We all love decorating Christmas trees with our families. Be it with baubles, ornaments, or lights, coordinating and styling the tree with loved ones is tons of fun. The tree is usually set up in the living room and is the centrepiece of your home for the festive period.
Before you begin, depending on your type of tree, you may need safety gloves for shaping the branches, scissors for materials or equipment, and a ladder or step stool for decorating larger trees, arranging decor, and placing the tree topper. Once you have those things ready, read on and find out how to decorate a Christmas tree.
1. Setting Up
Start by taking your tree out of the box or storage and placing it where it is most suitable, then fold out each of the branches. Be sure that all of the branches are folded out so that your tree looks full. Take a step back after arranging each layer to see if all the branches are sitting together nicely without any large gaps.
2. Christmas Lights
Next, you’ll want to add Christmas lights to your tree. Make sure they’re switched off while adding them. Start from the base of the tree and move to the top. It’s best to choose lights that will match the colour of your tree, and the lights should sit closer to the trunk of the tree to create a warm glow through the branches. Be sure to wrap the lights evenly so that there is no space between the branches. Many people love to wrap their tree in natural white lights, but you can choose a different colour, even a variety of them, based on your preferences.
3. Tinsel And Garlands
Now you can drape your Christmas Tinsel around the tree. Try to add a strand of tinsel to every second row from the bottom to the top of the tree. Tinsel can also be great for hiding the gaps between branches. Once again, the colour preferences are up to you, so have fun with it! Garlands are a bit more appealing than your regular tinsel; they come in so many styles that you can switch up your themes as the leafy green style matches most Christmas colours.
4. Add The Main Baubles
The core baubles are the ones in your main colour and are usually the largest in the set, or can be bought in large sets so that it’s easier to make a base for the rest of your decor. These baubles are often plain, but in a polished, matt or glitter finish. They are usually metallic and make the perfect foundation for more exciting shades. After that, you can start to layer other colour baubles spread out evenly throughout the rest of the branches, to ensure there aren’t too many of the same colour in one area.
5. Layer Ribbons
Layered decorative ribbons on your tree will be the perfect touch to lift the look. You can use either one kind of ribbon, or a pair of different textures and widths of ribbons for more impact. Ribbons with wired edges are easier for sculpting into rolls or bows, and the shape will hold better than those without wire.
6. Tree Picks
Christmas tree picks and floral sprays come in many forms – there are decorated branches, twigs, berries and pine cones, and they can be used as accents to complement your tree. Use floral wire to group picks together, adding more visual appeal and bits of colour to your tree without taking too much away from the other decorations. Choose picks with bendable stems to make them easier to shape and add them to wreaths and garlands.
7. Other Tree Decorations
Pick your favourite decorations and place them in prime areas of the tree where they will be the most visible. Your not-so-favourite decorations can be placed at the back of the tree where they won’t be seen in such detail. You’ll want to use smaller lighter ornaments at the top of the tree, and larger ornaments at the bottom of the tree. It’s best to try and fill in the gaps closer to the stem of the tree with decorations to create depth.
8. The Top Your Tree
At this point, you might have the last of your decorations for your Christmas tree, including the tree topper. You could go for the classic star, an angel, or any other large statement decoration of your choice to make your tree look a bit more interesting.
9. Adding Presents Underneath
Don’t forget the last and probably most vital step, adding presents underneath. Finish off your Christmas tree with a pile of neatly wrapped Christmas presents that everyone is eager to open. These are the ones that would have been wrapped early; wrapping gifts earlier on gives you more time to relax closer to Christmas day, instead of it being a big rush. So, make sure to add Christmas presents as soon as possible when the tree goes up.
Additional Tips For Decorating Your Christmas Tree
- Choosing a theme for your Christmas tree decorations can be a little difficult. You will want to choose a scheme or theme that suits your home’s decor and can last for years to come. Traditional styles tend to stay in fashion for longer than modern styles, and this saves you from having to buy new decorations every year.
- Tinsel is great, but there are lots of other garland types out there to style up your tree with. You can try metallic beaded garlands, mini pom-pom garlands, gemstone-style garlands, or artificial leaf garlands. If you don’t have enough for the whole tree, you can add a bunch of the same style garland to complete the look and fullness of your tree.
- Try adding standalone ornaments that can be paired with the rest of your decorations, such as colourful, blown glass ornaments with hand-painted designs, or embellished baubles.
- You may want to decorate your tree in accordance with your interior decor. Keep it simple and stick with more neutral tones to create a peaceful atmosphere.
Conclusion
We hope this article provided you with some inspiration on how to decorate your Christmas tree this year. Remember, after topping your tree, you can switch the lights on and take a look at your hard work, making sure that everything looks more or less even throughout the entire tree. Alternatively, if you have a potted Christmas tree, you’ll want to have a rug for it.
It’s good to note that while the tree usually goes up in the living room, it can also be placed in the dining room if you prefer, depending on the amount of space you have. If you haven’t put your tree up yet, you may want to find out when is a good time to put up your Christmas tree. Once that is out of the way, the rest of the decorations will be easier to put up accordingly throughout your home, and you can start to enjoy the holidays. Before your Christmas tree and decorations go up for the festive season, you may want to book a professional cleaning service with SweepSouth to start your decorating on the right foot.
