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Every year around Thanksgiving I catch myself wanting Christmas to feel the way it did when I was a kid in the 90s. Tinsel on everything, a ceramic tree glowing on the end table, a village on cotton snow and a Santa mug of cocoa in my hands. It turns out a lot of us feel the same way, because that cozy, colorful 90s Christmas aesthetic is back.
Here are 24 90s Christmas aesthetic ideas I gathered from bloggers who do nostalgia beautifully, from tinsel trees and salt dough ornaments to glitter villages, Santa mugs and light up blow molds on the porch. Each one links to the blogger who made it, with their steps and finds. If you want more, our Christmas tree ideas, cheap Christmas mantel decor and front porch Christmas decor ideas have plenty to mix in.
1. A tinsel tree with colorful lights
SaveCredit: French Country Cottage
Nothing says 90s Christmas to me like a tree dripping with tinsel and lit up in every color. My mom tossed it on by the handful, and we kids made it look like a haystack.
She uses a few whole boxes of tinsel on hers, plus multicolor lights, and she points out that the tinsel shimmers every time someone walks by or a draft moves through an old house. Hang the tinsel after the ornaments so it falls straight.
2. Shiny Brite ornaments in a thrifted urn
SaveCredit: Atta Girl Says
Those thin, shiny glass ornaments in pink, aqua and gold were on every grandma’s tree, and they still make me smile. A tabletop tinsel tree is the easiest way to show off a handful of them.
She planted an inexpensive tabletop tinsel tree from Target in a thrifted ceramic urn and decorated it in blue, aqua, silver and gold. Her trick for keeping skinny trees from tipping is a bag of rice or beans on the stand, hidden under ornaments.
3. A pink tinsel tree in a pastel corner
SaveCredit: Atta Girl Says
Pink tinsel trees were the fun aunt’s tree in every family I knew. Pair one with mint and aqua pieces and the whole corner feels like an old Christmas card.
Her original tinsel tree is loaded with dozens of pink and green ornaments, and some of them were her grandmother’s. She keeps adding to the collection every year from antique shops and sales.
4. The ceramic Christmas tree from Mom’s ceramics class
SaveCredit: Kelly Elko
If you grew up in the 80s or 90s, somebody in your family had one of these glowing on the end table. They are still my favorite thing to spot at an estate sale.
She explains that these light up trees were popular in the 1960s and 70s when ceramic studios were everywhere. People painted their own from molds, added colorful plastic bulbs, and set them on a base with a light socket inside.
5. A ceramic tree table with Santa mugs
SaveCredit: Kelly Elko
One ceramic tree is sweet. A whole row of them down the dining table is pure childhood. Mix green, white and pink trees in different sizes so it looks collected over years.
She has been collecting them for a couple of years and uses them as her Christmas table centerpiece, with white Santa mugs at each place and striped napkins. One of her little trees was painted by her husband’s aunt.
6. Handmade ornaments and a wood bead garland
SaveCredit: Fynes Designs
The best 90s trees were a mix of store bought glass balls and whatever we made at school. That is the look here, and it is the easiest one to copy.
She mixed vintage style ornaments with brightly colored air dry clay ornaments her family made that year, plus felted mice and gingerbread house ornaments. A wood bead garland and a wool garland add more color.
7. Popcorn and cranberry garland
SaveCredit: The Salty Canary
We strung popcorn every year in front of a Christmas movie, and half of it got eaten before it reached the tree. It is still the coziest way to spend an evening.
Her tip is to use 26 gauge floral wire instead of thread because it pushes through easier. Fresh cranberries and plain white popcorn look best, and a coat of shellac helps the garland last for more than one season.
8. Salt dough ornaments
SaveCredit: Messy Little Monster
Every kid in the 90s brought home a salt dough ornament from school, and my mom still hangs mine. All you need is flour, salt and water from the pantry.
Her recipe is 2 cups of plain flour, 1 cup of salt and about 1 cup of water. Knead it, cut shapes with cookie cutters, bake them until hard, then paint them and seal them with Mod Podge before you add the string.
9. A wallpaper paper chain
SaveCredit: Inspired by Charm
Paper chains were the first decoration most of us ever made. This grown up version uses leftover wallpaper and colored paper, so it looks pretty enough for the mantel.
She used the same loop method we learned as children and wove the chain through a fresh garland with ornaments and lights. It works on a tree, a mantel or a table runner, and it uses up paper you already have.
10. A white paper chain across the bookshelf
SaveCredit: Love and Renovations
If you want the nostalgia without the color, make your chains from plain white printer paper. Draped across a bookshelf, it looks soft and wintry.
Her method needs only paper, scissors and a stapler. Fold a sheet in half, fold it in half again and cut on the lines to get four equal strips, then loop and staple them. Narrower strips make a more delicate chain.
11. Bottle brush trees in vintage tins
SaveCredit: Adirondack Girl at Heart
Little bottle brush trees were tucked into every corner of my grandma’s house. Planting them in old tins and cups makes them look like they came from a 1950s five and dime.
She removes the base of the tree with pliers, hot glues it into a small container like a tart tin or tea cup, and tucks Spanish moss around the top. A tiny star and a Merry Christmas tag finish it, and she says they sell fast at vintage booths.
12. A glitter village from wooden birdhouses
SaveCredit: Studio DIY
The glittery cardboard houses on our mantel were my favorite thing about December. You can make your own with plain wooden birdhouses from the craft store.
She paints unfinished birdhouses in soft pastels, adds white paint and chunky glitter to the roofs so they look snowy, and finishes them with tiny wreaths and bottle brush trees. Make one new house each year and the village grows with your family.
13. Thrift store ceramic houses with a fresh coat
SaveCredit: Jennifer Rizzo
Those little lighted ceramic houses filled thrift store shelves after the 90s, and they cost next to nothing now. A coat of paint and glitter turns them into a whole new village.
She remembers a neighbor in the 80s and 90s who had 30 or 40 of them nestled in faux snow under her tree. She painted her thrift finds in bright colors and topped them with glitter paint for a rainbow village.
14. A lighted Lemax style village
SaveCredit: A Labour of Life
A lit Christmas village on a bed of cotton snow is the most 90s thing on this list. My aunt added a piece every year, and we kids were allowed to move the little people around.
She adds pieces each year that mean something to her family, like a bagel shop, a hockey rink and an ice cream shop for her kids. Craft stores like Michaels and Canadian Tire carry new pieces every season, so watch the sales.
15. A big village on a plywood platform
SaveCredit: Marty’s Musings
If your village has outgrown the mantel, give it a table of its own. This one is the full scale family tradition, with dozens of houses on snow.
She started her collection as a young bride by asking for Dickensville houses bought at half price after Christmas, and her family enjoyed the village for more than three decades. The base is a sheet of plywood with holes drilled for the cords.
16. Santa mugs on open kitchen shelves
SaveCredit: Fynes Designs
Santa mugs were the cocoa mugs at every 90s Christmas, and they look so cheerful lined up on a shelf. Fill the gaps with bottle brush trees and a vintage print.
Her kitchen and pantry are part of the same nostalgic Christmas, and her tree shares the room. Keep the colors to red, green and white and let the mugs be the star.
17. A Santa mug full of bottle brush trees
SaveCredit: DIY Beautify
If you only have one Santa mug, make it a centerpiece. Bottle brush trees tucked inside look like Santa is carrying the whole forest.
She calls bottle brush trees and Santa mugs Christmas perfection. She also shows how to fill a teacup with them by hot gluing a foam ball inside, covering it with Spanish moss and twisting off the tree bases so they tuck in tight.
18. Gingerbread house shelves
SaveCredit: DIY Beautify
Gingerbread was everywhere in the 90s, from cookie tins to wallpaper borders. A small shelf of gingerbread houses gives you that feeling without baking a thing.
Her magical gingerbread shelves use dollar store gingerbread houses, a salt dough gingerbread man garland and silver tinsel trees. She painted primitive cinnamon gingerbread men to go with them.
19. A bottle brush mantel with old mirrors
SaveCredit: Lora Bloomquist
A mantel lined with bottle brush trees in mixed sizes and colors looks just like the ones in old holiday catalogs. Pink, aqua and green together feel the most retro.
Her backdrop is three repurposed vintage dresser mirrors with painted chalkboards inside and stenciled stripes on the frames. Each mirror gets one special accessory, and the bottle brush trees fill in along the shelf.
20. A retro Christmas kitchen counter
SaveCredit: Lora Bloomquist
The kitchen is where Christmas really happens, so give it a little nostalgia too. Old crates, candles and tiny trees on the counter make it feel like Grandma’s.
Her retro nostalgic Christmas kitchen mixes thrifted finds and vintage pieces with bottle brush trees set on old spindles, greenery and twinkle lights. It is all secondhand, so it costs very little.
21. A light up Santa blow mold
SaveCredit: At Charlotte’s House
A glowing plastic Santa on the porch was the sign that Christmas had come to the neighborhood. They are back in stores again, and the old ones turn up at flea markets.
Her vintage Santa blow mold came from a flea market, and she added a pair of reindeer for the front lawn so he has someone waiting for him. Set him by the door next to a potted tree and a garland on the railing.
22. A vintage porch with a Santa sleigh
SaveCredit: Petticoat Junktion
The best 90s porches were a little bit junky in the most wonderful way. Old Seasons Greetings yard signs, a plastic Santa and a pair of folding chairs say it all.
She decorated in traditional red and green with vintage items, junk finds, old shutters and blow mold candles. Her Santa and reindeer sign set cost her $20, and she says she reuses things rather than buying new decorations.
23. A wooden Santa leaner and retro reindeer
SaveCredit: House of Hawthornes
A tall painted Santa by the front door is straight out of a 90s Christmas card. Add a couple of retro fawns and red plaid and you are done.
Her Santa is a reproduction wooden porch leaner, and the retro style metal reindeer yard stakes came from JoAnn Fabrics. She pushes pine clippings into her planters and waters them in, so the frozen soil holds the greens and the deer in place all winter.
24. Candy cane stripes and plaid on the porch
SaveCredit: Atta Girl Says
Red and white stripes with plaid is the classic 90s Christmas combination, and a porch is the perfect place to go big with it.
She used lots of candy cane stripes and plaid patterns with a touch of whimsy, hanging striped stockings from a black sideboard with a Santa’s Little Helpers sign above. Her porch is always a little more traditional and rustic than the rest of the house.
Final thoughts on getting the 90s Christmas look at home
Start with color. The 90s mixed bright red, green, gold and silver with a little burgundy and hunter green, and nobody worried about matching. Multicolor lights instead of warm white do more than anything else to bring the feeling back.
Shop secondhand first. Ceramic trees, Santa mugs, lighted village houses, glass ornaments and blow molds all turn up at thrift stores, estate sales and flea markets, often for a few dollars. Buy the chipped ones too, since you can turn the chip toward the wall.
Add something handmade every year. A popcorn garland, a paper chain or a batch of salt dough ornaments made with your kids is the part of a 90s Christmas they will remember.
90s Christmas aesthetic FAQ
What is the 90s Christmas aesthetic? It is the nostalgic, cozy look many of us grew up with. Think tinsel, multicolor lights, ceramic light up trees, lighted Christmas villages, Santa mugs, plaid, gingerbread and plenty of homemade ornaments.
What colors were popular for Christmas in the 90s? Classic red and green led the way, with gold and silver accents and a lot of burgundy, hunter green and plaid. Pink and aqua tinsel trees and ornaments are the retro favorites people love now.
Where can I find vintage 90s Christmas decorations? Thrift stores, estate sales, flea markets and online marketplaces carry ceramic trees, villages, Santa mugs and blow molds. Many stores also sell new reproductions, like ceramic trees and blow molds, every season.
How do I make my Christmas tree look nostalgic? Use multicolor lights, shiny glass ornaments in mixed colors, a few handmade ornaments and a good amount of tinsel hung after the ornaments. A popcorn and cranberry garland finishes it.
