Christmas Tree Decoration

The decoration of Christmas Trees has undergone many changes, much like many of the early traditions of the Christmas season. Christmas Tree lighting, which started with real candles, probably underwent the biggest change when electric light became commercially available and special Christmas Tree lights were manufactured. It is not surprising that today you can set up Christmas Trees that are expertly decorated with little or no effort.

While many people choose a fresh Christmas Tree for its scent, many others simply want a beautifully decorated tree and will choose an artificial or man-made tree. Artificial trees have been available in America since the start of the 20th century. Many artificial trees are made to have a similar appearance to real Christmas Trees, but changes have been made to make them decorative and different from regular Christmas trees.

As an example, in the 1950s, some artificial Christmas Trees had branches made of aluminum-coated paper to give them a shiny, metallic look. For those who like a Christmas Tree with a unique look, trees with a similar shiny, metallic appearances are available today, however, they are now made with a different material because the older trees were a fire hazard.

For those who are very busy and don't have the time to spend carefully placing Christmas lights on trees, there are many pre-lit Christmas Trees on the market today. These Christmas Trees look like their real counterparts except multi-colored fiber-optic lights can be found scattered throughout their limbs and branches. This arrangement saves the time and effort of having to untangle strings of Christmas Tree lights.

Another type of pre-lit artificial Christmas Tree is one that made completely of fiber optics so that the tree appears to be shaped out of wispy strands of light. Some of these brightly-lit fiber-optic trees also come equipped with pre-recorded Christmas songs and speakers to give the added pleasure of music.

Many pre-lit Christmas Trees have electric lights which need to be plugged into an electrical outlet. The advantage of these trees is that the lights are already strung on them from the factory and you need only to follow the instructions about how to assemble the tree for it to appear lighted. Once this is done correctly, the tree will look as if it was manually decorated with lights.

Another ready-made decorative feature of artificial Christmas Trees is the appearance of snow-covered branches. This trend is an evolution of faux snow which is often sprinkled in garlands and wreaths to add a Christmas quality to those decorations. Icicle ornaments are also used to decorate real and artificial trees and icicle lights are commonly used along rooflines and outdoor areas. These decorations, along with the ready-made snow-covered branches of artificial trees, convey the frosty, cold feel of the winter season.

Christmas trees that arrive from the factory with lights also have decorations such as apples and small red berries to provide additional color, or real pinecones that may or may not be frosted or sprinkled with faux snow. They may also be pre-decorated with red or gold bows, round ornaments, flower-like patterns, dried bow and twigs, and gold frosted branch tips to give an appealing, sparkling appearance. The trees also have varying hues of green similar to real Christmas Trees.

Pre-lit and pre-decorated Christmas Trees are an excellent way to brighten the holiday in your home and enable you to gain more time to enjoy the festivities of the season.