Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Christmas Decorating Rules

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Christmas Decorating Rules

    So.....who is a bit of a control freak like me? I do the tree the same way every year but my other decorations vary wildly from one Christmas to the next. Still, I have certain things that always happen:

    1. I've had trouble with tree toppers so now I invariably place a few sprays of artificial flowers from Dollar Tree near the top. Right now I have frosted red berries, a couple of white pointsettias, and some oversized holly berries and leaves up there. The tippy-top is just a lone branch.
    2. The man-in-the-moon and stars ornament goes near the top of the tree because the sky and stuff.
    3. I have a pre-lit tree (white lights) but if I didn't the lights would go on first, followed by my beaded garland. Ornaments are after that and then if I add in more flowers they are the very last thing.
    4. Everything must be color coordinated as much as possible. I have one or two gifted ornaments that are out of scheme and they do go on the tree, but everything else is gold, bronze, purple, dark red, bright red, and that almost lime green color. There's no white, silver, blue*, or any other color. If I do add in peacocks to make it more middle eastern I will have to get a few of them and 1 or 2 ornament sets that harmonize with what I already have. I'd likely want to overhaul the other decorations in the house to tie the teal color in. It would have to be a deliberate thing. (Told you I like control.)
    5. I don't like cartoony nor brightly colored nor pastel Christmas stuff. Everything is richly or darkly colored and accented with gold, fit for a king. You won't find a pink stocking or white tree in my house.
    6. The one exception I make to not matching things is that I have multi-colored lights outside and the blue doesn't go with anything else. If they would've carried all red or all green battery powered lights I would've gotten them. I don't know if this will carry over; I normally don't do outside lights.
    7. The bathroom is always the first room to be decorated. No, I don't know why. I add decorations and change out towels and mats. I use different mats for the kitchen also, and yes, I have special dish detergent and hand soap, and even special dish brush colors.
    8. Bows figure prominently in my holiday decorating because, well, they're cheap and easily made with craft supplies. I have long trailing bendable ribbon all over the place.
    9. I don't have a tree every year but I always put up a display with the Holy Family and a big star.
    10. The Three Wise Men gilded globe ornament is always in a prominent place on the front of the tree, to be seen from most angles. Exact placement depends on which branch will hold it.
    11. Large ornaments go more toward the bottom of the tree and smaller at top, which I think a lot of people do. Finials go more toward the top.


    *There are tiny touches of peacock blue from my We Three Kings ornament set which includes the beaded garlands.
    "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

  • #2
    Pics? It all sounds lovely!

    I always put the lights on first, and I'm a total control freak on that. They have to be as near-perfect as I can get them, I can't stand pockets of shadow. Once I'm satisfied with that, the ornaments go on.

    We have some old ornaments that we were given as kids (mine fell apart long ago ) so each person has to put their own on the tree. We still put our late brother's ornament on as well. There is also an ornament our aunt made for our mom, and even though mom is gone, we use that too.

    The oldest ornaments always, always go on the tree, even though they are faded now. I think they'll qualify as antiques soon. My old glass bead strings are my prize holiday possession. They go on last.

    We're pretty casual about the rest of the house. We have begun one new thing as of last year, which is to set up a display on top of our grandma's old cabinet sewing machine, with candles, figurines of Santa and La Befana, and other mini figurines like snowmen and trees.
    When you start at zero, everything's progress.

    Comment


    • #3
      I wouldn't call that "control freak", just having a personal style (and some experience with tree decoration ;-) ). And for your own celebration of a religious holiday, I've got no problem with personal style.

      Comment


      • #4
        I don't do a tree at my place (since its just me) but mom always has one back home. Lights are always first, up to the angel with the top of the tree up her *beep*

        Then all the rest of the ornaments. We used to have a lot of glass bulbs until the night the tree fainted and many of the old bulbs gave up their ghosts.

        Now the tree is probably 50% Hallmark ornaments (built up through the years), 25-30% historic decorations (plastic balls, decorations we bought on holidays and decorations my sister and I made when we were kids), and the last few tend to be newer mass produced bulbs to fill in the blanks.

        Comment


        • #5
          I think I may need to get some more mass produced ornaments. I haven't decorated the tree yet (and probably no time tonight) but I will before Christmas actually comes.
          "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

          Comment


          • #6
            I always use multi colored lights, I can't deal with the white ones, and they go on first. After that it's a hodgepodge. Nothing matches or is color coordinated, but every ornament is meaningful. I have ones from my great grandmother that are at least a 100 years old passed down to me from my mom. I also have ones that are gifts, ones I made as a kid, ones the kids made in school and even this year. They all have meaning and I love every one of them. I even have one from my late sister. I wouldn't do it any other way.
            https://www.youtube.com/user/HedgeTV
            Great YouTube channel check it out!

            Comment


            • #7
              I'm pretty lax with my holiday decorating. I just have a 2' tall tree, but I put my dad's favorite star tree topper on it (about 8" tall). Then plastic ornaments because I have cats and don't want to worry about stepping on broken glass. I feel like it needs some sort of garland, which I might pick up at the dollar store this weekend.

              It's a pre-lit tree with white lights, the star has yellow blinky lights, and the ornaments are mostly gold and silver. So it looks pretty, if a bit monochromatic.
              "I look at the stars. It's a clear night and the Milky Way seems so near. That's where I'll be going soon. "We are all star stuff." I suddenly remember Delenn's line from Joe's script. Not a bad prospect. I am not afraid. In the meantime, let me close my eyes and sense the beauty around me. And take that breath under the dark sky full of stars. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's all."
              -Mira Furlan

              Comment


              • #8
                I'm Jewish, and don't usually give gifts on Christmas, but this old friend of mine is having a dinner and I wanted to show my appreciation. I also didn't particularly want to go shopping for gift wrap, and with a bit of thought I decided to do something a bit different...
                Attached Files

                Comment


                • #9
                  Shadow, I like it.
                  "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth TheSHAD0W View Post
                    I'm Jewish, and don't usually give gifts on Christmas, but this old friend of mine is having a dinner and I wanted to show my appreciation. I also didn't particularly want to go shopping for gift wrap, and with a bit of thought I decided to do something a bit different...
                    That's what my grandparents used to do when I was a kid, and occasionally my parents. They didn't make ribbons out of the comics, though.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      It looked too plain otherwise. I just took a bunch of strips, rotated each end a half-turn before turning it in, then stapling them together. Easy-peasy.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X