The secret to decorating a Christmas tree is simple: Style in layers! We’ve seen the evolution; first the trees were covered with our crappy childhood “school-made” ornaments. Now, our elegant Christmas trees are designed for the “wow factor” and to get the most amount of likes on Instagram. If you’ve never decorated a tree, but want the “likes”, follow these easy instructions.

Step 1: Buy/Mount the tree

Simple enough, do you want the full Christmas tree experience with the smell and pines all over your house? Or is it more practical for you buy and reuse the same storable tree. Both are good options, once they’re decorated you really can’t tell the difference (from instagram that is).

Step 2: Hang the lights

Some fake trees come in white, bleu, gold and yes green. Carefully choose a color where the wire will be hidden (wire color that matches the tree). Start at the base of the trunk and work your way up, wrapping lights around every major branch and scattering from the front to the back of the tree.

There are multiple types of lights to choose from. BTW, it’s OK to mix and match lights:

• Traditional incandescent lights: Come in a variety of sizes and colors and are the most popular type of tree lights. They warm up the branches of a real tree, which will release the scent of pine into the room.
• LED lights: Newer than the traditional incandescent lights and don’t produce heat. They’re more expensive, but are flameproof, and a little more on the “safe side”.
• Globe lights: Round and come in many sizes. They look like balls of color on the tree and produce a larger area of light on the tree.
• Bubble lights: Basically like lava lamps, but for your tree. Pretty cool stuff.

Step 3: Add Christmas tree Garland

A Garland is the thicker decoration that people spread around a tree, similar to lights. Start at the top of the tree, and slowly increase the amount of garland between each wave as you work your way down the branches. Plan to use about two strands of garland for every vertical foot of tree. For that “wow factor”, avoid a busy look on your tree by decorating with a variety of garlands from plain to fancy.

Step 4: Hang Christmas tree Ornaments

The final step in decorating a Christmas tree is to hang the ornaments. To showcase your favourites, place them in prime positions on the tree first. Next, hang your larger ornaments, spacing them evenly around the tree. Fill in around those ornaments with medium- and small-size ornaments. Be sure to hang some ornaments closer to the trunk to create depth and interest. Finish dressing the tree by adding specialty items, such as clip-on ornaments or icicles.

So there you have it! An Instagram ready Christmas tree! Just don’t forget to add water if you went out back to hacksaw your own tree! We hope you enjoyed today’s blog and hope to hear back from you! Let us know on our Facebook page what you want us to write about!