Tips for Trimming Your Christmas Tree

Happy Holidays to all!

Christmas is almost here, and if you're ready to start decorating, here are some of my (hopefully) useful tips on decorating your Holiday Tree!

Beginning the task: When decorating your tree, put lights on first, then the garland, and finally the ornaments. I think of my tree as a three-dimensional painting. Do you have a color scheme or theme that you want to follow? Sometimes having a plan for your tree makes it more fun to decorate – at least in my opinion. You can spend all year collecting items for your tree – but a good time of year to find bargains is, of course, the post-holiday sales.

Hanging Ornaments: Begin by hanging "filler ornaments" and evenly space them around the tree. They could be basic solid color balls that are easily found at discount stores in a wide range of colors to coordinate and enhance your decorating scheme. You'll need about 20 "filler ornaments" for every two feet of Christmas tree. Don't hang all your ornaments on the tips of the branches. Instead, hang ornaments and other decorations 'inside' your tree to add depth and interest.

Light it up! If you do not have a pre-lit tree, here’s a suggestion for adding lights: You can’t really have enough! Lights give a tree dimension and beauty so pile them on!! I have a 6.5 foot tree and it has 500 mini-white lights on it – it’s gorgeous! Start arranging Christmas tree lights on the branches near the base of the tree. Weave strings of lights along the branches "inside," then move to the outer edges of the branches.

Adding the extras: There are so many beautiful accessories to add to your tree – from pine cones to flowers to bows, just to name a few. Once your tree has lights, garland and ornaments, you can fill in the "holes" with your accessories. And VOILA! Your tree is a masterpiece. By the way, my 6.5 foot tree is embellished with 400 ornaments and accessories, and each year, I receive so many compliments. You can accumulate these over time so that you don’t break the budget!

Keep your live tree fresh! If you bought a live tree, cut the stump of the tree with a fresh cut and set it in water immediately. A fresh-cut tree will absorb several quarts of water right from the start. So it's important to check and refill the water level several times a day for the first week. You can cut down on frequency later. Be sure to place you Christmas tree in a stand that has a large water reservoir and keep it filled. You don't want your pretty tree to dry out too soon!

Source: http://greenbelt.patch.com/blog_posts/blog-tips-for-trimming-your-christmas-tree

The very best Christmas cakes

Tesco Finest partridge in a pear tree - The very best Christmas cakes

Tesco Finest partridge in a pear tree £18.75 for 1.5kg
We love the ornate ivory shell and delicate tree design – a popular theme this year. Inside, soft raisins and glacé cherries are bound together in a moist crumb that’s laced with brandy.

White Christmas rose - The very best Christmas cakes

White Christmas rose £35 for a 20cm (8in) cake, by Fiona Cairns, from Waitrose
With its handmade edible roses and pristine icing, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more elegant cake. The spiced crumb has a lovely texture, with large nuts and chunks of citrus peel.

The Co-operative all over iced

The Co-operative all over iced £8 for 907g
A thick fondant icing and strong, almondy marzipan are the perfect foil for a crumb bursting with glossy black sultanas. It’s alcohol-free, but packs a punch with hunks of candied peel instead.

Daylesford fruit-topped

Daylesford fruit-topped £22.99 for 1.4kg (daylesfordorganic.com). Order by 15 December
A marked citrus theme is at work here, from the candied-orange topping to the bold marmaladey notes of the cake itself. Brandy-soaked fruit gives it a boozy richness.

Morrisons iced brandy-soaked 

Morrisons iced brandy-soaked £10 for 900g
This dark, sticky cake glistens with glacé cherries and syrupy sultanas. It has been steeped in brandy, too, giving it a heady scent and a devilishly boozy crumb that intensifies over time.

Waitrose Christmas Red Button 

Waitrose Christmas red button £14.40 for 1.6kg, from ocado.com; £15.99, from Waitrose
There’s a festive aroma of warm gingerbread to this, thanks to a generous helping of stem ginger throughout the nutty mixture. It’s definitely one for fans of marzipan.

Christmas Eve in Canada

Christmas Eve in Canada is the last day of preparations for the Christmas Day and Boxing Day holidays. It is a busy shopping day and some people give gifts to family and friends on this day. 

What do people do?

Many people in Canada have to work on Christmas Eve, but it is also a day of preparation for the approaching holidays. Some people buy last-minute Christmas gifts for family members and friends while others wrap presents that they bought earlier. If a family is going eat a traditional meal on Christmas Day, they may begin preparations on Christmas Eve.

A traditional Christmas Day meal often consists of roast turkey or goose with squash, turnips, potatoes and cranberry sauce as a main course and mince pies or plum pudding for dessert. However, people may eat dishes as diverse as clam chowder, spiced chicken wings or traditional food from the wide range of cultures represented in modern-day Canada.

Many families put up their Christmas tree and other decorations on Christmas Eve. However, some do this earlier in December and just save a few special decorations, perhaps representing the Nativity, to put on display on December 24. In some areas, a large Nativity scene, perhaps with live animals or actors playing the parts of Mary and Joseph, is set up on Christmas Eve.

People who attend church regularly may go to a church service on the evening of December 24, known as midnight mass. Traditionally, this service started at midnight as December 24 became December 25 but now often starts earlier in the evening. In Quebec the traditional meal after this service is a pie of meat, potatoes and onions known as tourtire (tortiere, tourtier).

Some families, particularly in Quebec, may exchange gifts in the evening of Christmas Eve. However, many others, particularly those with small children, end the day by hanging up large socks or sock-shaped sacks known as Christmas stockings. Children are told that a mythical figure called Santa comes to fill them with presents during the night. The story of Santa is so important to Christmas in Canada and the United States that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) maintains a website to allegedly 'track' Santa's movements on Christmas Eve.

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Best Christmas Tree and Fireplace wallpaper

You are viewing the Christmas Tree and Fireplace wallpaper from category: Christmas Trees. To download this wallpaper, choose your desktop resolution bellow picture, or click on the picture bellow and in new window right click on the wallpaper, and select option "Save as Background".

Best Christmas Tree and Fireplace wallpaper

 

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About Christmas Tree

A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer such as pine or fir, traditionally associated with the celebration of Christmas. An artificial Christmas tree is an object made to resemble such a tree, usually made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

The tree was traditionally decorated with edibles such as apples, nuts or dates. In the 18th century, it began to be illuminated by candles, which with electrification could also be replaced by Christmas lights. Today, there are a wide variety of traditional ornaments, such as garland, tinsel, and candy canes.An angel or star may be placed at the top of the tree, to represent the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity.

The custom of the Christmas tree developed in early modern Germany with predecessors that can be traced to the 16th and possibly the 15th century. It acquired popularity beyond Germany during the second half of the 19th century. The Christmas tree has also been known as the "Yule-tree", especially in discussions of its folkloristic origins.

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Some Awesome Photos Christmas 2012

Fireworks explode over the state Capitol following the lighting of the state Christmas tree on November 16, 2012, in Lansing, Mich

Amidst a fanfare ceremony with fireworks, the Christmas lights are switched on at Harrods department store in London on November 1, 2012.

Booths offer traditional Thuringian handcrafts and sweets and a big Ferris wheel at the Christmas Fair in Erfurt, Germany on November 28, 2012

German bicycle designer Didi Senft, known during the Tour de France as "El Diabolo", presents his latest Christmas-themed construction in Storkow, Germany on November 29, 2012

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is lit on November 28, 2012 in New York.

Hundreds of people gather in the rain to attend the opening of the traditional Christmas Market on the Roemerberg square in Frankfurt on November 26, 2012

Volunteer Santas are reflected in a fountain during their 110th annual Sidewalk Santa Parade in New York on November 23, 2012. The donations they raise are used for a holiday food voucher program for needy residents.

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