How To Decorate A Candy Cane Christmas Tree

These Candy cane Christmas trees mix red, white, and pink ornaments with peppermint details and layered ribbon for a playful but pulled-together look. Using the same color palette across two trees helps them feel cohesive, even though the ornaments and details are different.

This year I only put up two Christmas trees, and I didn’t even finish all of the coordinating room decor.

That’s not how I usually do things, but I decided I’d rather share what did get done than skip it altogether.

These trees may look very “candy cane Christmas,” but they weren’t created because of the trend.

I’ve been collecting peppermint ornaments for a couple of years now and just never got around to using them.

This was finally the year they came out of storage and took center stage.

The ornament that started it all

The real inspiration for these trees came from one ornament, a pink and red striped ball. (The little gingerbread house cloche also helped!)

Once I pulled that out, everything else started to fall into place.

That ornament set the tone for the entire color palette: red, white, and pink.

From there, I layered in peppermint swirls, candy canes, gingerbread houses, and sugary little details that feel playful without being over-the-top. Okay, maybe a little over-the-top, but that’s just how I roll :).

A lot of the red and white ornaments and picks actually came from my Santa tree that I decorated a few years ago.

Mixing those older pieces with the newer peppermint ornaments made the whole thing feel collected instead of brand new (which I always prefer).

A custom ribbon that tied everything together

One of my favorite parts of these trees is the ribbon, because it looks custom even though it’s made from pieces I already had.

I layered a wide pink velvet ribbon from last year’s Bridgerton-inspired Christmas decor with a narrower red and white ribbon stapled right on top of it.

The layered look makes it feel like a completely new ribbon, and it works perfectly with the candy cane color scheme.

How I kept two trees cohesive (without making them identical)

Since these trees sit in the same room, I wanted them to relate to each other without being exact copies.

Here’s what I repeated on both:

• The layered pink, red, and white ribbon.
• Red and white ball ornaments.
• Little gingerbread house ornaments. (How cute are they?)
• Large red and white lollipop picks.

From there, I changed things up.

One tree leans more heavily into large candy cane picks.

While the other uses red and white ball picks instead.

The ornaments are different on each tree, but everything stays within that same red, white, and pink palette, so nothing feels out of place.

Tree toppers

The tree toppers are another spot where I kept things coordinated but not matchy.

One tree is topped with white picks with red balls.

The other uses plain red picks.

Those small changes are enough to give each tree its own personality while still keeping the overall look cohesive.

New Tree Skirts to Finish the Look

Both trees are anchored with new tree skirts, and they made more of a difference than I expected.

I went with classic red skirts trimmed in white because they ground all of the candy colors and keep the look from feeling too pastel or too sweet.

Since the trees are heavily decorated, I wanted something simple at the base that still tied into the red, white, and pink color scheme.

Using the same style tree skirt on both trees helps reinforce that cohesive, “they belong together” feeling, especially since the ornaments and picks aren’t exactly the same.

It’s one of those finishing touches that doesn’t get a lot of attention, but once it’s there, the whole tree feels complete.

New Stockings for the Fireplace

I also picked up some new Christmas stockings to hang in front of the fireplace.

The pink and red designs help tie the the two trees together and make it feel intentional.

Sometimes just updating one element (like stockings) can make everything else around it feel fresh, even if the rest of the room isn’t fully styled.

Done is better than perfect

Would I normally have more coordinating decor?

Probably. But this year looked a little different, and that’s okay.

When you have the lights on at night, there’s nothing more magical than a Christmas tree!

(And at least the kittens have grown up and didn’t climb the trees this year! But they did have a hand in the tree skirt “styling”.)

These candy cane Christmas trees were years in the making, built from ornaments I already loved, re-used pieces from past trees, and one unexpected pink and red ornament that finally pushed me to put it all together.

And they make me smile every time I walk into the room, which is really the whole point.

Other Christmas tree ideas

• Nutcracker Christmas tree
• Flamingo-inspired Christmas tree
• Grinch Christmas tree

Or browse all of our Christmas tree decor ideas.

Have comments or questions about my candy cane Christmas trees? Tell us in the section below.