Do you plan on setting up your Christmas tree this weekend? This year we are having 2 trees, this one is going to be the kids tree and a real one (finally) for the family tree. Since we are planning to go to the tree farm this weekend I thought I’ll set this one ( a standard 7 foot fake tree sans lights) up a little early so that the kiddos can get a head start on the decorating. If you ask me, I do consider stringing lights on the tree a hassle and would go with a pre-lit if we were to buy one today. But we are keeping this gal for the near future so for my sanity’s sake I better find a way to make hanging the lights as stress free as possible. You know, I’ve tried all the common ways; the lasso method… my daughter calls it the mummy wrapping method, the top-down vertical method, triangle method, and the in-out weaving method. The last one, which I first saw on my friend Chelsea’s blog Two Twenty One, combined with the lasso as you reach the top is my favorite!
Some pointers before you start;
- You start from the bottom and go up. I just hide the female part of the plug on the top among the branches under my tree topper.
- It is easier to hang the lights as you go i.e. assemble the base, string the lights, assemble the next part of the tree, string, and so on.
- General rule of thumb is you’d need 100 lights per each foot of the tree. So if your tree is 7 ft you’d need 7 strands of 100 lights. You could go with either less or more depending on how bright you want the tree to be. The pic below shows a good comparison, my 2012 tree and the one that we have yet to decorate.
Ready to hang Christmas Tree lights?
Starting at the base near the stem of the tree weave the strand of lights from the stem to the outside of the branch and back. Move to the next branch and repeat. On the branch you could wrap the light around some smaller branches to secure it in place.
So basically you’d zig zag in and out of each branch. Here’s a close up of how each branch will look.
Once you’ve finished one round assemble the next part of the tree and repeat.
As you go up the tree it gets tricky ‘coz the branches are not very deep. Once I cover about two thirds of the tree I slowly switch to the lasso method. It is not a pure lasso as I would still try to reach into the center of tree near the stem now and then.
My daughter said she needs help with the ribbon so I hung it up for her. But this is where I hand it off to them. She’s been busy hanging everything she can find on it. 🙂 And I’m fighting the urge to go back and fix things. 😛 Got to admit I used to do that with the tree in the past years. You know after they go to bed, move things around. 😉 Do you do that too? This year though since it is their tree I’m gonna leave it to them completely. We’ve already had a fight or two over who gets to hang what and where. Let’s see how my monkeys work their magic.
With a real tree it might get tricky reaching out to the middle for every branch. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.
How is your holiday prep going? What’s your go to method for hanging lights on the Christmas tree? Hope you have a great Thanksgiving filled with warmth and satisfaction surrounded by family and friends!
See you Monday!
Update: Here’s our decorated Starry Night Christmas Tree.
Click on the pics for more Christmas projects
Will be lovely, but …. I think 100 per foot will be overkill, even if you bury half of them deep into the tree. IMHO.
Great tip on lighting the tree as you assemble it…after all these years why I never thought if that!!
Yes Sarah. I was a “Why didn’t I think of that” moment for me too when I first learned about it. Happy Holidays!
Back when I worked at a furniture store, we had a tree that we wrapped the lights around each branch. We put 10 strands on a 7 foot tree. It was gorgeous. All we did at the end was to wrap it up in plastic and put in in the warehouse for next year. Now I have real trees, and I start at the bottom, and do layers from the inside out. The first layer is white lights wrapped close to the trunk of the tree to give a sense of depth, then the next layer is colored LED lights wrapped lasso style bottom to top, but then I go through and tuck the lights in and out. Next up is burlap garland, I spend a fair bit of time tucking and primping, last is decorations.
Pam,
Wow, wrapping the tree in plastic sounds like a great idea. Maybe I should try that this year. Great idea on combining the lights too. Would have never thought of that.
The one thing I’ve found is that I have to be careful not to put too many lights on the tree because what happens is when the lights are turned on, it’s so bright that you can’t see any of the beautiful ornaments. Looks beautiful when it’s lit though…