Christmas Tree Decorations
The Christmas tree, the center of your focus in your home, the traditions, the beauty, the magic it encompasses, and magic it creates. How can you get the look and feel of the professional Christmas tree decorations you see in the department store windows? Well, I have a few tips to share with you, and you will be amazed that it is not as difficult as you thought.
1. Choose Your Tree - Some like real, some like fake, whatever your preference, does not really matter, but what you want to look for is a fat tree, one that is round and has some space between the branches. You need the space to hang your Christmas tree decorations so people can see them. If you have a fake tree, and want the smell of fresh pine, you can place pine-cones among your tree, tying them too the branches.
2. Lights - You want to make sure you have enough lights to cover the tree. The amount of lights you need will be determined by how many ornaments you plan to use. If you are using a lot of ornaments, you will need fewer lights, creating a sparkle effect. I prefer to bury the lights inside the branches, and the easiest way I have found is to add the lights wrapping them around each branch,as I assemble the tree. You can't really wrap the lights around the branches of real tree, so burying them deeper into the branches works well. To have the lights deeper within the tree brings more beauty and magic.
3. Garland - Garland is a beautiful compliment of color and style to your tree and a very important addition to your Christmas tree decorations. This is where you can really display your decorating style. Once the lights are on the tree, drape the garland around the tree dropping generous portions of ribbon, creating deep swags between the tree branches in a free flowing manner. A good choice of ribbon is something that will reflect the lights, some beads, or if you want to go with a more natural look, you can go with popcorn and cranberries strung on fishing line. You can also make some loose bows with lengths of jute of hemp, creating a natural or southwestern look. You want your Christmas tree decorations to stand out.
4. Ornaments - If you are going for the department store look, you will want to go with a particular theme. This is when you go with a definite color scheme, such as red and gold, or maybe you want to go all white. Whatever you choose, keep the same theme with the garland and ornaments. Some ideas are White and Gold with crystal bells and ornaments. I typically have a tree that I have decorated in a beautiful Christmas theme, then I have a tree that my kids have fun decorating with Christmas tree decorations they have made in school and collected over the years. Then there are years where the only tree is the kids tree, and it is by far, the most decorated tree yet. This is when it is really fun to see the creative ideas the kids can come up with for their Christmas tree decorations.
5. Tree topper - You can choose anything you want to put on top of your tree, the key here is to make sure it is large enough to gain attention. You don't want your topper to be competing with the other Christmas tree decorations.
6. Tree Skirt- This is the finishing touch, the place where all the beautiful gifts will be laid. There are tree skirts that are elegant and very costly, but if you don't want to spend a lot, you can start with a circle of beautiful cloth, sew some ribbon around the edge, then you will have a beautiful finishing touch, bringing a bit of elegance and charm. Find wrapping paper that will blend with the skirt and ribbon on the tree, then you will have the most beautiful Christmas tree decorations, and creating a beautiful memory of your Christmas holidays.
To set things off with a final, true Christmas spirit, I place a porcelain nativity under one side of the tree on the tree skirt. This is of course the reason for the season, and the ultimate finish for my Christmas tree decorations.
Merry Christmas!
