Trimming the Tree time

There was a great article in the Edmonton Journal today featuring our friends at Greenland Garden Centre on tips for trimming your tree.

When do you put your tree up? One of the advantages of artificial trees is you can do it any old time your heart desires. We are thinking of putting ours up earlier this year now that Hannah is older and (hopefully) won't be playing with it too much! (We made the switch from real to artificial a few years ago after our real tree toppled over (even after being anchored!) three times and broke some favorite ornaments). Another major advantage is the trees being pre-lit--such a lifesaver! My in-laws insist this year they will upgrade to one of the great new life-like trees we have available now (theirs is an old-school, pipe base with fluffy, fuzzy, fake branches.)

One of my favorite things to do is collect ornaments for our tree from our travels. I have a little wombat from Australia, a busy bee from New Zealand (did you know that's where they originated?), a Venetian glass gondola from Venice, several Disney ornaments from Florida and California, and other little beauties from across Canada, the US and Mexico.

Watch the blog and our Facebook page (facebook.com/hhlloyd) for pictures of our Christmas decorations at the store--I will be uploading them next week!

If you're looking to mix it up this year, or have grown weary of the decades old dough and macaroni ornaments the kids did in school, or have a new color scheme or...(the list goes on) here are some helpful pointers:

Take time to fluff your branches. “If you leave them stuck together, you may as well buy a cheap tree,” says Sirman. Fluffing can take a few hours, “but it’s worth it because then your tree is beautiful.”

If your tree is looking sparse, Sirman suggests buying lifelike evergreen stems that can be inserted into gaps, or even upgrading to a new tree. Artificial trees are truer-to-life than ever, says Sirman, with branches that are “injection-moulded” to replicate the look of a real spruce.

“They’ve gone from ugly artificials to ones that you honestly have to touch to see. From a distance, you wonder if that’s real,” she says. “When you get a good tree, you need less ornaments. You don’t need to cover it up as much.”

Ditch the popcorn for ribbon. “What ribbons do is they update the tree immediately,” says Sirman. “If you’re wanting the best bang for your dollar, investing in a ribbon that will help tie in your colours is probably one of the first things you should start with.”

Apply your ribbon from the top, using branches to secure the ribbon. Let it balloon from branch to branch, and work it right to the bottom, where you can tuck the ribbon in and bring it back up, bottom to top. Don’t cut your ribbons. An average 7.5-ft. tree will use about 20 yards of ribbon.

If you want to get really fancy, layer your ribbon with another one in a complementary tone.

Edit out old ornaments. Replace anything out-of-date with a new, cohesive set in a uniform colour and texture. “If you start mixing it all up, it’s not going to look as good,” says Sirman.

Make sure you bring samples of old pieces you want to reuse when you go shopping so that you can more easily match pieces.

“There’s probably 93 shades of green,” says Sirman with a laugh. “And do that during the day. If it’s dark outside, it’s very difficult to match and if things don’t match, it won’t tie in together.”

Think birds and words and three dimensions. “Once we get to the smaller accents, butterflies and birds are our biggest sellers,” says Sirman. Festive sayings — joy, Noel, peace — are also popular.

Always place large pieces, such as floral stems, first, and follow with large balls. Then, arrange by importance — special pieces should go up first; fill in gaps with whatever’s left over. Specialty shapes, such as birds and butterflies can be placed last.

To add dimension and texture, Sirman likes finishing with picks of coloured berries and artificial greens around floral stems.

“Instead of just putting ribbon and a flower, we like something to come out, and that something always complements the floral or the focal piece that you’re using,” she explains.

“We find that on all of our trees, if we don’t have it, it just doesn’t have that bang.”

Try a new topper. Ribbons and picks also work well as tree toppers, says Sirman.

“A lot of the time, it’s just stuff spraying out of the top,” she says. “I think it just gives it a more interesting effect and a lot of the time, those trees — artificial and real — are not sturdy. Their stems are not sturdy enough to hold up a heavy angel.”