Do not fear, it will not be all Christmas content from here on out!! I had an office update I was planning on sharing with you first, but I got so excited about this that I had to share it first! Let me set the scene. You pull out your pre-lit Christmas tree (pre-lit because that totally makes life easier, pfff), fluff all your branches, and plug it in so you can bask in the beauty of your glowing tree. But… some of the lights are burnt out. No biggie, you’ll replace them and check fuzes. Still not working. So you add in some string lights to fill the dead spots. This cycle repeats for the next four years with more and more lights going out until you are completely and totally over it. Time to replace the tree. Find my dream tree. Dream tree is $3,000. Die a little inside. But, this is where my solution mindset kicks in. Here’s how I got the look of my dream micro LED light Christmas tree for $150. UPDATE: I’ve also linked to similar in stock lights at the end of the post.

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Tree Before

This first photo was from 2018 when I did a naked tree. Talk about easy! Anyway, I put it up here because you can get a better comparison with how the lights looked entirely lit up without ornaments.

And this photo is what I ended up with when I plugged it in a few days ago. Side note: look at my dog napping with his collection of antlers and chew toys, ha! Ok, back to the tree. My faux pre-lit Christmas was purchased years ago from a company that now no longer sells to the public. What I still loved about it was the slim profile and the realistic branches. I want to say I spent $300 on it when it was on sale?? The lights were just toast though. First thoughts were to take to the internet in search of a new pre-lit tree.

Inspiration Tree

While looking at replacement trees I found the most gorgeous pre-lit tree with these micro led cluster lights. SOOOO many teeny-tiny lights!! It looked magical. The price was less than magical. $3,000. FOR A FAKE TREE. That’s just absurd. But, I couldn’t get those beautiful lights out of my mind. So, here’s how I got the same look for wayyyyy less.

Tree After

I found the most perfect micro LED cluster lights and am so in love with them!!! They make it look like a high-end tree! You can see I still have the old lights on the tree in this photo below. I wanted to make sure the new lights looked good before undergoing the task of cutting off the dead pre-string lights. Rather than un-stringing what I just put up, my plan is to do that when I take the tree down.

The Micro LED Lights

Look how full the string of lights are! Due to their fullness it’s much easier to string an entire tree. I picked up three of these LED cluster light strings to fill my slim 9′ tree. Each string is 44′ (yes, 44 feet) long and have a 16′ long cord. They have 8 twinkle options including steady, and an 8 hour timer. These lights can also be used inside or outside.

My lights are currently on sale for $42.99. For three strings I was in under $150 with tax. While $150 spent on lights felt high, it was WAYYYY cheaper than purchasing my inspiration tree at $3,000. So I feel like this is a total win.

Important note:

These light strings CANNOT be plugged in end-to-end to each other. You will need to plug each string into an outlet (or extension cord). Initially I thought this was going to be a problem, but it wasn’t due to how long the cord is for each string.

I feel like they breathed new life into my old tree. Cannot wait to see it with our ornaments! I hope this gives you some inspiration for your Christmas tree if you find yourself in the same situation I was in. If you’re looking for more Christmas inspiration, check out these blog posts!

Sources

• Christmas tree – discontinued (found similar shape and style here)
• Micro LED cluster lights (If out of stock, try these, and these are similar)
• Tree collar