When picking out your Christmas tree, whether real or fake, choose one that is about a foot to a foot and a half shorter than the top of your room to allow clearance for the tree topper. Also, Christmas trees can be five feet wide, so keep in mind the tree may fill most of the floor space in a small room. If it's a live tree, remember to trim enough branches from the bottom to make room for gifts.
First Step for Trimming a Christmas Tree: Lights
Once the Christmas tree is properly positioned in the house, many people are tempted to throw down the tree skirt. Wait. You will want to sweep up needles that fell during decorating, so save the skirt for next to last.
The first step when trimming a tree is to string the lights. Plug in the lights to make sure they work and string the tree with the lights lit so you can see how you are doing. A rule of thumb is that you'll need one strand of lights per foot of tree. Therefore, a six-foot tree requires six strings of lights. Start with the lights in the back near the base. Wind the lights not only over the outer edges but inward to give the tree depth. Move from outside to in and bottom to top in sections. This means you are decorating your tree bottom to top in strips and not all the bottom at once.
If you plan to use garland, ribbon, popcorn strings or the like, now is the time to put them up. After the lights are on, keep them lit as you decorate the rest of the tree. The garland should wind around each row of branches with graceful folds and bends and not stretched tight. Tinsel is also best placed after the lights have been strung and before the ornaments are in place.
The Best Way to Hang Decorations
Whether your ornaments are homemade, heirlooms, or store bought, there are a few rules to make them look their best.
First, hang ornaments that require placement next to lights. Certain ornaments glow, sparkle, and shine when placed on branches that allow them to dangle next to or in front of lights. Space these evenly across the tree. Next, choose ornaments that are breakable and place them on the top half of the tree, out of reach of little hands, paws, or teeth.
Fill in the rest of the decorations, evenly spacing ornaments of the same color and style. Place oversized ornaments closer to the bottom where they will not stick out awkwardly. Stand back every few minutes to see where the bare spaces are. You have too many decorations if you need to place more than one ornament on a single branch. Consider paring down your collection or investing in a second tree in another room. You have too few ornaments if your ornaments are spaced more than 9 inches apart. This will also vary slightly depending on the size of your tree.
Putting the Final Touches on Your Christmas Tree
After the decorations, it is finally time for the Christmas tree skirt. Your Christmas tree skirt should be wide enough to hide the tree stand but not so wide that it peeks out from under the tree. You don't want it to be stepped on, tripped over, or accidentally tugged, toppling the tree. Lastly comes the Christmas tree topper.
Now turn off the lights, sip a little cider or eggnog, and enjoy your perfect tree!
