日本語
Start decorating a tree with lights. Rather than go all the way around the tree, just wrap it in a zig-zag up the front (and sides) of the tree. It makes it much easier to put the lights on and take them off this way. I start at the bottom, and work up. For the lowest branches, I think it distributes the lights best if you run the strings of lights along each branch on the sides and front of the tree.
Next, the ornaments go on. Big trees need big ornaments. For a 2 meter tree, you need 10 each of 5-7 different ornaments. The tree above right has bows, bells, brass buckets, gold balls, photocopied sheet music of Christmas carols, musical instruments, and angels. I buy ornaments that are not breakable so that if I drop them, or don’t pack them well, they won’t break. I also don’t have to try to keep small children from touching them. I put all 10 of one kind on at a time so they get evenly distributed. Most of my ornaments are from various 100 yen store, collected over the past 15 years. If you see any ornaments that you like, buy 5 to 10. Some ornaments come 2 to a pack, or 6 to a pack, so those are quite inexpensive. If you have to think about it and come back, they will probably be sold out. But you don’t have to buy ornaments. You can make origami ornaments, or collect pine cones. The best material for making ornaments it Hearty. it is light weight and very strong. You can make snowmen and gingerbread men and just about anything you can imagine. Your children can help you make ornaments, too.
The traditional tree topper is a star or angel, but most any large decoration will do. Some people use a large bow. The base of a tree is not very pretty, so many people put a tree skirt to cover it. Any cloth swirled around the base of the tree will work.
If you want to decorate your whole house, Christmas trees can come in many shapes. The pine cone tree was made by glueing pine cones to a styrofoam cone with a glue gun. A cardboard cone would work just as well. The stack of boxes in the middle photo came as a set of 12 from Costco. They nest, so storage is not a problem. During Christmas season, they hold gift-wrap supplies and Christmas DVDs. The wire trees are really frames to put in potted plants. But once I hung ornaments on them, they became Christmas trees. If your hundred yen stores don’t carry these, you can get a similar effect with plant cages for tomatoes and beans. Just turn them upside down and fasten the legs together.
These two hanging trees and their ornaments were purchased at hundred yen stores. The tree on the left is a regular Christmas tree with a basket covering it’s base. The branches on the back have been pulled forward so it will lie against the wall, and also makes the tree fuller. The lower branches were too long, so they were bent in half. Bows and pine cones are it’s only decorations. The pink tree has branches from a white Christmas tree to fill in it’s base, with pink berries and holly leaves also bought at a 100 yen store for it’s decorations.
Small trees need small ornaments. Fortunately, most 100 yen stores carry small balls in almost any color you could want, and ribbons that can be made into bows. They also often have small bells, stars, and angels. The straw angels and wreaths and hearts below were purchased at a 100 yen store, as well. You can make lots of ornaments yourself. Wrap small boxes or just pieces of styrofoam to make presents. Buy small cookie cutters and make tiny gingerbread men, snowmen, and candy canes or fake popcorn strings. Mittens and wreaths made of felt make cute ornaments, too. Because these trees and ornaments are so inexpensive, you can have one in each of your children’s rooms for them to decorate as many times as they like. When my son was younger, I decorated his tree with sports items--tiny baseballs and bats (key chains), soccer balls, (ping-pong balls with black patches drawn on with marker) and footballs made from Hearty. Each of these trees is grouped with other items...a bear, dolls, a glass bowl filled with balls, or nativity figures. It makes it more interesting than a tree standing by itself. The bowl of balls also has a string of lights going through it.
These may not look like Christmas trees but they are all 100 yen trees that have been turned sideways and put on a table or hung under or above a window. This is the cheapest way I have found to get greenery for all over the house. Of course fresh greenery gives off a wonderful scent, but that can get expensive, if you can even find a source to buy them.