Decorating a Christmas Tree

Christmas is fast looming & it is an opportune time to look at just how to decorate a Christmas tree.

Before you begin, decide on what style you will go with. Classic/traditional or festive. Classic/traditional tend to just stick with two or three colours & shapes where festive use a whole range of colours & shapes. There is no right or wrong way, it comes down to personal preference.

Real or fake?

The first decision you have to make is weather you will use a real or fake tree. There are pros & cons to both.

Real trees look beautiful, they smell beautiful but there is the problem of falling needles & disposing of the tree once Christmas is over.

Fake trees aren't as beautiful, but can be used year after year.

You will need:

• Lights
• Baubles & decorations
• Tinsel (optional).

Decorating the tree:

Obviously, the first thing to do is set up the Christmas tree. Preferably close to a power point so that you can easily plug in the Christmas lights.

If the tree is tall (or you are short), use a chair for the higher levels of the tree.

Lights:

These should go on first. Before you put them on the tree, plug them into the power to check for blown bulbs. Replace if necessary. You should allow around 100 lights per vertical foot of tree. So, a 6 foot tree would have 600 lights (or thereabouts).

Begin at the bottom of the tree and working from the inside out, winding the lights around the tree as you work your way towards the top. Make sure the lights are evenly distributed & there are no gaping black holes left. Don't forget to wind some of the lights deeper into the tree to create depth.

Once you have applied the lights, turn them on & check the arrangement, make any adjustments if necessary.

Garland:

Next to go on is the garland. Garlands come in all shapes & sizes from thick foil to the thinner bead type garlands.

Starting at the top of the tree, just below where your angel or star will go, begin to add the garland working downwards. For best results, gently place it on the branches creating a swag (drooping) effect. The swag depends on the size of your tree, the larger the tree, the larger the swag should be.

Baubles and ornaments:

Pick a colour theme in which the colours compliment each other. I generally stick to two or three colours that compliment each other such as red & gold. As a general rule, allow 12 filler ornaments for every vertical foot of tree & 10 special ornaments for every 2 vertical feet of tree.

Larger ornaments should be further down the tree & smaller ones higher up.

Add the baubles evenly over the tree. Don't forget to add them to the inner branches to create depth. I generally place the smaller ones inside & the larger ones further towards the outer portion of the branch.

Baubles usually have either a thread or a wire to hang them to the tree. If you are using the wire hooks, pinch them onto the branch to make them more secure. You can also turn the outer tip of the branch upwards to keep it secure.

If you have young children or pets, keep your more treasured baubles/ornaments higher up the tree.

Angel or Star:

This goes on last, at the top of the tree.

Christmas tree safety:

• Never leave lights on & plugged in when you are not home.
• Don't use multiple extension cords to plug in lights.
• Be careful using tinsel if you have pets.
• Don't hang ornaments from the light strands.