Decorating for Christmas can be equal parts magical and stressful, especially when you realize essential parts to finish the job are missing and you have to stop halfway.
Be it ornament hooks or replacement light bulbs, having to press pause on your festive DIY hanging jobs to source or order essential items can bring an additional, unwanted and avoidable layer of stress during this busy time.
That's why I recommend putting together a Christmas first-aid kit for your Christmas decor ideas with all the practical essentials you need to decorate seamlessly and deal with any hiccups as they happen.
Christmas decorating DIY essentials to keep in stock at home
From Christmas decor storage essentials to bulb replacements and hooks, these six practical essentials will keep your Christmas hosting prep countdown on track.
All prices correct at time of publication.
1. Command Hooks
Whether you are hanging stockings, stringing up lights, or supporting your garlands, hanging hooks are essential at Christmas. However, you likely don't want visible clues of your Christmas decorating scheme beyond December.
Patricia Derpinski, professional decorator at Hudson Holiday Decor says, 'For interiors, I usually opt for clear, removable adhesive hooks that won’t damage walls or paint.'
Perfect for string lights, these command hooks help to string light strands along walls and banisters.
For larger items such as stockings and garlands, sturdier metal command hooks are ideal.
For flat decorations such as artwork, command strips are your best bet. Apply one pair to your wall and the other to your frame before pressing into place.
2. Outdoor command hooks
Christmas door decor ideas can help brighten up your yard and your street, but they are often let down by out-of-place wreath hooks. Not to mention they can damage your door.
Punteha van Terheyden, head of Solved says, 'I always used a ribbon and unsightly heavy-duty packing tape on the back of my thick front door to secure my wreath, but I’m picking up these damage-free discreet stick-on Command hooks instead. They'll remove without leaving a sticky residue, can hold up to 5lbs, and withstand temps of -20° Fahrenheit'.
Suitable for holding decor up for 5lbs, these removable, damage-free adhesive hooks are perfect for use on your front door throughout winter for wreaths and garlands.
3. Replacement light bulbs
Hanging Christmas lights can be fiddly at the best of times, but it is downright annoying when you plug a set in and realize that a bulb has blown, rendering the whole string useless.
To keep decorating seamless, keep a set of spare bulbs in your Christmas first-aid kit to quickly fix your Christmas light ideas.
Fixing broken Christmas lights doesn't have to be a guessing game, either. This bulb replacement tool from Amazon makes hunting down the defective bulb and replacing it simple.
These transparent bulbs work for most traditional lighting strings, helping you get your lights back online before the big day.
4. Heavy duty storage bags
Festive storage solutions are useful for more than the end of the season. They can be used to stash away regular decor that you need to shift to make space for Christmas, or to stow items you aren't using the year, but will use another time.
Patricia Derpinsky, a professional holiday decorator says, 'I recommend using ornament storage boxes like the Sterilite boxes from The Container Store for safe, organized storage. For the tree itself, a TreeKeeper Storage Bag, also from The Container Store is a great option.
'We use these products professionally to store decor during the off-season in our warehouse in New York, and we also offer them to clients who prefer to handle storage themselves.'
5. Extra ornament hooks
One of the most common Christmas tree decorating mistakes people make is not arming themselves with extra ornament hooks. The last thing you want is to be halfway through decorating a Christmas tree and realize you can't use half your ornaments because the strings have snapped.
These can also come in handy if you make Christmas garlands, or make a Christmas wreath so you can integrate ornaments that can be removed later and reused elsewhere next year.
Available in both silver and gold, these S shaped ornament hooks thread through your baubles securely, with a larger hook to hang on your tree with ease.
6. Scented tree hangers
Whether you use a generations-old faux tree or pick a real tree year on year, Christmas trees can smell bad. From dust to dropping leaves, there is a whole host of reasons for this that we suggest tackling to make a home smell nice for Christmas.
To help keep your home smelling fresh, you can also keep a pot of scented tree ornaments in your first aid kit. Not only will it mask any fading pine smells from real trees but make a fake Christmas tree smell real, too.
I have used the same pot of Scentsicles for the last five years, and they have yet to give up their scent. I simply stow them in their tight-lidded container in between Christmas every year to keep them fresh.
Perfect for both real and fake trees alike, these scented ornaments hang on your tree like any other bauble. I tend to hand them first, tucking them in towards the trunk of the tree so they are not in plain sight
Now you have all the tools you need to set your home up for Christmas, check the list of kit you need to clear your home of Christmas to make resetting your home after the Holidays seamless, too.
