Christmas Decorations.How to Decorate a Christmas Tree.

Christmas is a time when the decorations help to create a festive atmosphere in your home, nothing contributes more to the seasonal feeling than the family Christmas tree.

Selecting a Christmas tree and decorating it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. By following a few simple steps you can save time, effort and possibly money and finish up with a better looking Christmas tree than if the task had been tackled haphazardly.

The simplest way to start decorating your tree is to form an idea of what you want your tree to look like this Christmas. To do this you might need to ask yourself some questions and make some choices before you make a start.

A real or artificial Christmas Tree?

When selecting a tree remember real trees often drop pine needles so pets need to be considered and small children. This is also an important factor in choosing tree decorations glass ones are often not a good idea in a house with pets or children.

• Firstly do you want a real tree or would you prefer to use an artificial one?
• If you are using an artificial tree do you need to buy a new one this year; or do you have a family favourite that is safely stored away waiting to be 'brought to life' with this year's colorful Christmas decorations.

If you are buying a real tree remember before you set off to purchase it that it is a good idea to know what size tree you are looking for and the location you will be putting it in. In the excitement of buying this years tree it can be easy to under or over estimate the size if tree that you need to buy. It is not an enjoyable task having to cut down to size a tree that you have just bought and proudly transported home; because it is too tall for the room. A tree can also be too wide for the location if it causes problems when people walk past it so the circumference of the tree you purchase needs to be considered as well as the height of it.

You will need some thing to stand the tree in and to contain the roots if it does not come complete with pot. The weight of this needs to be considered, as it is not uncommon for a top heavy tree to tipple over. When buying a real tree timing is important as you need it to look fresh over the important days of Christmas and in the heat of the house a tree will sometimes start to shed its 'needles' before Christmas morning.

Come Christmas morning It does not really matter if the gifts are stacked beneath a real tree or an artificial one as long as the tree looks good it will provide an attractive backdrop to the day.

Once you have a real or an artificial tree and you know where you are going to position it in the house you can start planning how you will decorate it.

Remember to put the tree in a safe location close to an electrical power supply for the Christmas lights. Trailing wires are a trip hazard and when adding lights to the tree these should be safely located and positioned out of the way.

Before the lights to the Christmas tree remember to check that they work and that there are no loose bulbs. It is never easy to discover you have a set of lights perfectly positioned on the tree but that they will not light up. I had this happen one year and it is not a good start to decorating your tree.

• Select your tree.
• Pick a colour scheme and gather together your tree, decorations and lights.

How to decorate your Christmas Tree.

1. Check to lights work and that you have put the tree in a place where the power supply is easy to access.
2. Once the tree is in position, tweak and adjust the branches until they look as natural as possible if they are artificial or if real face the best side of the tree to the room and the less attractive side of the tree to the back.
3. Place the Christmas lights in position on the tree, unwind them slowly and move them about until they rest on the branches in the correct place and look just right.

I think that they look best if are not near the very tips of the branches nor tucked too far into the centre of the tree; but it is a matter of personal choice really.

White lights look wintry and add sparkle and twinkle to the tree's decorations red lights look festive with the green foliage of the tree and multi-colored lights are always popular.

Trim your Christmas Tree with the baubles and decorations.

Now start to add your Christmas tree decorations, you can tie them on with thread or use little hooks and commercially produced hangers, or add color to the tree by tying the baubles on with gold or silver or colored gift ribbon; if it is too wide split it to retain a dainty look, the advantage of this idea is that you can vary the length of the ribbons to make the baubles hang at different depths from the tree branches.

It is easier to start adding the decorations at the bottom of the tree and to work your way upwards using smaller baubles on the tree branches as you get higher up. Finally add your tree topper or angel and then add any extras like tinsel.

Are you are going for the old traditional style of tree where all the family favourites and heirloom decorations are used on the tree? I believe there is nothing wrong with this 'more the better style' if that is what makes the family happy.

If you are not using an assortment of different colored baubles and decorations on the tree you will need to pick a color theme for your Christmas tree.

Here are some color scheme ideas for Christmas decorations:

• Red and Gold.
• Green and Red.
• Gold and silver.
• Silver and red.
• Peacock colours of blue and green shades.
• White and silver.
• Gold and silver.
• Gold and green.
• Copper and gold.

When using a restricted color scheme it is nice to vary the size and shape of the tree decorations to add an extra interest to it. For example a tree with white Christmas decorations such as baubles all white but some satin finish, some pearly and some shiny white can look lovely with gold stars and white lights. At night when lit this tree stands out so looks good in a window setting.

If you have bought a pure white tree or a modern colored tree such as red, purple or black then it is usually better to decorate it in a modern way not with the traditional assortment of colored decorations. Pink a color theme that goes well with the color of the tree and use that one color for all the decorations you use on it. Some ideas are white+red, purple+white, white+silver, purple+white, purple+silver, black +white, black+silver are modern color themes.

Whatever way you decide to decorate your tree - have fun decorating it and enjoy your Christmas.

If the idea of using natural decorations on your Christmas tree there are several ideas you can use.

• Pine cones can be used to decorate the tree.

You can paint the pine cones or use them plain. If you paint them use colors that go with the other decorations used. Pine cones with 'dabs' of white paint look nice as it can have the appearance of snow on the cones. Silver or gold cones scattered on the boughs of the tree can look pretty when the Christmas lights are on. I prefer natural colored pine cones as they are in keeping with the theme of my tree.

You can tie the pine cones onto the end of the branches or near to the middle of the tree, but resting them on the branches of a larger tree looks pretty.

• Bundles of greenery.

Use bits of greenery such as holly with its red berries and ivy tied with a pretty ribbon or gardening raffia, Hang them from the tree or rest them on the branches. This decoration is not a good idea for households with pets or small children as the berries might look like something tasty to eat.

• Tie some nuts to the tree.

Use larger nuts such as walnuts or almonds tie these with raffia or ribbons and then tie them to the tree. The way you tie them is to wrap the ribbon tightly around them and then loop the ribbon over the branches. If you find this difficult wrap them in a gold or red net fabric and tie this at the top with ribbon before adding them to the tree.