Logan Riley
Whether you are a seasoned professional, or just looking for a new way to get your Christmas cheer, we can all agree that decorating is an essential part of the holiday spirit. Unfortunately, not everyone is a decorating virtuoso, and by reading this article, you will certainly up your holiday game. I have 2 main points I want to cover: How to decorate your Christmas tree; and, how to decorate your house. (To preface this, I need to make it abundantly clear that I decorate real trees, not plastic!)
There have been some very original ideas about how to decorate a Christmas tree, but they require too much time, or thousands of dollars worth of supplies. I’m here to show you what you can do to decorate your Christmas tree, without emptying your bank account or taking up hours and hours on end.
Even before you get your tree, you need to make sure you are ready. To do this, you should measure how high your ceiling is, so you don't get a tree that's too tall. Now that you have your measurements, you can go to a local tree farm to grab yourself the tree which fits your house perfectly. You should make sure that the tree is beautiful on at least one side, because the other is usually facing a wall. And no one needs to look at that, anyway. Keep in mind the tree should be quite flush with branches basically everywhere on the side you want people to see. You are going to want as many places as possible to hang all your ornaments. Once you find your tree, you can bring it back to your house, and get the decorating process started.
Your top priority should be to get your lights hung up, because no one can have a Christmas tree without lights. I would suggest seeing if they still work before putting them up, as it can lead to lots of frustration. They should be hung up “within” the tree. By that, I mean they should be a little bit inside the tree so you can’t see the cord. Once you have that step done, plug ‘em in and admire your work.
Now that you have your all lit up tree, the next step is to grab your ornaments and hang them on the branches. This step is where you can really personalize your tree. As a general rule, you should try to hang the ornaments at different heights, on branches, and put them everywhere.
Last but certainly not least, the tree topper. This one isn’t necessary, but any tree without one will always be missing a little bit of pizzazz. If you have one, place it at the top of the tree, and now you have your glorious Christmas tree!
Next up, house decorations. If you live in an apartment or something, this probably won’t apply, but feel free to go all festive wherever you can. Now, for everyone else, this is where it gets interesting.
You should start by getting yourself some lights, anything works. I have seen people with giant Christmas related exoskeletons all lit up with all sorts of colors. Once you have your lights, it is time to hang them up. You should try to find any ledges (off of a roof, window, even a railing or something) and plan your lights accordingly. It can sometimes be hard to plan these things, especially with limitations like not having extension cords, or maybe even not having enough lights to use; either way, there is nothing more christmassy than putting up more lights than all of your neighbors. If your drive is anything like that, I’m sure planning out where to best put your lights will secure you a well decorated house.
Once the planning is done, the hard part comes: actually hanging up the lights. To do this, you have a couple of options. To start, you got the classic ladder strategy. It may take tons upon tons of your time, but in the end it reduces the risk of breaking something when you slide off of the roof of your house. The second strategy, which I have briefly mentioned, is going above the ledge that you want to hang things on. Sure, this way will save you a couple of hours, but it is much harder to enjoy all of your hard work with a broken hip, so I would recommend staying away from this strategy.
Once you are done hanging lights up on all the ledges you can find, you should be almost entirely done! The last (and certainly most crucial step) is turning them all on, and putting all of your neighbors to shame.
Happy Holidays!
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