Some Christmas trees look absolutely stunning, while others just look sad. I think Christmas tree decorating is about balancing the Christmas spirit with the natural beauty of your tree, or at least a good facsimile of one. It’s all about the right tree and the right decorations.
Pick your tree…
Whether it is a real tree or a fake tree, the tree is the base of your perfectly decorated Christmas tree. When looking for a real tree, think of the where it will be placed. The height of the room and which sides of the tree will be facing a wall, if any, are important considerations. From there, narrow it down to trees that are the right height, I mean, you wouldn’t want to put a 7 foot tree in a 6 foot tall room would you?
Choose a tree that is as full as possible. If one looks great from the front, but is not so good in the back, it’s still okay to choose that one, if the tree will not be visible from the back. Otherwise, choose one that is full all around.
When it comes to fake trees, use the same criteria, but make sure you are able to see a sample on display before purchasing the boxed artificial tree. Trust me on that one!
It’s all about the lights…
Christmas tree decorating requires lights. There are two standard types of tree lights. There are multi-colored lights that have red, blue, green and yellow and there are white lights. Multicolored lights are great for trees with lots of colors. White works for tree color schemes that are subtler and have one consistent color scheme. When wrapping, make sure each row of lights is the same distance apart. I like to put my lights deep inside the branches for a glow effect.
Ribbon, tinsel or garland?
Theres more ways to wrap your tree in color and those are ribbon, tinsel or garland. Garland and tinsel are colorful and fluffy and usually metallic. When the right color is chosen, it works for any palette. Ribbon is classic and subdued, and kind of difficult to drape on the tree. However, ribbon comes in a seemingly endless variety of colors and patterns.
No matter which is chosen, it should complement the chosen color scheme, be it blue and gold, silver and gold, red and green, red and gold or every color under the sun. Wrap your tinsel, garland and ribbon between the rows of lights, how pretty!
The icing on the cake… Christmas ornaments!
Next to the lights on my tree, Christmas tree ornaments are my favorite Christmas decoration! I like my Christmas tree to have have an eclectic mix of ornaments. I collect ornaments from year to year for my tree, to me, having decorations from seasons past is all part of the fun.
You may like a more subdued look for your tree. A great way to make sure your ornaments don’t detract from the overall look of your tree, is to get a few simple sets of ornaments that lend color continuity. For example, a tree with a blue and gold color scheme could have two sets of glass bells scattered among the branches, one blue and one gold, perhaps.
Above everything else, just have fun with it!