45 Festive Workplaces That Wouldn’t Settle For A Normal Christmas Tree…And Made Their Own Instead
Christmas is the most beautiful and magical time of the year. Hard workers get a well-earned rest after slaving away for almost twelve months, and it’s the perfect time to kick back and gather with your friends and family. Street, office, and home decorations help set the vibe and get us in the Christmassy mood.
And when it’s that time of the year again, and as the Yuletide ramps up, we’re sure most of you start looking for decoration inspiration, especially those in the office. How do you put together something festive yet with minimal mess? Perhaps the ideas below could help inspire you to set the perfect holiday mood around the office and reward your colleagues or employees for working so hard throughout the year.
Libraries and Bookstores
Traditional Christmas trees shed pine needles and are troublesome to maintain, so many workplaces skip traditional trees altogether. But here’s something you could do as an alternative – use what’s available to create a tree. For libraries and bookstores, here’s how to make your own:
Place books with green covers on a bookshelf to resemble a Christmas tree. You could stick a star on top of the bookshelf and hang decorations on the bookshelf. Get creative with it! Using different shades makes it more interesting.
Farmer’s Markets
For farmer’s marketeers or grocers, use your produce to create a beautiful, organic Christmas decoration! In the picture, bell peppers were used to form a gigantic tree in the farmer’s market; it’s colorful, pleasing to the eye, and requires no additional ornaments.
Don’t worry about the bell peppers going to waste, too, as they last for quite some time, and even if you sell some off, you can remake your tree with what’s left. Since the bell peppers aren’t glued together, this is easy to do!
Supermarkets
Supermarkets often have beautiful traditional Christmas tree displays, but it is getting pretty boring to see the same tree with minor tweaks year in, year out. Something that can be done is to switch out traditional trees with best-selling products.
You could build a tree using bananas, cereals boxes of festive colors, or use broccolis to form the green part of a traditional tree and use tomatoes to act as “decorations.” This is also a great way to display and promote your products.
Labs – part 1
For some of you, getting new trees each Christmas might seem too wasteful and harmful to the environment to be worth it. Therefore, a good idea to get the best of both worlds is to reuse old or unwanted materials in your workplace to create a tree.
Labs often have empty vials and beakers sitting around, and so it makes sense to use these abundant materials along with their holders to create a chemis-tree. Fill the vials and beakers with dyed water as the ornaments. Toss some tinsel on there if you’re feeling it.
Labs – part 2
Some laboratories have minimal space and probably can’t fit an entire tree. Don’t worry; we’ve got your back. Just use small Christmas decorations to spice up the room; you could buy the decorations from the store or create them yourself!
If you are looking to DIY Christmas decorations, why not turn the Petri dishes into pe-tree dishes? This user created a bacterial tree in her petri dish, and it looks gorgeous and is the perfect decoration to put in a small lab!
Tech Stores
When it comes to tech stores, what is the one thing that is always available? Glass! You could create a tree with sheets of old glass by laying larger pieces at the bottom and then working your way up as the pieces get smaller.
Although this is a great way to reuse unwanted or unused glass you have stored away, placing a glass tree in a store can be dangerous. Our recommendation is to place glass your amazing decoration out of reach of customers.
Electronic Stores
Electronic stores often have many products in stock and limited shelving space. Here’s a simple solution to the problems of having minimal space and not wanting to get a traditional tree but wanting the place to be full of Christmas spirit.
Use the products you have in the back to assemble a Christmas tree; you could use keyboards that light up for “tree lighting.” Displaying your product tree in a conspicuous spot where customers will notice it as they walk into the store can also effectively promote the product.
Ballet Schools/Theaters
Seeing that point shoes don’t last long, it’s wasteful to throw them away after they come to the end of their short life span. One way to reuse them is to put them to use during Christmastime – build a unique tree out of old ballet shoes!
Assemble a Christmas tree with the shoes and decorate it with lighting and perhaps a star (made of shoes, of course) on top. However, you should make sure that the shoes are cleaned well before assembling your fabulous shoe tree.
Gas Companies
Gas companies provide the service of delivering gas canisters to customers’ homes; some even provide the service of disposing of them for their customers. One way to put empty gas canisters to use is to build a one-of-a-kind Christmas tree.
Start by painting the empty gas canisters green, then place shorter ones in front and taller ones in the back until it forms the size and shape you desire. Adorn it with ribbons or simple stick-on decorations and it’ll look amazing.
Pizza Stores
As mentioned earlier in the article, typical, authentic Christmas trees shed like cats. If you’re in the food and beverage industry, you must be constantly burdened with this question: What if the fallen pine needles end up in the food? Even fake trees have their issues.
An easy fix is to substitute with trees made of materials easily found in your store. Pizza stores can use pizza boxes – which there are plenty of – to assemble a pizza box tree! It doesn’t shed and is easy to assemble.
Bakeries
Bakeries often have a lot of dough sitting in the kitchen, and so it is quite unsanitary to have a Christmas tree that is constantly shredding pine needles sitting nearby; the pine needles could get into the dough with the help of the air conditioning.
One simple solution is to use the clay models of cakes, cupcakes, or bread to form a small or big festive tree. The “tree” would look delicious and would be totally unique. As a bonus, it is a great way to promote the goods sold in your bakery!
Gloves Manufacturing Companies/Hospitals
Manufacturing companies often have to go through quality control before their product is released into the world. Since some gloves might fail quality control, it would be wasteful to simply dispose of the unqualified products. Why not save them for a DIY project?
Therefore, it wouldn’t hurt to use some of the gloves to create a one-of-a-kind mini Christmas glove tree, would it? Blow up the gloves, alternate between different colors, and decorate with fairy lights and simple decorations. Finish it off with a star on top. This goes for labs and doctor’s offices too!
Bicycle Stores
Bicycle stores normally have many bicycle gears in stock but not much space to display all of them. Also, used bicycle gears are left lying around the store from previous repair services. Bet you’re wondering what to do with all of them.
Using bicycle gears to build a spectacular Christmas tree is a great way to put those used and unwanted products to good use. On the other hand, Christmas trees built out of new bicycle gears would be a great display of the stocks. Two great options at your disposal!
Auto Repair Stores
Similar to bicycle stores, auto repair stores have a lot of tires lying around, both old and new. Build unconventional Christmas trees with tires; decorate them with pretty lighting, paint, and simple decorations. This would really liven up the shop!
This can be turned into a fun team-building exercise to form bonds among co-workers. Separate employees into groups and have each team work together to make a “tree;” the team that builds the best tree wins, but all of them get displayed.
Dentists
Dental visits are terrifying for some people; a visit to the dentist during Christmastime could make matters worse. Dentists and clinic staff can make the place feel a bit less terrifying and more festive by adding Christmas decorations to the place, but with a twist.
Using teeth moldings collected throughout the year to build a Christmas tree serves as a good reminder of the hard work you did in the previous year; it is also a very special tree that no other workplace can recreate. Bonus: it’s funny and will get patients laughing.
Universities
Students and teaching staff in universities work very hard all year round, and it is only fitting that during Christmas they get to relax. Christmas trees, decorations, and parties are perfect to get the students and everyone in a holiday mood.
University staff can build a large tree in the library with encyclopedias to remind the students and teaching staff to reward themselves for all the hard work done and to continue to strive for the best in the upcoming year.
Elementary / High Schools
Since we’re nearing the holiday season, teachers might have a hard time getting students of all ages to concentrate during classes as they are already in vacation mode. Why not combine festivities with studies and make it fun for all?
Doesn’t this tree have a certain element to it? Another chemis-tree, but this one could attract students’ attention to help them memorize the elements in a fun way. Alternatively, if you’re the English teacher or librarian, stack children’s books together to form a mini-Christmas tree.
Hotels
Since hotels are for guests all around the world, Christmas decorations are where you can get really creative; impressive displays can help your hotel attract guests. There are various designs you could use when decorating your hotel for the holidays.
For example, Claridge Hotel created an unconventional Christmas tree with gold and silver umbrellas. You could think out of the box and get extremely creative with this. Even if your ceilings aren’t so high, there are endless possibilities. Remember, this is a magical season!
Women’s Clothing Stores
When women shop for clothes, the first thing we look at is the clothing display in the window. Often, only then will we decide whether to enter the store; beautiful Christmassy displays gain an advantage during the happiest season as they attract customers more easily.
Window displays could be set in winter or snowy settings with mannequins dressed appropriately for a sleigh ride. As shown in the picture above, a mannequin Christmas tree is unique, and we believe it’ll draw the attention of many passersby.
Men’s Clothing Stores
Women’s clothing stores can’t be the only clothing stores to dress up for the festivities. It is only right that men’s clothing stores do the same. Conventional Christmas trees have been a staple decoration in clothing stores for forever.
To take your display to the next level, decorate with clothing from your store or even better, make a Christmas tree out of different types of ties your store sells. It’s something new to look at and a great tie display!
Farms
Farmers are already busy enough attending to their crops and animals. To add Christmas trees to their workload might be a bit much to ask. One can use a hay baler to compress cut and rake crops into compact bales as a solution. Wait, they do this all the time!
To make life around the farm more festive, stack the bales in the form of a Christmas tree; you could add decorations for a pop of color. Also, you could use ribbons to tie around the bales to make them look like presents and place them under the “tree.”
Airports
Airports always have the nicest Christmas decorations because it is the first place tourists see when they arrive in a country. A well-decorated airport gives tourists a good impression, and it’s probably why airports spend so much time, energy, and money on making them spectacular.
Naturally, airports in different countries are compared amongst each other to see which has the best decorations. This Lithuanian airport used confiscated items to build an unconventional Christmas tree to present something new and interesting to tourists. As a bonus, this “tree” basically cost them nothing!
Gaming Stores and Arcades
Gaming stores can use games sold in-house to build an offbeat tree that serves the purpose of decorating for the holidays and promoting the new or best-selling games available in the store; this idea could potentially boost sales while boosting the mood inside.
Check out the arcade above which uses the classic game PacMan to build a pyramid that resembles the shape of a Christmas tree. Something as one-of-a-kind as this would attract many to the arcade. We know we would patronize this place.
Interior Design Stores
Interior design stores are usually where most of us go for Christmas decorations. Therefore, the wreaths and trinkets on display must be beautiful to effectively appeal to buyers. The right displays will boost sales during Christmastime, whereas the wrong ones won’t.
One way to boost pillow sales during this time is to build a Christmas pillow tree and decorate it with fairy lights to make the “tree” look better; this is a great way to subtly promote the product and decorate the store! You can do this with more than pillows, of course.
Go-Kart Entertainment Centers
Go-kart entertainment centers are another place that has many tires leftover, used and unused. If you want an environmentally friendly Christmas tree, simply build one using the tires you have! By doing this, you are recycling used products that double as no-cost Christmas decorations.
Stack the tires in the form of a Christmas tree and top it off with a steering wheel rather than a star as a nod to your business. Then, place fake presents or white fabric or artificial snow at the bottom of the “tree.”
Military Bases
During Christmastime when everyone else is in the company of our family and friends, soldiers are stationed far away from their loved ones, possibly in another country. Surely, they miss the people close to them the most during this time.
Therefore, it is important that the military bases where they are stationed feel homey to minimize their homesickness. Something the Marines stationed at Afghanistan did was build a Christmas tree of sandbags. Hats of to our country’s bravest and strongest!
Air Force Bases
Those in the air force also spend much of their time stationed away in bases around the world, some far away from the comfort of their homes. Although they are away from their real family, their fellow Airmen or Airwomen are their second family.
Being away from home doesn’t mean that you are going to miss out on celebrating to the holiday; celebrate with your second family by building a tree with items available on site and decorate it; to make it extra special, you could decorate with seatbelts!
Fire Departments
Similar to those in the military, those in public service spend most of their time at their workplace. Since the fire houses are practically home to fire brigades, they should be decorated for the occasion as though their own homes would be during Christmastime.
Fire hoses look especially festive! Therefore, building a Christmas tree from them would make an extra festive decoration. Stack the hoses on top of each other so that it resembles a tree and top it off with a traditional star or firemen’s hat!
Police Stations
During Christmastime when accident rates increase, more policemen and policewomen are called into work to ensure the safety of civilians; they would be missing out on decking the halls. Fortunately, there is something that can be done to help it look a lot more like Christmas.
Any city’s finest can build a Christmas tree and add mini traffic lights as decorations or print out safety precautions and stick them on the tree or add both; the traffic lights would give your tree a pop of color while the precautions will remind civilians to stay safe.
Hospitals
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital staff has practically lived at the hospital, working day and night to keep us all safe from the virus. Something small that can be done to spread the holiday joy during Christmastime is to decorate the hospital.
Build your own “snowman tree” with hospital items such as hospital gowns, crutches, casts, and monitors. Christmas is about hope, joy, and thanks. That being said, we hope that the frontliners are safe and we highly appreciate your service.
Pharmacies
It sucks to have to visit the pharmacy during Christmas because of being down with the flu; this means no partying during the holidays and tons of rest. However, the pharmacy’s decorations should be able to spread a bit of cheer.
Spread some Christmas joy and cheer your customers up by creating a small all-white Christmas tree using cotton pads. It looks stunning. Decorate with little rhinestone stickers or whatever you want to make it look more festive. There are tons of options around the pharmacy!
Fertility Clinics
Usually, fertility clinics would use conventional Christmas decorations to spice up the place. However, traditional trees and decorations tend to blend into the background, especially since everywhere else is decorated the same way; fertility clinics could customize their tree by adding their own elements.
You could replace the conventional Christmas tree ornaments with special decorations; dress your tree up by adding Christmas hats to your ornaments. We even suggest adding an egg on top of the tree since that is where the sperm would ultimately end up.
Corkscrew Tree
If you’re one to host a lot of parties, you must have a lot of corkscrews leftover. Maybe you’re unsure of what to do with them. Normally, they would be thrown in the trash as soon as the partying ends and cleaning up starts.
Here’s an alternative to throwing the corkscrews in the trash: build a corkscrew Christmas tree. This “tree” serves as a token of reminder for all the parties you threw and is a great decoration, not only for Christmastime but other times too. Make it holiday-specific by using ribbon and easily removed stickers.
Rock Climbers
Rock climbers spend much time in mother nature’s arms, and many of them might be against the typical chopped-down Christmas trees. Therefore, they might skip getting a tree altogether. But they have everything they need to make a unique tree!
You can have a Christmas tree that is environmentally friendly without getting even a fake tree. Build your own Christmas decoration using the rock climbing ropes that you aren’t planning on using until after the holiday. You could even hang ornaments on your customized tree!
Shoes Store
Stores are often decorated with traditional Christmas trees with ornaments hung on the tree and a big star to top the tree off. However, this list has shown that you never have to stick with tradition. Your decorations can be specific to your business!
Shoe stores could use shoes to assemble a Christmas tree, similar to the point shoes Christmas tree mentioned above. If you are looking for something that is even more special (and lightweight), how about using flip-flop straps to assemble the tree?
Public Pools
Wondering what you could possibly do to a public pool to dress it up for Christmas? Well, there are numerous things you could do. For example, hang Christmas streamers across the top of the pool or hang decorations along the walls of an indoor pool.
Take a look at this interesting seasonal decoration this public pool added – an underwater Christmas tree! It’s a one-of-a-kind Christmas tree, and we bet you’ve never seen one around, so be the first in your town to add one!
IT Departments
The one thing IT departments have a lot of is CPUs and monitors, and something that can be done with these items to dress the place up for Christmas is to put those monitors and your creativity to work.
Stack the CPUs on top of one another to form the shape of a Christmas tree, decorate it with fairy lights which are cheap to buy. Alternatively, use the monitor screens to portrait parts of Christmas tree images and align them to form one large tree, just like this team did here.
Museums
Museums’ Christmas decorations are where you can get exceptionally creative. Surrounded by all that art, your designs have to be particularly artsy just to “blend in with the crowd.” You could reference some famous art and adapt them to your adornments.
Take a look at the unique festive art project above, which referenced a Banksy painting and added Christmassy elements. This is holiday decorating at its finest. If you are an art lover and/or work in an art center or museum, let this inspire you.
Offices
Regular offices are harder to decorate as some managers don’t want the decorations to disrupt the working environment and energy the office has. However, you might be able to get away with a few simple but festive enhancements which cost practically nothing.
Make sure that you have green post-its for this Christmas decoration idea. Stick the post-its on a door or a wall in a circle to form the shape of a wreath. Then you could fold some red post-its into the shape of a ribbon to finish it off.
Kindergartens
During Christmastime, kindergarten teachers often come up with the best Christmas games and activities and decorate the classroom because kindergarteners are very excited for the holidays. Here is an activity that’s festive and fun to do together with your kindergarteners.
If you’re unsure of what to do with your classroom, try building a gingerbread playhouse! Build the basic structure for it, and then have the kindergarteners decorate the outside of the house. It’s an easy and fun project that will add to the festive mood!
Skating Rinks
Ice skating rinks are the first to come to mind when on the topic of Christmas activities; it is a must-do for many. Therefore, rinks should go all out, and the right decorations can help achieve a wonderfully festive feel.
Replace traditional Christmas stockings with skates that are white or red and stuff the skates with pine needles or other Christmassy elements like holly berries. Just be sure to clean the skates well prior to putting things inside of them.
Baking Schools
Another workplace where traditional Christmas stockings can be replaced with items easily found within the workplace is baking schools. Here, oven mitts can be found everywhere; old ones are usually thrown away or brought to a recycling center, but they can be reused as a festive decoration!
Using mittens to replace traditional Christmas stockings is pretty good for the environment as it is a form of recycling and reusing. You could place recipes or small treats in the stockings and have the students retrieve them when class starts.
Any School
Schools often have a lot of pom poms lying around, most of which are colorful, giving them the potential to be the perfect Christmas tree substitute. They could be used to decorate the walls as well as used to build a unique tree.
The bond between students is especially important, as they have to work with each other often on projects. A great activity to strengthen the bond between students is to work together to create an unconventional Christmas tree or wreath out of the pom poms.
Pet Stores
Puppies are adorable and loved by many. Some of those who can’t adopt a dog often go to pet stores just to take a look at them. Combine Christmas, a well-loved holiday, and puppies to melt the hearts of your customers!
Section off a space in your pet store and line the puppies’ beds in the shape of a Christmas tree, and have the puppies play in the space you made for them. You could use beds that are festive colors such as red, white, or green.
Local Stores
As mentioned before, the same old boring tree design would be too ordinary because every other store would have similar displays. Therefore, store owners always scratch their heads trying to think of new and interesting Christmas decorations that would attract the eyes of passersby.
Here is another fun and special Christmas tree idea: build one out of shopping carts! However, this should be assembled by a professional as it could be pretty unsafe if it isn’t constructed correctly; we don’t want any accidents happening.