Scottish Christmas Trees

Decorating a Christmas tree should be fun. However, it can become boring if, year after year, you just use Christmas lights, baubles and tinsel. Why don’t you break with tradition this year and really have fun. If you have children, get them to join in. Christmas decorations can be made from anything. Here are a few ideas to stimulate your imagination:

• Fresh flower daisy chains – okay, they don’t last for long, but kids love to make them and if you have enough flowers, keep making new ones.
• Paper chains – cut old wrapping paper and/or colored paper into one inch strips six inches long and put them together in loops to make a colourful chain. Make the paper strips thinner, wider, longer or shorter to vary the effect.
• Presents – wrap small boxes with Christmas paper to look like small presents. Make squares, rectangles, triangles and even ball shaped “presents”.
• Sweets – hang small bags of sweets from the tree. You can use them as rewards if you have children.
• Nature – there are many items that come from nature. Pine cones, acorns, berries, twigs, leaves just to name a few. Dip them in paint and hang them from your tree. See how creative you can get by putting them together. You can also purchase a plain Christmas wreath and decorate that using these items.

When you make your own decorations, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way. Creativity has no rules bar one – whether or not you like the finished effect. One word of warning, once you start, it’s hard to stop, and the last thing you want is a tree that is over decorated. There is one thing we do know – there’s nothing more satisfying than creating your own Christmas decorations, especially when family and friends look at your Christmas tree and say – WOW! Still don’t have a Christmas tree? Perhaps we can help.

Christmas trees look great when they are fully decorated with lights, baubles and trinkets. You add extra dimension to your tree by adding garlands. In some areas, the tradition is to use colored tinsel as a garland, however, you can really make garlands out of anything. Crepe paper can be used to make great garlands, especially if you give the crepe paper a half twist between branches. You can sit down with string and beads (or any other craft material) and create your own as well – kids love this task and they can be as creative as they wish. One thing to be careful with when using beads is that you don’t make your garland too heavy.

When placing a garland on a Christmas tree, work from the top slowly going around your tree. Never place a garland too tightly around a tree, otherwise you will tend to pull branches together and this will take away the symmetry that Christmas trees are famous for. Instead, place the garlands loosely with a slight sagging between branches. Work your way from the top of the tree to the bottom. Light garlands such as those made from tinsel or crepe paper look good on the branch extremities as the final decoration. Heavier garlands should be placed deeper into the tree where the branches are a little stronger.

Decorating a Christmas tree is all about imagination, and about what looks good to your eye. Be sure you garlands complement your lights and baubles – each should add to an overall picture. One danger that many make is to make a Christmas tree too busy. This is a Christmas tree, so we do want to see the tree as well.

When completed, step back and look at the finished product. Does it look balanced; do branches sag from too much weight? Do remember to turn the room lights off and your Christmas lights on – this will give you a good idea of how well decorated your Christmas tree. Decorating a Christmas tree should be fun, not a chore – so enjoy the experience, you only get to do it once a year. Of course, you have to order your tree first – have you ordered your farm fresh cut Christmas tree yet?

Are you looking for new and novel Christmas decorations? You are really only limited by your imagination when it comes to creating decorations, and sometimes, the items required are all close at hand. While baubles are commonly used to decorate Christmas trees, they can be used in a variety of places. Here’s a do-it-yourself tabletop decoration that you and the children should have fun putting together. Remember, use your imagination, and include other decorations like leaves, dried berries and dried twigs for ever better effect.

Materials: Length of dowel (this is the height of the table top decoration so cut to your preferred size); silver or gold wrapping paper; baubles and decorations in a range of sizes and colours; old large sock stuffed to form a rough ball shape; attractive bowl filled with stones, rocks or glass beads (deep enough to anchor your decoration). You will also need a large needle and thread and plasticine.

How: wrap the dowel in silver or gold wrapping paper. Place one end in to the stuffed sock and keep in place using an elastic band. Thread a large needle and tie one end to the hanging ring of a bauble. Thread the needle through the sock pull the thread through until the bauble is firm against the sock (not to tight). You can thread the next bauble and continue placing baubles (and other decorations) as you go.

Be creative, the end result should be similar to lollipop made from baubles and anything else you have found. You can add hanging ribbon or tinsel for added effect if you like. Once complete, anchor the base into the plasticine, then place in the bowl surrounded by rocks, stones or beads.

This decoration looks great as a central tabletop decoration, and it’s one that you (and your children) can proudly claim as your own. After Christmas, you can easily take the decoration apart again, carefully storing the decorations ready for an all new decoration next Christmas. Tip – the larger the ball shape to begin with, the larger the lollipop, however, don’t make it too big, otherwise it will be unstable and hard to keep from toppling over. If you don’t have enough baubles, then check out our range of fabulous Christmas baubles – there’s plenty there to keep your imagination busy this year.

Christmas lights come in a range of styles. The modern Christmas lights are long lasting low power use LEDs, however, you can still find the old fashioned bulb style lights, and they still look great on any Christmas tree. If you are going to light your Christmas tree this year, then it helps to string your lights properly to get the best effect.

When decorating your Christmas tree, you should start with the lights. It can be quite awkward lighting a tree once you have other decorations up, especially if you use lengths of tinsel or garlands of any description. When lighting your tree, be sure to use the right number of lights for the height of the tree, and to use the correct power pack to match your lights. You should also check that your Christmas lights are all working before you string them around your tree.

To start stringing your lights, work from the base and work you way up one side and down the other. You don’t need lights on every branch, select the main branches at each level and loosely wrap your lights. You may need to make a few alterations to ensure you get a good cover all around your tree. What you are looking for is even spread of lights with no blank areas, or areas that are overcrowded with lights. Once you happy that your tree is evenly covered, go back and ensure the lights are securely wrapped around the branch that it is on.

Once completed, turn your Christmas lights on and stand back to see if you have achieved the effect you were looking for. Remember, you will be adding more decorations to the tree, and they will add their dimension to the Christmas trees overall effect.

When we think about Christmas traditions our minds often drift to decorated Christmas trees, wreathes on front doors, Christmas carols and Christmas dinner. Kids of course think of Christmas presents, and all the wonderfully decorated homes. If you’re into the big family Christmas dinner, consider adding a little wow with a table top Christmas decoration.

Christmas dinner is a special occasion for many families. A lot of time and work goes into putting together a real family feast, and that includes giving thought to who is sitting where, and the special decorations and  tableware to be used. Most decorations at a Christmas dinner revolves around a themed table cloth and napkins. Perhaps it’s time to add that wow.

The silver spiral Christmas tree adds that special touch. It stands 40 cm tall and comes with 24 blue LED lights, perfect for the centre of your dinner table. The LED lights are static so they won’t distract diners while the tiny red and blue baubles add colour and interest. Being silver in colour, the spiral Christmas tree will match most table themes and layouts. The lights are subtle enough to make the tree glow without any of the harshness that is often associated with small lights.

Unfortunately, there are not too many of these left, and they are currently at a special price. If you have a large dinner table, then buying two certainly wouldn’t look amiss – it creates two centres on your dining table, helping to make it appear smaller and a little more intimate. If you haven’t had table top decorations before, the silver spiral Christmas tree is a good place to start.

Potted Christmas trees have become popular in recent years. However, if you haven’t given it the care it really needs, it may need replacing. Did you pot the tree up after last Christmas? Have you been watering, feeding and trimming the tree ready for this year? If you answer “No” to either one of those questions, then it’s time to check out whether or not it is still suitable for this Christmas.

If your potted Christmas tree is not in great condition, it may not survive indoors, especially when fully decorated. Add any heat sources that tree will be under stress for a couple of weeks. The end result may be a tree with a lot of needle drop, and drooping branches that won’t fully support any decorations. Potted Christmas trees will last years, the biggest drawback being size – if they are healthy, they will continue to grow in height.If your potted tree is getting a little tall to be carted indoors all the time, consider putting in your front garden, fully decorated. You can even buy outdoor Christmas lights to finish off the decorations.

Potted Christmas trees are not that expensive, so they are easily replaced once they have passed their useful indoor life. They can still be planted out into a permanent position in your garden, and they will survive for many years once freed from the pot.  If you really must have that potted tree for one more year, and the branches are starting to droop, be sure to give it plenty of water whilst inside, and to place it where it doesn’t receive too much heat. For drooping branches, you can use garden wire – a form of copper wire that can be used to support branches.  However, don’t be surprised to see needles starting to fall.

Kids love small potted Christmas trees. These trees often grow with the child, however, they don’t last forever when it comes to indoor use at Christmas. Check yours now – don’t wait until it’s time to take it indoors – it may be too late to order a replacement.

Christmas lights look great strung around a Christmas tree, but that’s not their only use. There is a growing group of people who string lights together to make some of the most awesome looking Christmas displays. That, however, takes a lot of planning, a lot of lights, and plenty of electricity. In the family home, you can still have a lot of fun with Christmas lights, especially if you buy from the connectable range.

These lights are about 5 metres in length and have 100 LED lights spaced at 5 cms apart. You can connect up to 10 of these lights to make quite stunning displays in the home. You will need the right size connectable light power pack to light up them all up, however, it’s a one-off expense if you are using connectable lights.

Connectable lights have a stunning range that includes white, blue and multi-coloured. You can also buy twinkling lights and the very pretty cluster garland strings of lights. Most of the connectable range of Christmas lights are also suitable for outside use, handy if you have a large tree that you would like to decorate. However, it’s inside the home where you can really have fun with these lights.

You are only limited by your imagination. Some of the better displays include dressing the border of windows, with the Christmas tree taking pride of place in the centre. Other uses include framing a Christmas tree by placing lights all the way around the corner of one wall, with the Christmas tree in the centre, and most popular of all, trying to design Christmas images using strings of connectable Christmas lights. The end result can look quite spectacular, and it doesn’t take that long to put them all together. If you are considering something different in the way of Christmas lighting this year, consider connectable Christmas lights, you can have a lot of fun putting them to good use.

Christmas trees are not all the same and each type of tree brings its own unique characteristics. The Norway Spruce is the tree that most people associate with Christmas, however, when it comes to children, it is not the friendliest. Christmas is that time of year where children are full of excitement, and that includes wanting to decorate their Christmas trees. With that in mind, especially if you have young children, you need to find a Christmas tree that is very child friendly.

The Fraser Fir and Nordman Fir are both child friendly. Where the Norway Spruce has quite prickly foliage, the Nordman and Fraser firs both have soft foliage. Of the two, the Nordman is probably the friendliest when it comes to children. While these trees can be quite tall, they are also very broad at the base. This gives the child plenty of scope and space to decorate whilst older children (and mum and dad) can concentrate on the higher areas. The Fraser Fir on the other hand is quite narrow, so you don’t get the same area to decorate.

When fully decorated, the Nordman Fir can look spectacular, simply because of its shape. That’s not to say the Fraser Fir doesn’t, however, it takes on a more formal appearance because of its long and narrow shape. Which one is best? It all depends on you and your children. We have found that young children tend to prefer the Nordman Fir while adults and teens prefer the Fraser Fir.  The Nordman Fir has certainly become of the most popular trees selected by families.

One of the benefits of a Fraser Fir is the perfume that the tree gives off. This can waft throughout the home adding a real Christmasy feel to the home. This tree is also perfect for homes where space is at a premium. If you have young children, take a closer look at the Normand Fir. If you have limited space, and you want the added bonus of a gentle Christmas perfume, then take a closer look at the Fraser Fir. Either way, you can’t go wrong when it comes to children.

Teal & Silver Bauble Decorations

We visited the retailers exhibition  Top Drawer in London where there were a few interesting trend tips for Christmas this year. One is tapping into the traditional, craft side of things where homemade decorations are being encouraged – this fits the choice for a real christmas tree without at doubt!  The other was a silver & teal colour combination – our collection of bauble decorations certainly fits the look.

If you have Christmas lights from last year, and most people do, then now is the time to dig them out and to give them a thorough check. While your Christmas lights should last several years, they can deteriorate over time and can become damaged whilst being packed or while stored away. The last thing you need is to have your Christmas tree decorated and the lights strung only to find they are not working. So what should you check for? Here is a list of some of the areas you should be looking at.

• Power plug – check to see if the power plug is still if there is any damage to the plug. If the plug has become damaged, it could present an electrical hazard.
• Power pack – if your Christmas lights have a power pack, check that it has not been damaged in any way. When you plug it in, listen for any buzzing. While some power packs do emit a low buzz, a loud buzz could indicate the power pack is slowly dying. It may be wise to replace it now.
• Wiring -  carefully check the wiring between lights to ensure there has been no deterioration, there are no small nicks, or any other damage.
• Lamps – check for broken lamps before switching the lights on. If all appears well, plug your Christmas lights on and check that all are working. Replace any lamps that are not working.

By checking your Christmas lights now, you can replace lamps where necessary, and ensure that there is less risk of electrical incidents over the Christmas period. Christmas lights are not expensive so if you have any doubts, throw them out and replace them with new lights. The latest LED Christmas lights will last much longer, use less power, and often look a lot better than the old fashioned filament lamps.