Decorating your Christmas Tree

Finally, Christmas time is here! So what are you doing about getting a tree? Is it packed away in a box in the back room waiting to be dusted off and put together? Well get cracking, because without that lovely tree in (or around) your home, you just won’t feel that Christmas spirit. After all, when friends and family visit, the tree is the one thing that gets a lot of attention besides your food, and well…it’s where they can find their presents. So here’s what. You need to decorate this Christmas symbol and decorate it well. 

 

THE TREE

First things first, you need to figure out the colour of the Christmas tree you would like to get. Now, there are artificial trees of many colours: white, silver, blue, red and even pink. Don’t choose something that will clash with your walls and if you’re not used to change or anything outlandish, you can stick to the (ever)green tree. 

 

Before you purchase a tree, you should figure out where you’re going to place it. It makes no sense buying a huge tree that will make your living room look cramped. If you’re renting and you’ll be moving after a while but you still wish to get that Christmas spirit into your living space then you can get a tabletop tree. Of course, if you live in a mansion (or just a big house…lol) and there is all that lovely space, you should get a large tree. A small tree in such a large space would just get lost. 

 

You would also need to consider the height of the tree so before going to shop for that tree, be sure to measure ceiling to floor. One more thing you may need to consider if you’re like me and have very little patience is how you’re going to put up the tree. I bought a Christmas tree and was really excited about it and by the time I got home and set it up I was too tired to put the decorations on. The tree stayed like that for quite some time. You need to find out how the tree mounts. Is it easy and you just stick two or three parts together, or is it like my tree, will make you pull your hair out with a thousand parts that YOU have to put together ALL BY YOURSELF?

 

THE LIGHTS

For busy folks (and yes, lazy folks) there are pre-lit Christmas trees. If you’re like me however, and prefer to frustrate yourself untangling the lights, you’ll know that shopping for Christmas tree lights is no easy task. 

Many people prefer multi-coloured, blinking lights while others prefer just one colour of lights that don’t blink all the time. It really is up to you, however, if you’re going with a red tree, don’t go with red lights, choose lights that will “lift” the tree. 

Next, you need to figure out how many strings of lights you’ll need. You don’t want to be running to the store to get more strings. This way you risk the lights being sold out. Also, you need to consider how far the tree is from the power outlet, because many people don’t consider this and end up spending more on extension cords. Tsk, tsk…

Most importantly… check the lights to see if they’re working before you leave the store; just ask the clerk to test them for you and let them run for about a minute or two. Also, you need to ensure the lights are the colour and style you want. There are many colours and many styles of bulbs that are available now, from cherries to stars, so be sure to determine what type of bulb you would like to get before making a purchase. 

If you would like to save and you want fancy lights at the same time, I suggest you go to a couple stores and compare prices. This might help you to not only save money but it could help you to make a decision when you see the different styles.

 

THE DECORATIONS

Now for the exciting part… the decorations! There are many types of decorations from balls to stars to reindeer to flowers to ribbons to Santa to candy canes... you name it, it is available! You can place different types of decorations on your tree or you can go with balls only. If you go this way you can go with big balls only or small balls only (or both). You can even go with balls and ribbons only or balls and flowers only. For the top of the tree you can go with the traditional star or an angel or you can even work on your own personalized tree top decoration. The choice is really yours when it comes to decorating your tree. 

 

When decorating, do it in layers. Hang large ornaments first in main areas in the tree and then fill in the rest of the tree with the smaller decorations. If you’re using ribbon, try to match it with the colour of your walls and add brighter coloured decorations on the tree. You can choose copper and teal ribbons and decorations and spice it up by adding glitter and greenery. Also, if your tree looks scanty, you can purchase tree fillers which are becoming brighter and more beautiful every year.

 

 

If you’re a Go-Green person and you wish to protect the environment and save a little, here are some decorating ideas for you:

 

• Decorated CDs – You can use glitter and stickers to decorate the CDs or just string a bunch of them so the lights of your home and tree can reflect off them.

• Paper Snowflakes – you can find out how to make these online, just Google it.

• Christmas Card Banner – On a wall, string together some old Christmas Cards. It may serve as a conversation piece.

• Old gifts – using old gift paper and any empty boxes, you can simply wrap the boxes and place them under the tree or you can place smaller boxes (like the boxes used for matches) on the tree itself.