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GBG Tips For Christmas

1. First let’s turn the clock back to last Christmas. Did you just rip everything off the tree and chuck it in a box? Are your Christmas tree lights all in a tangled mess? The old saying of ‘as it begins, so it ends and so it begins again,’ certainly applies to decorating a Christmas tree. This year, pledge to pack up everything properly so that you don’t waste time sorting through damaged ornaments and piles of old tinsel in 2009.

2. Whether or not your tree looks really good might depend on what kind of tree you choose. Pine is the most likely to lose its needles. The best types of trees when it comes to holding ornaments are firs and spruces. This is because their branches are the sturdiest.

3. If you are buying a real tree, take time to choose the best one. Take off the net, open it up and have a proper look at it. Unlike artificial trees, real trees are not all created equal. If the branches bend a bit it means it is full of moisture and more likely to support a decoration. If it snaps, don’t buy it. It is too dry to support decorations and likely to spill its needles all over your floor too.

4. If you’ve got one, remember to put the Christmas tree skirt or mat below your tree before you put it on the stand. Some skirts and mats come with a slit in the centre and buttons or Velcro fastens others. You can’t slip a skirt over the tree’s head like a person would put on a jumper.

5. When decorating a Christmas tree make sure that you untangle the lights before you try to drape them around the tree. It is safest and easiest to make sure all the bulbs are working before you try to do this too. There is a tiny chance that if you try to change burned out bulbs while they are on the tree that a spark could ignite the tree.

6. Decorating a Christmas tree with electric lights is obviously much safer than decorating them the old fashioned way with candles. This is true but don't rest a bulb directly against the branches of the tree. Like the old fashioned candles, hot bulbs can heat up needles and catch fire. The absolutely safest trees to buy are prelit, artificial Christmas trees as some of them have automatic shutdown features if they get too hot.

7. If you have lots of pets and children running around during the Christmas period, an artificial prelit tree might be safer than a real one with bulbs strung around it. There is less risk of tiny fingers pulling bulbs down and playing with the electrics. There is also less danger of pets and children swallowing the needles that are shed from natural trees.

8. Decorating Christmas trees is ultimately all about proportion. When hanging decorations put the largest sized decorations at the bottom and the smallest ones at the top. The effect is more pleasing to the eye.

9. When decorating a Christmas tree, it is best not to throw clumps of tinsel at the tree as if they were handfuls of spaghetti. The most attractive effect is achieved by hanging clumps of tinsel just at the very edges of each branch. Think a bit about how real icicles look when they are hanging from real trees. Don’t feel you have got to use tinsel. Strings of beads are perhaps a little more classy.

10. Choose a theme for your tree. Choosing a theme and sticking with it gives you the most fashionable looking tree. You can choose a colour theme - sticking to gold and red or blue and silver - or you can style the tree after traditions such as the German style tree (decorated mostly with food), the Victorian style tree (decorated with tiny detailed ornaments and lots of angels) or the Country style tree (decorated with glass balls and wooden ornaments).

11. When decorating a Christmas tree remember to make it uniquely yours by adding heirlooms that have been passed down from generation to generation. You might buy decorations when you are on your travels or let your children choose their own. Another nice touch is Christmas cards or biscuits or chocolates that you have made in your own kitchen. This gives your tree a unique personal touch.

12. Final word of warning: don’t clutter your tree. Know when enough is enough because less is always more.
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