YAY for us!! im getting a tree for this first time this year to.Itll be a smallish one in my bacheloretter pad and I probably wont get any presents but im happy just to be having it.It makes me feel free .Im as excited as a little girl
I'm doing it, I'm buying a christmas tree!
by littlebird 22 Replies latest jw friends
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WTWizard
To properly decorate a 4- or 5-foot tree with maximum elegance for minimum cost, I recommend using 2-3 boxes of LED lights. Warm whites work best. Yes, it costs money for the lights, but LEDs are cheaper to run than incandescent lights and last longer. Try to get them inside the tree, but with only 2-3 boxes of 70 lights, that is not going to look that perfect. Now, run some beaded garland loosely around the perimeter, dropping a level each time you lap the tree, with the drop in the rear. Put a small star or angel (or topper of your choice) on the top. On a tree this size, an unlit topper is best.
Once the topper and garland are up, I recommend getting some branch picks near the top. These come in various colors--silver is most elegant. Use 6-8 of these picks near the top, inserting them around the upper branches and shoving the picks down into the tree. Now, place several large ornaments on a diagonal. With a 4 foot tree, two courses will suffice. A 5 foot tree will benefit from three courses. You can do this with as few as 5 or 6 large ornaments--for a tree this size, "large" is 4" or so. Using red bead garland, red or silver large ornaments will stand out.
With this done, place smaller ornaments on the tree. A tub of them should be enough for a tree 4-5 feet high, and should coordinate with the color of the remainder of the ornaments. Red, gold, and silver are most common. Place these liberally on the tree, evenly spacing them. They come in uniform shapes, as well as assorted shapes. I recommend an assortment. Then, place some poinsettia or bow ornaments on the tree. These should not be excessively large--mini bows 3-4" will do. Get about 10-12 of those and place them evenly on the tree. With a small tree, this should be plenty.
And don't be too hard on yourself if you do not achieve professional results your first time out. If the ornaments look lopsided, you can rearrange them. Most people make the mistake of not getting enough, resulting in a wimpy looking tree. You can add to it as your budget permits. Right now, all you are looking for is to slap the witlesses in the face and get a base course to build on next year.
Next year, or when you are ready to upgrade the tree, add more lights and ornaments. Keep in mind that, to properly light a 6 foot tree, you are going to need at least 600 mini LED lights (I recommend the 5 mm "wide angle" lights). Warm white gives you the professional department store look, but you can use whatever colors you damn well feel like. If you really want to go all out and you have a 8 foot tree, you can eventually work to a very professional-looking tree with as many as 80 boxes of lights (4,000 in all). Also, the surface to decorate increases with the square of the height, and the volume increases roughly with the cube of the height (which is why you need so many more ornaments for a 6 foot tree, at least 200 but even 300 can be used) than with a 4 foot tree, and a 8 foot tree can easily take more than 1,000 ornaments.
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myelaine
dear WTWizard...
more than 1000 ornaments?......80 boxes of lights?......
I went to the dollar store and bought some white feather boas to decorate our tree instead of bead garland...white snowflakes, red glass balls, yellow willow balls and the few decorations that the kids have made at school throughout the years should make for a nice tree this year.
dear littlebird...
you sound so excited and happy to be sharing this Christmas tradition now...I'm hoping that the joy and awe that surrounds the reason for this seasonal celebration would touch your heart deeply as well...luke 2:7, 2:11-14...xo
love michelle
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Palimpsest
WTWizard: Those must be some pretty intense trees you're putting together! ;) Most families that I know only use a couple dozen ornaments and a few strands of lights.
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littlebird
Wow Wiz, you sound like a professional, I love it.
Yep, Michelle, I love the reason for the season, I don't care if it isn't really his birthday,its joyous anytime! BTW, everyone is welcome to celebrate mine, anytime they want, lol.
Freedom, its fun, huh?
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ziddina
Good Grief, WTWizard...
As LittleBird said, that sounds like a professional job!!!
Me, I like things a bit more - homey...
I'm going to decorate our 6' tree with real peppermint candy canes, this year - if hubby will leave them alone... Our local "Snoop" - King Soopers - is having a "10 for $1" sale, and I've already bought 70 candy canes... Will see how many I have left, after I do a "peppermint candy cane" wreath, however...
Oh, well, at least they're cheap - dollar a box of 10 goes a LONG way...
[Oh, and I use a REAL tree, which is better for the environment, oddly enough... And BOY!!! Does it ever smell GOOD!!!!]
Zid
Pssssst!!! Palimpset!!!!! TOO MUCH TINSEL!!!!!
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GLTirebiter
I'm going to decorate our 6' tree with real peppermint candy canes, this year - if hubby will leave them alone
Dang it Zid, I thought I was done going to the grocery store this week--I knew I forgot something!
Idea: get a box of the little ones for snacking, so he doesn't have to raid the tree.
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ziddina
Yeah, GLTirebiter... A spare box might work...
He lost 50 pounds about 4 years ago, and has kept it off...
But every once in a while, he slips up... I think he's not pleased with the idea of having so much temptation hanging within easy reach.
I know!!! I'll smear them with cinnamon oil!!! THAT'LL keep him away from them!!
Well, I just asked him whether he likes cinnamon... He says, "Don't bother; I'll leave them alone..."
At least I won't have the smell of cinnamon overpowering the fragrance of the Christmas tree...
Zid
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garyneal
I just put up our tree. Planning to decorate it tomorrow. Then when we return from Thanksgiving, I will decorate the steps and the outside.
I'm going all out this year and I am having a blast with it. I hope my daughter will join in the fun.