Your Christmas tree is the focal point of your room and should be positioned to provide maximum impact and enjoyment, allowing plenty of room for children, pets and adults full of Christmas spirit to pass by without felling the tree. Choose a size and type of tree to show off your ornament collection to its best advantage. Trees with long needles and upswept branches look more informal whereas a tree with short needles and horizontal or down-swept branches often contributes to a more sophisticated appearance. Artificial trees with hinged or plug-in construction are easy to assemble. Place the trunk of your artificial tree securely in the stand, allowing the branches to fall open, and with the tree held vertical tightly secure it using the screws at the base. Beginning at the bottom, shape each branch outward and slightly upward, with the main branches parallel to the floor, and evenly spaced around the tree. Branches towards the top should point more upward than those near the bottom. Separate the smaller branches from the main branches, creating a “V” shape. The “V” branches may be positioned horizontally and vertically to create a more realistic appearance and fluff the needles by brushing them back and forth lightly with your fingers.

Theming Ornaments
Make a statement by choosing a dominant subject or colour. If your existing treetrims do not provide a strong theme you can create one by introducing a quantity of new items of one colour, shape, or subject as most trees appear best with a balance of texture, shape, size and colour to establish a theme. Repeat the same colour in ornaments of different shapes and texture, or similar shapes in different colours. Adding garlands or bows in one colour or pattern is another way to create a theme.

Lighting

When selecting lights for your tree, choose the colours which best co-ordinate with the theme of your decorations. Traditionally multi-coloured sets have been used but white or clear miniature lights are now becoming increasingly more popular. Always use sets with green flex on green trees, with white flex being used solely on silver tinsel or white trees. Light sets are available in a variety of bulb quantities but for full effect you should consider using approximately 50 lights per foot (300mm) of tree, although you can never really use too many. Always follow the instructions provided with the light set and replace burnt out bulbs immediately to prevent over-loading the remaining bulbs which reduces their working life. The lights should be positioned to emphasise the size and shape of the tree, dividing the tree into imaginary wedges and trailing the lights back and forth within each wedge from top to bottom. For best effect finish by positioning each bulb pointing slightly upward and outward.
 

Garlands

Swag Garland

Begin at the back of the tree at the bottom. Twist or hook the garland to a tip, then swag the garland gracefully from tip to tip using 12” (300mm.) to 20” (500mm.) swags depending upon the width of tree. Let the swag fall freely. Continue around the tree, securing the garland or swag up to the next layer on the back of the tree so that each row appears level. On the next row the high point of your new swag should be centred directly and uniformly over the low point of the previous row. The swags should become smaller as you go up the tree. The more uniform the swag the more formal the look.

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