6 Steps to Decorate Your Christmas Tree

“Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la la la la la!” We all get excited at the prospect of decorating our Christmas tree each year. We line up the boxes and colour co-ordinate our baubles but somehow within 5 minutes we end up in a tangled mess of fairy lights with tinsel in our hair!

Whether you like the traditional look or a sleek and colourful contemporary design, let us take the stress out of your Christmas preparations this year with these 6 simple steps to decorate your tree this festive season.

Step 1 – Lights

The first step to take in decorating your tree is to make an illuminating base layer with your chosen Christmas lights. Stringed fairy lights are the easiest and most effect form of lighting for your tree as they provide an even scattering of lights around the whole of the tree’s exterior. A tip from the professional decorators of London’s finest Christmas trees is that the most effect way to light your tree is to weave your lights from the base to the tip of each branch to ensure complete coverage of the tree (this may take two sets of lights). Alternatively a simpler technique is to drape your lights in ‘U’ shaped swags around the tree in a spiralling design; starting from the top and working your way down (keep the drapes as close to the row above as possible). Opt for clear lights for a crisp and star lit effect or opt for bright blue, red or multicoloured bulbs for a more fun and colourful finish.

Step 2 – Ribbons, Beads and Burlap

Once you have arranged your lights in your chosen design it’s time to move on to the first layer of decorations that will ‘fill out’ the unlit spaces and highlight the shape and form of your real or artificial tree. A popular choice for this is thick ribbon in your chosen colour scheme, or natural burlap that can be purchased in a range of lengths depending on your requirements. Starting from the top of the Christmas tree, begin to wrap your ribbon or burlap around the tree in a diagonal, angled spiral until you reach the bottom. You may need to poke the ribbon into the branches in some places to allow enough space to hang your ornaments. If you prefer to use beads as your base decoration, you can hang these much in the same way as your lights, using soft ‘U’ shaped drapes along the branches in a linear, spiral fashion.

Step 3 – Large Decor First

Now you have your base layers finished its time to add your chosen decorations and ornaments. Always begin with your largest decorations first otherwise you will struggle to squeeze them on once you have added your other smaller baubles. Select oversized orbs and baubles, large ornamental bows or contemporary butterflies or snowflakes and arrange them in a scattered formation around the tree. These do not need to look too regimented but should be close enough to each other to make an impact but far enough apart to allow space for other items in you colour scheme.

Step 4 – Small Decor Next

Once you are happy with the arrangement of your larger items you can move on to smaller baubles, acorns and ornaments. Place these decorations in between your larger baubles and bows filling in as many gaps as you can. If you are using two colours or a multicoloured colour scheme try not to hang two baubles of the same colour side by side for more variety and visual impact. Make sure you take the decorations right the top of the tree and all along the bottom for a full and professional appearance.

Step 5 – Dangling Decor

The final arrangement of all over decoration comes in the form of any hanging baubles, icicles or droplet decorations that will complete the overall finish and colour theme. These types of decoration should be hung on the very ends of the branches so that they fall away from the bulk of the tree and hang elegantly where they can twist and move. Once again arrange these in a scattered formation in random spaces around the tree, without leaving too much of a gap between each one. Other items that should be left until this final stage is your candy canes or chocolates (although we cannot guarantee these will last that long)

Step 6 – Tree Topper

Your final step in creating the most perfectly decorated Christmas tree is placing that all important statement decoration at the very top of your tree. Traditional fairies and angels are still extremely popular and look amazing on a traditionally decorated Christmas tree while stars have become one of the most favoured choices with silver and gold metallic finishes providing glamour and glitz or plain handcrafted wooden designs creating a vintage shabby chic look. Other alternatives for an elegant tree topper are a large decorative bow, a chalkboard plaque with a personalised message or a large and eye-catching snowball or snowflake design.

For more ideas on decorating your Christmas tree this year; head over to our latest Pinterest board - Pinterest - Christmas Tree Decorations