DIY Berry Pick Tree Topper

In today’s post, I’ll show you how to create your own berry pick tree topper using an assortment of collected picks and natural materials.

It can be so hard to find just the right tree topper for your Christmas tree if you’re looking at pre-made, store-bought options. A lot of them can be a bit tacky, too small looking, or overly trendy. Who wants to buy a tree topper one year, only to realize that it doesn’t suit their taste anymore the next year, or doesn’t work with the style of Christmas decor they’ve been inspired by? I’ve found that the best type of tree topper to use is one that I put together myself to work with whatever theme of tree I’m decorating. This way, I can also customized the size and shape of the topper to work with everything else on the tree, or the shape of the tree itself, so everything looks balanced and cohesive. I often like to make my own DIY bow tree topper using wired ribbon to match my decor, but the other topper I do quite often is this DIY berry pick tree topper that I’ll be showing you today.

Materials Needed for the DIY Berry Pick Christmas Tree Topper

You’ll need:

• An assortment of berry picks to match your Christmas decor. I usually use about 10-15 for a tree topper.
• Greenery (real or faux) to fill in around the topper to give it more fullness if your tree is sparse.
• Twigs, willow decor branches, or faux branches to complete the look.

For my berries, I usually use a mix of different types I’ve collected over the years, mixing and matching to get the look I want. If you’re starting your berry branch collection from scratch, you’ll want to get about 4-5 of 4 different styles, with a few extras to use throughout the tree as well for repetition. You can see here that I used a few different types of white berries and blue berries this year. A mix of bright red and dark red can be a lovely classic look as well, or even all pearl-like white berries.

Holiday home ideas for real life: 12 Simple Christmas Decor Ideas Using Things You Already Have

Creating the Berry and Branch Tree Topper

Unlike with my bow tree topper, I build this decorative element of my Christmas tree right on the tree itself. We often have a real tree, and we cut it to about 7.5 feet, so I don’t have any trouble reaching the top of it comfortably if I stand on a chair. If you have a very grand Christmas tree that stands nine feet taller or taller, you may need to find a good step ladder that you can easily move around to different sides of the tree as you build your topper.

Traditionally, angel, star, or Santa tree-top ornaments are usually added at the very end of the tree decorating process, after garlands, glass balls, tinsel, and everything else has been added. For a berry tree topper, I often like to start with the topper first, just after adding the lights, and then fill in everything below it afterwards. For some reason, this just helps me better balance out all of my different tree decor pieces, and see where everything should be placed.

Classic and traditional holiday inspiration: Red Christmas Tree Ideas and Our Simple Christmas Decor

Adding Berries and Other Picks to the Topper

Start out by adding your berry picks to the top of your tree before anything else. Begin with one variety, and place the stems on angle at various points near the top of the tree, evenly distributing them between the sides, front and back of the top portion of the tree. It may look a little sad and underwhelming, but trust the decorating process.

Repeat the process again with the next variety, filling in around the first type as you work your way around the tree, adding some berries above and below the previous type. Continue working your way through each berry variety until you’re satisfied with the placement of the berries at the top of your tree.

I should note that, if you look at the placement of the berries on my tree, they actually fall just below the top of the tree instead of sticking out of the top. I think this is the secret to creating a topper that looks full and balanced on your tree, rather than one that looks like it’s teetering on top and out of proportion with the rest of your tree.

At this point, once you’ve added all your berries to the topper, you can add in extra greenery as needed to fill in around the berries and create a more full look if you think your topper is looking a little sparse.

The final step is to poke in just a few bare branches to add more texture, shape, and interest to the top of your tree. I use dwarf lilac branches here, but you can experiment with different types of foraged or store-bough branches.

See more Christmas tree decoration ideas: Garden Themed Christmas Decor in Our Living Room

Finishing Touches for Your Tree

Pictured above: Rug | Similar Coffee Table | Tree Collar | LED Christmas Tree Candles | Blue Berry Picks | White Berry Picks | Dried Orange Slices | Grosgrain Ribbon | Ticking Stripe Ribbon | Winter Toile Fabric (torn for ribbon bows)

Once you’re happy with how your topper looks, you can move on to decorating the rest of your tree. I always like to start by evenly distributing a few of the same berry picks that I used up top throughout the rest of the tree. This repetition makes the tree feel more cohesive, no matter what else I add for decorations in terms of bows, glass Christmas balls, natural elements like pine cones or dried blooms, and Christmas tree candles. For our usual 7.5′ tree, I find reserving about 8 berry picks for the rest of the tree works well for the way I like to decorate.

Here’s another style of tree that I did last year with the same type of accent on top. The tree decor was a little simpler, and you can see that the subtle and understated nature of the berry tree topper worked so well. You could also substitute smaller floral picks and faux greenery elements for the berries if you’d like to try something really interesting with your tree topper.

Pictured above: Rug | Similar Coffee Table | Tree Collar | LED Christmas Tree Candles | Blue Berry Picks | White Berry Picks | Satin Ribbon | Bookshelf Lights | Affordable White Knit Stockings | Best-Ever Stocking Hangers

Do you do something similar for your own Christmas tree topper, or do you have a store-bought one that you love?

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