How do you hang string lights to ensure even illumination and prevent tangling? How do you hang Christmas balls? How do you choose your ornaments and place them first or last? In what order do you decorate your tree? Share your tips, tricks, and hacks for a perfect tree.
I had one of those Grinch machine guns.
First, I untangle the lights, then gather them and roll them up so I can move around the tree. I connect the lights to the extension cord that will connect them to the wall, starting from the bottom. The top is lit, so I connect it to the top end of the garland. Once the lights are finished, I hang the garland and then the ornaments. Once the tree is decorated, I can return it to the corner. I keep it away from the wall while I decorate and don’t worry about decorating the back with ornaments, since no one sees them.
I use two sets of lights to illuminate the entire tree. I assemble the tree, wrap the lights around it, and move them a little closer to the center. I hang the baubles, making sure that the same colors don’t touch. I hang jingle bells in all the open spaces. I wrap strips of gold beads around the tree and place a star at the top. The skirt, then the train and tracks. He stands back to admire and yells, “Why is it all crooked?” He wrestles with the tree. Sometimes I place the tree on a towel. That way, I can easily slide it back and forth for vacuuming and mopping. The skirt hides the towel.
Well, first we put on Christmas music. Then we set up the artificial tree and branches. I turn the tree over and put up the lights. It doesn’t work, so my husband tries his peculiar way of “taking them down.” Then I start over. I step away and say, “Yeah, it works,” and eat chocolate chip cookies. Then our son comes home from school, and now that the boring stuff is over, he helps me hang the balls, etc. He makes sure they hang and aren’t touching any branches. He makes sure none of them are too close. He eats the chocolate ornaments while he hangs the regular ones. He puts the snowman on top, and my husband holds it up and says how cute it is. Then we get busy making things like mantel ornaments, window decorations, and my son’s snowball collection hangs in his room. Then we watch Christmas TV with whatever was in the slow cooker while we do it.
The large balls are found at the bottom of the tree and the size of the balls gradually decreases as you go up the tree.
First I make the lights, then the garlands, then the large ornaments to hang, the small ornaments to fill, and finally the picks.
First, of course, the lights. Connect them, starting at the back on the bottom row. Work your way around each branch from back to front, working around and up, not forgetting the back. I use five boxes of 100 lights on my 6-foot tree, two boxes of 100 lights, and one box of 50 lights on my 6-foot pencil tree. Next, the general-purpose baubles, which fit the tree tightly, even indoors, and cover any gaps. These reflect the lights, so don’t skimp, but don’t take valuable money from the farm either. Next, the more difficult baubles, and then any specialty ornaments. Take advantage of special spots where the lights seem to shine through a gap or point in the branches. Use the branches to your advantage; they can be bent in any direction you like. Next comes the ribbon and/or garland. Some people like the ribbon first, which is perfectly fine; it just depends on the look you’re trying to achieve. Now you can attach anything, like birds, small animals, or things like that. You can also add a skirt or a necklace. I prefer necklaces because I have a lot of trees. It makes everything look neater. And there you have it: a tree.
My mother always said people should discover something new every time they look at the tree. That’s why I always add ornaments under the top layer. Plus, in Malaysia, we can’t always get real trees when we have to use artificial ones. I wrap a gold garland around the trunk to hide the joints between the branches and reflect more light.
Make sure you space the decorations evenly around the tree. But whether you do it or not, my dad will remind you, because the tree fell over more than 30 years ago. It was probably because it was too top-heavy and not properly positioned in the stand, but it doesn’t matter.
Place lights inside the tree to create a glow from within. Use twice as many as you need. I added programmable string lights to my pre-lit tree. Don’t wrap the lights completely around the tree, just from one side to the other. This will make them easier to remove.
1 First, my partner sets up the tree and shakes the branches. I like to hang the lights from top to bottom, making sure they’re evenly spaced. Some lights aren’t perfectly spaced, so I leave them as is. Then, my partner and I do a quick check for gaps. We don’t think too much about it, but we make sure everything looks bright and festive. 2 Next, we hang the ornaments, starting with the largest near the center of the tree and the smallest closer to the ends of the branches. I avoid hanging two ornaments of the same color next to each other and make sure they hang freely. 3 We usually use a star or angel at the top, but this is always the last thing we hang. It’s the finishing touch, and I love seeing the decorated trees. Since we’re doing something special this year, a photo of my grandparents will hang at the top, with pictures of my mom and dad, aunts and uncles next to the ornaments, and the grandchildren at the bottom. It’s like a family Christmas tree. I hope my grandparents enjoy the surprise when they come.
Lights for two. Mine are on spools so they don’t get tangled, and we unroll them while we’re putting together the tree. The baubles are hung according to their sentimental value. The ones we care about most are placed in the ribbon positions. The filler ornaments go on the back of the tree. We also hang them after the lights because it’s a star of light. It always had stars at the top. If we had one that wasn’t lit, it was lit last. Lights, then ornaments, then beaded garlands, then ribbons, then lace, if necessary. We cut the ribbon into 7-meter pieces and tuck them into the tree so it looks like it’s woven through the entire tree. This is my best tip.
First the lights, then the plastic decorations on the bottom because they are cats, then all the other decorations like bows or berry branches, etc. If anyone has any tips on how to put the lights up quickly or evenly, I would appreciate it, lol.
Adults or older teens turn on the lights, and the kids stay there until they lose interest. For no reason at all.
I currently have an artificial tree, but with a dollar, I make lights first (100 lights per base) and then decide which ornaments I’ll use each year. I hang the same sentimental ornaments every year, but I change the others. I tie them with cable ties instead of hooks. I don’t have lace, garland, or ribbon; I never know how to make them pretty.