Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas Using Vintage Ornaments

Christmas tree decorating ideas using vintage ornaments could fill entire magazines, let alone single articles. This year finds many budgets strapped and decorating dollars ear-marked for more practical gift ideas. Dragging out attic boxes is one way of going green by making use of old stuff to usher in the spirit of the season.

Favorite Christmas Tree Decorations from Holidays Past: Bubble Lights

During the 1960s, bubble lights were the rage. A cylindrical glass tube filled with oil would bubble when it reached a certain temperature, lighting up the colored oils inside. The plastic bases on these lights were made of red, yellow, green and other Christmas colors. Highly collectible, these original vintage ornaments have been known to get hot and start fires, so using the originals as Christmas tree decorating ideas may not be wise. Safe reproductions are available, however, so those wanting to recreate Christmases past can still capture the vintage feel of bubble lights in trees and greenery without burning down the house.

Vintage Ornaments and Lights from the 1960s: Foam-Covered Snowball Lights

The late 1960s and early 1970s brought in white foam-covered lights in the same size and shape of snowballs. These strings of lights looked best on cedar trees and fir trees and captured the hearts of many a young child whose favorite past-time was eating the foam off the outside of the lights. Baby Boomers will remember the lights, but they weren't as enduring as were other types because once the foam was scratched off, the lost much of their appeal.

Christmas Tree Decorations That Glow in the Dark: Icicles and Plastic Ornaments

The 1960s and 1970s brought in new Christmas tree decorating ideas and inventions in the form of opaque plastic that glowed in the dark. Stores sold stars, bells, Santa cut-outs, candy canes and other novelty items that, once the lights were out, continued to glow from the phosphorescence they collected in daylight. Icicles, too, fashioned from glowing plastic, hung from tree branches and mantle greenery. Glow-in-the-dark ornaments and icicles have steadily shown collections of vintage ornaments because of their creative use in today's holiday decor.

Aluminum Christmas Trees and Vintage Accessories

Popularized in the 1960s and 1970s, streamlined trees made of aluminum appeared in bay windows across the country. Most sported single-colored, silk-covered balls of one color: blue, red, green, gold and white. Occasional colored aluminum trees had white or silver balls. A tree here or there used glass balls. The trees magically changed color as the ubiquitous color wheel on the floor turned, spotlighting a flood of light through glass, gel or plastic colored screens so that onlookers could enjoy the changing red, green, amber or blue glow. Today's home designers have paid top dollar for authentic color wheels and aluminum feather Christmas trees.

For those lucky enough to find one tucked into the corners of their attics, they create a vintage feel and can be used for displays of other ornaments, vintage or modern.

Christmas 2010 and Beyond: Modern Decor

More than ever, folks are longing for the good old days. Bringing a bit of yesteryear into today's modern decor helps create rooms and displays that stimulate warmth, memories and many a memorable story. Christmas tree decorating ideas making use of vintage ornaments and other decor from days of old will help create even more good old days for Christmases long into the future.

Sydney Mason is a freelance writer who writes for a number of online websites. Sydney has collected vintage ornaments and decorations since the 1960s.

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