How to Trim a Christmas Tree With Lights

Make your Christmas glam with lights.

The Christmas season would be incomplete without a tree, and that tree would be incomplete without lights. Christmas tree lights add a cozy dimension to the entire holiday display, brightening a room by day and glowing magically at night. It's not a difficult task to trim your Christmas tree with lights as long as you go about it methodically and with a few simple tips.

Things You'll Need

• Tree
• Lights
• Replacement bulbs (optional)

Instructions

1. Unpack the lights. Carefully remove lights from their box or container. Lay them flat on the floor, gently untangling and unwinding any tangled or bunched up lights.

2. Make sure the lights work. Once the lights are untangled and arranged on the floor, plug them into the socket to make sure all lights are lit.

3. Move the lights to the tree area. Make sure the light's plug can reach to the outlet from the tree. Also gauge how many lights you have in relation to how big the tree is. This will help you figure out how densely packed you need to place the lights in order to cover the entire tree.

4. Begin to string the lights on the tree. Start at the bottom of the tree and wind your way up. The end tip of the light strand should end at the tip top of the tree. Begin by loosely stringing the lights in a circular, spiral pattern upward. In denser tree areas, place lights further into the brush and string the next row closer than you would a less dense area. Repeat the circular spiral until you have used all the lights and arrived at the top of the tree.

5. Decorate the rest of the tree. Lights should be the first decoration to be placed on the tree so they can be arranged without knocking anything off and they don't block any other ornaments.

Tips & Warnings

• If the lights do not work, either get another set or troubleshoot by replacing bulbs to see which one is faulty. Some strands will not light at all if one bulb does not work. Replacement bulbs often come with the set or can be purchased at hardware and home stores. This could be a massively time consuming and tedious process you may want to avoid by simply buying new lights. Lights usually stay in place when draped above the branches. If you need extra security, wrap a small piece of wire around the light strand, connecting it to the branch.

• Shut off the Christmas tree lights if they will be unattended for any length of time.