Q&A for How to Decorate a Christmas Tree Elegantly

If you're using a fake Christmas tree, then you could keep it up as long as you want, including throughout the year. You might get some strange looks though!

Yes. This will help your house convey cheer to those outside of your house.

No, not really, although blue lights are often associated with winter because they can remind people of ice.

Yes. If a branch look bad to you you can always cut it back using garden shears if it's natural.

Larger Christmas balls should be lower on the tree to make it look balanced.

Yes! The only concrete rule here to but the lights on first before you put anything else one. It doesn't really matter when you put the other stuff on. My advice is to just make sure the ornaments are really secured on the tree to make sure they don't fall.

The frame is the "trunk" of an artificial tree. To hide this ,find a wide bead garland or wide ribbon, tulle, tinsel, in a desired color go around the tree tuck against the frame to hide it. If you are doing lights on the tree yourself, install put the lights on the tree first then putting this on. You can also tuck long or large ornaments up against that frame as well.

No, otherwise you can't see where the lights are needed or where there are too many. It is much easier to see this with the lights lit. If your tree is against a wall, concentrate on the front and sides as the back won't be visible.

Put the beaded garland after the lights, if you are using them, but before the wired ribbon. Beaded garland looks beautiful draped evenly between branches, but it can be pretty fiddly to get looking just right. You will find it easier getting it in place without the wired ribbon in the way.

There is no concrete rule, but 100 to 200 lights per foot if your using traditional mini-lights. You can always adjust this rule depending on how bright your lights are and also your preference. Some people use less also others use more.

Yes, you can do this on an artificial tree.

It depends on what type you are using. If you do it, I would recommend using similar colors. The only main rule is that you need to put the lights on first.

That’s completely up to you! Personally, I’d say yes, but you can decide! If you want a jazzier looking tree, play with some different colors and see what looks good.

Before. If not, the lights can tangle in with your ornaments, and possibly even knock them off. So just to be safe, do it before.

You can buy them at a local craft store, or maybe even a dollar store. They're pretty easy to find around Christmas time.

That rule is too general. Place your ornaments evenly around the tree. The more dominating ones (figurines, stars, snowflakes, and those with lots of details) should be spaced further apart than plainer ones like plain balls, icicles, pine cones, bells, etc. Avoid smothering the greenery of the tree.

In most cases, after the lights would be the tinsel. This is just because if you put the ornaments on first, you might knock some of them off while arranging the tinsel. Of course, it's your tree and you can do things however you like!

It is better to put them on your tree from top to bottom to create a nice effect.

It tends to be easier putting the smaller lights on before the larger ones but it works either way. Try to avoid entangling the lights with each other or with Christmas decorations.

Apply wired ribbon to your tree however you think looks good; it's really up to you, as there isn't really a proper way. If you want to be traditional, you could put the lengths of wire ribbon around the tree horizontally, looping it over branches all on the same level, then use the wire to create even dips of ribbon between the branches. You'll probably need a length of ribbon about six times the height of the tree. If you prefer, you could put the ribbon on the tree zig-zagging from top to bottom, spaced evenly around the tree.