When it comes to decorating, Christmas tree lights are at the top of my list. The soft glow the lights give the living room makes everything feel so warm and festive.
Several years ago, I learned a trick from a professional Christmas decorator, that I use every year. And it makes the biggest difference. Instead of draping the lights around the tree, I WRAP the lights around each branch. This is very time consuming, but it’s so worth it.
I start at the top of the tree against the trunk. And I wrap outwards to the tips, wrap back towards the trunk, move on to a neighboring branch and then do the same. I wrap out and back all the way around the tree till I get to the bottom. I always use solid lights (not the blinking kind).
Doing this gives DEPTH to your tree. It also opens up the inner branches so you’re able to hang your ornaments deeper in the tree to make it look much fuller. And now for the final step…
I get a long strand of MOTION CHRISTMAS LIGHTS (the kind that “run” like the lights on a marquee) and wrap it from the top to the bottom of the tree. By wrapping it around the tree, it will not have the “running” effect, but will literally make your entire tree TWINKLE and come to life.
Like I said, this is rather time consuming (if you can store your tree throughout the year with the lights on, you’ll want to do that), but trust me when I say it’s so worth it. You will have the prettiest tree on the block.