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Christmas Decorations
There is a nip in the air, carols come floating in from somewhere afar, it is Christmas time. A time to celebrate and enjoy with friends and family, and a time to decorate the house. Lights, color, ornaments, wreaths, the Christmas tree and the star all form part of the festive decorations.
You’ll find a variety of decorative items in the market, from the fancy lights to musical decors and much more. But the best décor is the one that you create, after all the spirit of Christmas is all about being together, caring and sharing. So get together the entire family and the cutters, papers, glitters and glue and have your best Christmas ever.
THE STARWrapping paper, cardboards and some string is all you need for the Star. Cut out a huge cardboard star and make a hole on the top. Cover the cardboard with foil for a Silver Star or flashy red paper. Use a brush to paint glue in any pattern on the star and spread the glitter over it. After it dries, dust off the excess glitter. Attach the string and hang the star at the portico, windowsill or anywhere you wish.
THE WREATH
The wreath is a symbol of hope and is made of evergreen leaves. A bright red ribbon tied around the wreath, with a huge bow gives the additional touch to Christmas décor. You can even add hollies and bells in the wreath. Place the wreath on the mantle or mount it on the wall.
If you do not have a wreath, you can tie together the boughs of any evergreen tree with a red ribbon and place it on the mantle. Add some glitter, ornaments, and hollies along with some cotton to complete the look. You can light candles around the decorated bough or the wreath placed on the table.
The Christmas tree
What is a Christmas without the Christmas tree? The scent, aroma of the real Christmas trees have been an integral part of the celebrations as well as of the family unit since yore. The celebrations usually begin with the selection of the tree, and carries on with the decorations till the day of Christ, when all the revelry takes place in front of this very tree. Gifts are placed under the tree, as family and friends gather around to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Choosing the Tree
You don’t really need a huge seven feet one, even a small one, about 2 feet high is enough to brighten up your Christmas decorations. Before you venture out to buy that “perfect tree” you’ll need to decide where it will fit in your house. Both the ceiling height and the width of the space make a difference in the choice of the tree. If you have a stand, measure the diameter of the trunk that the stand can hold. And make sure you buy the tree according to your requirements. Carry the measuring tapes, if the need be.
Avoid placing the tree near a heat source or where someone might bump into it or trip on the light cords. Make sure that stand is not wobbly and can hold the tree upright. If you are getting a real tree, the stand should be big enough to hold enough water to avoid frequent refills
While choosing a real tree, the ones with smaller needles are better as they are easier to decorate. Make sure that there is adequate space between the branches so that the decorations hang straight and not at an angle. The tree should be fresh and not shed too many needles or bough.
Once home, its better to make a fresh cut on the trunk so that your tree starts absorbing water almost immediately. Fill the stand with lukewarm water and refill at regular intervals. The need for frequent refills usually reduces after the first week, but make sure that the water level does not go below the base of the trunk.
If you have a huge tree, make sure you secure it properly to the wall or to the floor. Trim any imperfect branches that are hitting the furniture’s or can poke into people around. Use the scissors at an angle almost parallel to the floor in order to make the cuts inconspicuous. These trimmings can be used to decorate your tables or mantles.
Decorations
Once your tree is upright and secure, its time for the decorations. To get a symmetrical finish it’s a good idea to divide the tree into sections. You can use strings and divide the smaller tree into 4 and bigger into 6 sections.
Once equal sections are made, its up to you to decide the kind of look you want to give to your tree. Spark your creativity with a colour or style theme. For instance a copper theme could use metallic colour ribbons, wooden decorations painted in copper, pine cones, a doll theme with miniature dolls and doll furniture, a bird theme with clip on birds, twigs, nests etc. It is your tree and it is up to you to decide on the look.
Lights
A lighted Christmas tree is the best sight that Christmas offers. Some artificial trees come complete with the sockets and provisional wirings. However, if you are using a real one, the wiring needs to be done. Place a socket plug in with an extension wire and many sockets below the tree. The amount of lights that you needs depends upon the size of the tree and how much lighting you want. For a near professional effect, use 1 string of 100 lights per foot of the tree. So if you have a 4 feet tree, you would need 4 such strands. It is always better to have smaller bulbs instead of huge bulbs.
Start your lighting from the top of the tree and move downwards. Wrap each branch, or every alternate branch from inside the tree that is about halfway from the tips of the branches to the trunk of the tree. You can also place lights along the perimeter of the tree. The lights and decoration on the inside and outside of the tree add depth and interest.
Do not attach more than 3 strings of light in one socket, as this leads to more frequent bulb fuses. Use green wires to make the strings less visible and keep the plugs and sockets as inconspicuous as possible.
Garland
Once the lighting is over, comes the turn of the garland. Instead of purchasing the garland you can even have a coordinated home made one. Tie up the assortments-be it dolls, cookies, teddies--- with a wire to have a garland that goes with your theme. You can even use dyed popcorns strung together as a colorful but cheap option.
The easiest way to wrap the garland is to do it in a spiral, staring from the top. Alternately you can even break it into parts and tie them in concentric circles around the tree, starting again from the top. Whatever pattern you follow make sure you measure the length of garland you need, after all you don’t want to fall short a meter before the end.
You can attach long ribbon streamers to the top of the tree instead of the garland. Wind and swirl them through the branches, down to the bottom of the tree.
Ornaments
You can decorate your tree with what you have, like small teddies, dolls, miniature hats, pinecones and so on. Or take a trip to the market and pick up color full balls, clip on fairies, daisies, hollies, candies and much more. Its best to have 10 pieces of each kind to have a synchronized repeated look. The sections made on the tree ensure that the décor is proportionate. However, you can go in with a non-repeated, one of all kind look as well.
While putting the ornaments, make sure that the lights are on, so that they are not hid behind the lights or you are not left with any unwanted gaps.
To add a little more color, replace the string or wire ornament-hanging loops with ribbon loops. Silk flowers add a nice touch to more formal trees and can be clipped on to the branches. The white ones give a feel of snow while the red ones brighten the tree.
To add more glitter, get the kids to stick glitter in different patterns on the balls. Use a paintbrush to apply the glue in the pattern and then dip the ornament into the glitter to have a shiny effect. Don’t forget to tap your child's creativity to make a truly homemade family tree.
Use natural materials to add a finishing touch to your tree. For instance, tuck clusters of dried flowers into some of the spaces between tree branches. Use a wire or ribbon to hold the bunches together. Small handfuls of twigs could also be used. For embellishments spray the twigs with silver or copper color.
For an old fashioned look, get some clip on candleholders and add small candles to your tree. Though these candles should never be lighted for safety reasons, they give a grand look to the tree. Use bits of cotton wool spread on the treetops for a snowy effect.
And last but certainly not the least is the tree topper. The perennial favorites are the Stars and angles that are wired to the top. A purchased one or a cardboard star cut out, covered with foil and glitter, add the final touches to your Christmas tree.
Remove the strings that were used to divide the sections and place the gifts wrapped in colorful paper under the canopy. Your Christmas tree is ready. Make sure to switch the lights off, before you go to bed.
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