Life & Work

Set your Christmas tree up this weekend

xmas

Anglo-Saxons later provided Christmas carols, much popularised by the famous writer Charles Dickens. Always seeking opportunity for profit, capitalism commercialised Christmas. FILE PHOTO |

At this time of year, we are all so busy trying to figure out how to make this Christmas memorable, most are trying to find the best Christmas present for loved ones and others are planning on how to best entertain family and friends.

However, for those who take on Christmas decorating with zeal and creativity, this is the time to create an ambience of holiday cheer as there is more to decoration than just hanging ornaments on the tree. In the midst of all the chaos and rushing around doing last minute shopping, it’s important to take the time to make some memories.

Enjoying the little things is one of the ways to create a wonderful memory; this can be through engaging your family in the choice of decorations to use this Christmas.

Of all the decorations in the house, the Christmas tree has always been the centre of attraction and the ornaments placed on it are what makes it or breaks it.

The tree

The choice of Christmas tree is crucial, from the colour to the height and depth of the tree; it should all reflect your desired theme. You can be as creative with the choice of Christmas tree this year as you want.

The available options are the live Christmas tree or the artificial range which comes in various colours and textures. With the synthetic range, one can choose from a variety depending on the depth, height and width.

Although natural trees are preferred due to the traditional connotation they give, they have with time been extinct and replaced with the synthetic type especially by those who want to conserve the environment by not cutting down trees.

The good news is that if you have some space in your backyard, you can actually grow a Christmas tree now that will be ready for next Christmas season. Of course if you grow it in the ground, you cannot move it indoors to be decorated. But you can be creative and put some fairy lighting on it to give your compound an inviting ambiance. Some of the popular natural Christmas trees are pine, cypress, cedar, spruce and fir.

The synthetic type gives one the choice of painting it in your desired colour; it also is a clean base to illuminate your choice of colour scheme.

Using metallic spray paint on the tree is also an ingenious way of painting the tree to your desired colour. Another trend that’s fast creeping in is the use of twigs as a Christmas tree.

They are mostly painted in gold, silver, bronze or chrome and provide a clean base to hang all your Christmas decorations.
The great thing with these two options is the fact that after the festive season is over, you pack your tree and keep it safely away until the next Christmas.

The ornaments

When it comes to the use of Christmas ornaments, there are a variety of colours and designs to choose from including the glass, wooden and plastic kind.

Depending on your theme of the year one has a choice of shapes, love ornaments for the romantic, food ornaments for the cook, ethnic ornaments to celebrate one’s heritage and a vast selection of Santa and snowmen for the young at heart.

The lights play a big role in making the tree look inviting and is especially a favourite where there are young children; they are very affordable as well as extendable with the new range that has extension ports on each end that can be joined together.

Ribbons also offer a quick fix to decorating; tying a bow on some of your vases, lamps and china gives it the Christmas feel. Whether it is a red, green or red plaid ribbons, ensure you take into consideration the theme you are going with.

Dress your plain lamp shades with Christmas themed wrapping paper to bring it up to the Christmas mood. Personal ornaments give it a more tailored look and feel; whether it is in the use of your own beaded jewellery.

Ethnic ornaments such as small calabashes that have designs drawn on them are some of the ways to personalise your ornaments and give them an authentic look and feel. These are available at maasai markets.

Hang miniature animal manicure and tiny cards with messages of love and cheer on the tree to give it a different look. The use of sculptures around the house with the message of Christ’s birth will also remind you of the true meaning of Christmas. Be elaborate but avoid making your decoration look tacky but mixing too many themes.

It’s advisable to set a colour scheme and use it all around the house like have a yellow Christmas by decorating the tree with yellows and gold.

By this weekend, anyone hoping to have a Christmas tree in the home should already have bought one and decorated it so if you haven’t done so, go out today and get yours. If you have small children, get them to help decorate it. You can be sure they will love it.