Trimming the tree

Christmas decorating tips from professionals

Anthony Lucia has been decorating Christmas trees professionally for years. He strung lights on trees at the parish courthouse, hospital, local banks and more this season. But he said that with patience and the right practices, residents can make their own trees look beautiful and professional, too.

Lucia, with Roussel’s Fine Jewelry and Gifts in Boutte, said that many people start with mistakes, such as wrapping strings of lights around the tree or throwing ornaments on without organization.

For those parishioners wanting to spruce up their trees this year, he offers these tips:

Use plenty of lights

To prepare for decorating, Lucia said that he usually uses about 800 to 1,000 lights for a seven- or eight-foot tree. If the tree is larger, he recommends using 200-300 more lights.

He suggests wiring lights to branches from trunk to tip on the inside of the tree to make it really glow.

“Don’t just wrap lights around the tree – that doesn’t look right,” he said.

Lynda Baxa, with It’s All About You Interiors, also puts trees in her store each year and keeps track of decorating trends. She said that people shouldn’t worry about having too many lights or decorations on their trees.

“Don’t be afraid to just load it up,” she said.

Once the wiring is done, fake trees can be used year after year. Lucia said that if the tree is real, it may be easier to buy cheap lights and then throw them away with the tree instead of trying to save them at the end of the year.

Decorate with care

After lights are strung, Lucia says to start at the top of the tree with a bow and/or tree topper. Three different colors of ribbons are his preference – this year he likes red, gold and green or green, silver and peacock.

For filler, he said that ribbon can be an inexpensive and easy alternative to more ornaments.

“You can buy ribbon for $5 and make 10 bows,” he said.

Next, Lucia says to divide ornaments into groups by type and place one group on the tree at a time. That way the ornaments that are alike will be evenly spaced.

“Don’t just take all the ornaments together and stick them on the tree because it’s not going to look right,” he said.

Baxa agreed that evenly spacing many ornaments is essential.

“The layering effect is important,” Baxa said.

Make unique, trendy additions

Lucia also likes to use new and unique flourishes on his trees each year. This year, he says that lime green colors are very popular.

“Lime green is a really, really popular color this year,” he said. “It’s been available for a while, but it’s just now getting popular.”

He has also tried incorporating peacock feathers into some of his tree arrangements.

“A lot of our customers aren’t ready for that – they want a more traditional tree,” he said.

Baxa said that mercury-colored ornaments and vintage-looking decorations have been very popular this year. She also said that “anything with sparkle” is an annual favorite for Christmastime.

Finish with a skirt

While tree skirts are available at almost every store where Christmas items are sold, Lucia said that there is another alternative that will not make the tree look bad.

He suggests buying about 3 yards of fabric and using it as a skirt.

“Most people don’t see the skirt when you put all your presents on it anyway,” Lucia said.

Try a new wreath

While traditional color schemes are very popular this year, with red and green dominating decoration choices, many parishioners are starting new traditions when it comes to wreaths. Lucia said that most of his customers are opting for a swag, pictured bottom left, over a wreath this year.

“They just want a little something different for the door,” he said.

Jennifer Dodson, at It’s All About You, said that she has seen many people coming in for the store’s custom-made mesh ribbon wreaths, pictured top left, which are easier to clean and maintain than a traditional fresh-cut wreath. They also come in brighter and more modern colors.