Tips For Creating A Beautiful Outdoor Christmas Tree
Did you know that the tradition of decorating the outdoor Christmas tree began way back in 1912? This is when the very first outdoor Christmas tree was adorned with beautiful sparkling lights and displayed in Boston, Massachusetts. It was then that the idea caught on in the rest of the United States. After WW1, the tradition traveled throughout Europe and Canada, where they still carry on the tradition. Now, not only do we use lights for the indoors during the holiday season, we carry on the tradition and create the beauty through illumination to celebrate this most wonderful Christmas holiday season.
Be Safe This Christmas
As you are decorating for the holidays, remember to be safety conscious, have your decorating well planned, with all the tools you need and using safe and proper equipment. It is important to make sure that you are careful when working with electricity in the winter moisture, as we know, water and electricity don't mix very well. Keep your wire ends and connections up and away from any snow or puddles. Use outdoor Christmas tree lights and extension cords that are UL approved. If you are using them from the year before, check for frayed wires or worn spots before using them again.
Make sure you are using an outlet that is grounded, one that has an outdoor GFCI outlet (ground fault circuit interrupter). These are designed specifically for protection from shock or electrocution. If you don't have one, you should consider having one installed by a certified electrician. Getting injured while putting up your outdoor Christmas tree would not be cool.
Do you have hedges or a walkway with an arch? If you do, you can create a beautiful arbor of twinkling lights with just a few set of the small outdoor Christmas tree lights. If you don't have an arch, you can make one using pieces of dried grapevine which you can find at any craft store. Just bend the branches, they are very flexible, and attach them to your hedges or or through an archway or porch, with the lights weaved through.
What About The Outdoor Christmas Tree?
There are many homes filled with lovely trees that are perfect for decorating at Christmas time. If you have any evergreen varieties, these make beautiful outdoor Christmas trees. Evergreens are great for any yard, Christmas time or not, for the beautiful color they provide over the winter months when everything else is dormant and bare.
As you decorate your outdoor Christmas tree, it is best to use the smaller lights rather than the larger C7 and C9's. The reason is the lights are cooler and won't damage the fragile needles on your tree. Feel free to use a lot of lights, as long as you are going with the smaller ones.
Feel free with your lights, drape them through bushes, shrubs, windows, doors, railings, as well as your roof line. There are a variety of hooks and clips to help you with this task, even wire if needed. Be careful as you drive tacks or hooks, not to put one through any wires.
An idea for those of you who don't have any trees in your yard, you can make your own outdoor Christmas tree by using tomato cages from the garden. Clean them well with the hose, then take some electrical tape to connect the tops together. You can use a strand of 50 lights and run it along from top to bottom all around the cone. You can attach the lights with Baggie ties. When you have 3 or 4 clustered together, they look elegant and simply beautiful. If you don't have any tomato cages, you may be able to find them now at the local garden center. You will end up with a outdoor Christmas tree that you designed.
Merry Christmas!
