Sounds lovely.

Thanks. I am always careful to put the full seize globes on the food of the Christmas tree, good advise. And I am especially fond of dead eyes on the tree, right up there with my golden angels. I leave it to my family to dispose the presents under the tree.

Fun. Spam is great, too. I mean the lunchmeat.

-Audric

You know, I put dead eyes on my tree one year and they took my children away. Must be because I forgot the red bows.

I will celebrate with extra joy this year knowing that Martha is not only out of jail, but is fully recovered and spreading joy across this great land.

What we need now is for the language experts identified above to post something pertinent. Wellcome too people from Romania.

"Stabilize the tree in the holder."

This is very important, especially if you are heavily into blown glass ornaments and have a Labrador retriever who has been known to regard shattered glass fragments as treats.

We enjoy ornaments that have a disturbing quality, but I really need to know more about those "dead eyes".

Ahh...I spot the typical design mistake...starting out by focusing on color combination without first thinking about the shape and form of the tree and its sighting in the environment.

That reminds me that I need to get out this weekend and drop another $50 on a dying tree so that I can continue to lie to my kids about this mysterious man that lives at the North Pole. ;-) Should I place it in the living room where there is more room and the neighbors can see it, or in the family room where it would be more comfortable to be on Christmas morning and which provides Santa quick access to the chimney?

- Brent (who does enjoy the Christmas season)

this will be our first live tree, we finally sacked the fake one, yes i said fake not artificial, any tips for the virgin cut tree owner besides "sweep every day"
peace

ps be nice to Martha or you won't get anything disposed under the tree
pps you have to admit it is a damn good guide for decorating a tree aside from the grammar

pps you have to admit it is a damn good guide for decorating a tree aside from the grammar

You think?? I never realized there were 'rules' for decorating a tree. Personally, I much prefer the typical family tree adorned with kids' crafts and treasured family momentos that those contrived and immensely impersonal "designer" trees you see in mags and upscale retail establishments.

dirt, can you clarify your type of tree?? Is it a live Christmas tree or a fresh cut tree - care of either is distinctly different.

yes i do think it is a good 'guide', i did not say they are "good rules". it would be a very good 'guide' for a person who had never decorated a tree. it is easier to put the lights on first, and someone might forget to secure the tree in the base in all the excitement (ie. first tree, kids running around crafting). i don't see why the ornaments the author described coulden't be momentos, we have many glass globe style ornaments that are passed down thru the family

also i described myself as a "virgin cut tree owner" so that answers that

i recommend that you read the posts more closely before responding, mabey it was my use of the words "virgin" and "damn" or "sacked" that ruffeled your feathers, for that i am sorry

peace

merry christmas and happy hoildays

My feathers weren't ruffled, thank you very much, but I was a bit confused by the statement "our first live tree" then followed by "virgin cut tree" - a cut tree is not the same as a 'live' Christmas tree.

If we are so hasty to throw out criticisms on how others read posts, perhaps we could take just a second to make sure what we wrote made sense.......hmmmmmm?

And excuse me for assuming that posters on this forum might just have enough common sense to know how to decorate a Christmas tree without a flippin' how-to guide!

Apparently Martha Stewart doesn't agree with any assumptions either. See her "Tree Trimming 101" guide in the December issue. Don't be put off, flowersgrowing, by those who don't look at things through kinder and gentler eyes - I'll bet any tree you decorate would beat out Martha's effort.

It is all a personal, or at least family thing, isn't it? My favorite thing is that my daughter likes to have one friend over and they decorate it together. Tomorrow she will have a friend from school over to share in the fun. It could be a leaning Charlie Brown tree and it would be a great time. It will not be a carefully executed well choreographed endeavor. It will, however, be a most beautifully decorated tree and a more beautiful time.

She has saved ribbons of all sorts and all colors from gifts over the years. She drapes them all over the tree along with the standard ornaments. It is quite eclectic, yet it will knock your socks off.

Others might like only red and gold in a perfect tree in a perfect stand. It is a memory making time that children will carry all of their lives. Each will look back at what was THEIR family Christmas. The less standard it is with everyone else's, the more unique the memory in my opinion.

Personally, I'm a fan of red and gold. On a not-so-perfect, $30 fake tree.

{{gwi:54253}}

-Audric

Eric confirmed the importance of "Stabilize the tree in the holder."

Additionally, ensure that you and your SO agree on the definition of "straight."

Laag, nice tradition and memories.

Cathy in SWPA

I wish I would have seen this post at Christmas but I have to comment anyway!
I have to admit I thought the original post very strange upon reading it. If it was meant to be an instruction guide for someone who never decorated a Christmas tree before, it was sorely lacking. After all, unless you've just landed on the earth, never had a tree growing up, never had any friends who had trees, never went to any store during previous holidays or the holiday currently that had decorated trees, I can't imagine anyone would need that kind of advice, besides advice that was disjointed and way too confusing for someone who was that much of a novice. I'd have gotten Martha Stewart's book instead.
That said, I think there are two main kinds of Christmas tree people. Those who like 'em sassy and stylish and those who love 'em sweet and sentimental. I won't get into the "real" vs "fake" choices, as you can be either to belong in these two decorating categories and we'd need a whole other topic section for that debate. Personally,I do love to go through all the Christmas shops and department stores and admire the beautifully fashionable and sometimes crazily decorated trees. I can appreciate humongous glass globes and feathers and cascading tinsel, when done in a fabulous color palette as well as the next person! I especially enjoy the endless "themed" trees that delight and amaze everyone from the fishing enthusiast to the person who can never get enough cats. But when I decorate my own tree I am definitely the sentimental type. I still use the larger multicolored (c7) lights because that is what we used growing up and I love that soft glow. The ornaments are not matching at all. I have everything from antique treasures from my great grandmothers tree, the oldest is made of metal and actually held candles(before the electric light craze!) to the homemade ones, some I made as a child and those my son brought home from school. Then there are the brand new ones added every year. Current sports or interests my children are involved in and those that remind us of family vacations. It is completed with old fashioned silver tinsel and an old angel topper my mother to gave me the first Christmas I was on my own. It is not fashionable or color coordinated. But it is beautiful, dependable and for us definitely Christmas. It is the story of our lives and we love it. Hey! I do have a tree with a theme after all!

I didn't see this until today either...but we have a mix of "elegant" and "loved" ornaments. Including the VW insignia from the Bug my husband droeve when we were dating, the ornaments I made as a child, and the ornaments the kids made. No close-ups...but here is a (slightly blurry) pic of our tree this year:

{{gwi:54254}}
FWIW--I am a little OCD about the tree. I spend a couple of hours JUST putting hte lights on. Then I let the branches drop for a day or two before we decorate. Our tree usually goes up 7-10 days before Christmas...and comes down the evening of January 6.

melanie