds a little something extra to the ceramic Santa mug (#1209694). We’ve repurposed the pair as a centerpiece and focal point!

Additionally, we turned over our decorative place mats to feature the cork backing for these place settings. After all, it makes all the other elements really stand out!

Our table features a colorful plaid cotton runner, a Santa mug and evergreen candle ring for a centerpiece, and a place setting on a cork place mat with black ceramic plate topped with a red napkin and skating Santa plate. Our Egyptian glass stemware features festive red and white stripes throughout the stem.

Next, we topped the cork place mat with a black ceramic plate and a red napkin. As can be seen, we then added our skating Santa ceramic plate (#1219888). Our Egyptian Glass stemware (#1204116) features red and white stripes throughout the stem for elegant fun. We completed the look by adorning the silverware with a pair of wood snowflake ornaments from our set of 18 (#1203474).

Keeping Sustainable Decorations for Christmas Simple

We’ve got good news for those looking to bring more Christmastime vibes to their home without breaking the bank! Since Santa said to keep it simple, we wove a branched pine cone garland (#1209605) into our tree. Then we accented it with a handful of snowflakes from that set of 18 mini wood snowflakes (#1203474) used in our place setting. As shown below, we chose a mix of natural snowflakes from the set and some we had whitewashed. In addition, our set of 12 mini shiny and matte glass ornaments (#1189636) adds pops of color throughout the tree. Of course, our 17-inch plush burgundy Santa hat (#1120635), repurposed as a tree topper, is our crowning feature! Burlap coffee bags as our tree skirt keeps our focus on sustainable decorations for Christmas … in good taste.

Tree photo collage with one photo showing a closeup of the branch garland with pinecones on the tree and the second photo showing a full-length look at the tree with the branched pinecone garland accented with mini wood snowflakes, mini matte and shiny red glass ornaments, a plush burgundy Santa hat as tree topper, and burlap coffee bags as a tree skirt.

A Simple Sustainable Touch for Decorations for Christmas

Wooden antique cheese box stuffed with faux pine garland with pinecones, sitting on wood floor next to faux white, fur rug.

Do you have a sustainable container like our antique wooden cheese box at home? Perhaps it’s just waiting to be part of your Christmas decor! As can be seen, we stuffed ours with our faux split cut cone 6-ft. green garland (#1215900). However, you could fill your container with fresh evergreens for instant, sustainable decor.