How To Decorate A Christmas Tree

This article is a crash course in how to decorate adecorations.
christmas tree. Your first step is to choose eitherOf course, christmas decorations don't have to be
a natural or artificial tree. Keep in mind that aexpensive. You can make your own out of paper
natural evergreen tree only comes in one color -that is cut into the shape of snowflakes and other
green. Artificial trees however are now sold inxmas themes. Candies (especially the candy
practically every color of the rainbow. Justcane), apples, oranges and cookies (especially
remember, whatever color you choose willgingerbread cookies) can also be used as xmas
become your canvas for adding more color in thedecorations. Red christmas trees look especially
form of garlands, tinsel and decorations.good decorated with white shortbread cookies
Your second step is deciding which color schemesdecorated with glitter. White christmas trees look
go best with what color of tree. Green Christmasgreat decorated with home made presents made
trees, both natural and artificial, look best withfrom tiny boxes wrapped in shiny foil.
primary colors such as green, blue and red. WhiteAnother decoration to consider is tinsel. Strands
christmas trees look best with a red theme, pinkof tinsel can be hung from the branches to
theme, a gold theme or a silver theme or anysimulate icicles. One tip when hanging tinsel is to
combination of the above. Blue Christmas treeshang it in clumps from the edges of the branches.
look best with gold or silver decorations. RedHanging single or just a couple of strands all over
Christmas trees look great with green or pinkthe tree makes it look messy.
decorations.The fifth step when it comes to decorating a
The third step in this course about how tochristmas tree is to choose some kind of tree
decorate a christmas tree is about lighting. If youtopper. Commercially you can buy tree-toppers in
are going to buy a natural tree you will need tojust about every Christmas motif imaginable
buy a strand of bulbs or diodes. Traditional strandsincluding angels, snowmen, teddy bears and of
of christmas bulbs come in a variety ofcourse, the Christmas star. You can buy
decorative shapes and sizes including the vintagechristmas tree toppers that glow with fiber optic
egg shape, tiny twinkling lights and rope lights.diodes that twirl, play tinkly music and blink on and
However if you buy an artificial tree you may beoff. However it is not hard to make your own
able to get one that is prelit. The prettiest prelitchristmas tree topper. Perhaps the simplest
christmas trees boast fiber optic needles that giveversion is a cardboard star that is wrapped in tin
the tree a glow of its own. Especially gorgeousfoil. Sometimes the home made decorations and
are the white christmas trees that boast fibertree toppers have more sentimental value than
optics at their tips. These trees remind manythe store bought ones.
people of angel feathers.The sixth step in this crash course on how to
The fourth step is investigating the types ofdecorate a christmas tree is to make sure you
decorations that are available to you. The mostdisguise the base of the tree with some kind of
basic is the garland. A garland is simply any kind ofChristmas tree skirt. This is simply a mat that is
strand of objects that can be used to circle thedraped around the base and on the floor. It can
tree. You can make a garland yourself out ofbe made out of shiny or velvet fabric or you can
cooked popcorn, holly berries or candy. You canbuy commercially made ones that feature xmas
also use a long length of ribbon and attach bowsmotifs in stores and online. Some tree skirts can
to it. Of course there are all types of garlandsbe quite ornate, decorated with sequins and
available commercially on the market. Mostembroidery. However their original function was to
popular are the garlands made of furry bunchescatch the candle drippings from candles on the
of white or gold tinsel. Red and green tinseltree and catch any dropping needles from natural
garlands can look especially nice on whitechristmas trees.
christmas trees.Another interesting addition, especially if you are a
If you are traditionally minded you might want toChristian is to place a small nativity scene beneath
consider decorating your tree with glass christmasthe Christmas tree on the mat. You can buy
balls. These are either hand blown or created in aChristmas nativity scenes made of wood, metal
factory. Many of them are painted and decoratedor plastic. Also popular is a toy train set that runs
with glitter. You can buy these as globes, flutes,in a circle around the Christmas tree.
tubes and also in the shape of musicalA seventh and final consideration when it comes
instruments, angels and other Christmas themes.to how to decorate your christmas tree is a
However if you have small children, you mightpractice called flocking. Flocking is fluffy white
want to opt for the plastic versions of thesestuff, kind of like silly string that is sprayed all
decorative balls as they don't shatter if they fallover the tree to simulate snow. This gives just
off the tree.about any tree a real 50's or country style feel
An important tip to remember when decoratingand it is very unique to tree decorating traditions
trees with glass balls is to place the largerin the United States and Canada. However it is
ornaments at the bottom of the tree and thenot recommended for artificial white christmas
smaller ones at the top. This helps keep the totaltrees as the effect would be a little bit of overkill.
effect of the tree in a pleasing proportion to the