Tips on how to decorate your Christmas tree

I initially wanted to go out of town for last week’s Halloween/Undas long weekend since it’s very rare that we get four consecutive days off work. But because tropical storm Paeng was busy wreaking havoc across the country, I decided to stay indoors. Since the long weekend was announced early enough, we were able to tape Ano Sa Palagay Nyo? (ASPN), the daily weekday TV-radyo show I co-host with Ali Sotto, for the Oct. 31 (Monday) and Nov. 1 (Tuesday) episodes.

But my children had other plans. My daughter Gabbie was excited to go to her first Halloween party after the pandemic and my son was preparing for the Ateneo College Entrance Test (ACET), which was later postponed because of typhoon Paeng. This was a blessing in disguise since so many horror stories were circulating about how bad traffic was and how congested the airports were due to flight delays and cancellations.

And so, I made productive use of the time by finishing up decorating my Christmas tree and doing general house-cleaning in preparation for two aunts who are visiting from North America. They arrived a few days ago and are staying with me for two weeks.

Earlier this year, my daughter asked if we could have a pink Christmas tree. I was initially hesitant since that meant spending a lot on new Christmas decor. But I remembered that I already had many white ornaments and so a pink-and-white motif was not going to be too costly. And so, the plan was to buy a few pink pieces at a time whenever I was at a mall so I wouldn’t feel the strain on my budget too much.

Here are my tips for decorating your Christmas tree:

Start with the lights. I highly recommend LED lights as they are safer and last longer. They are quite expensive but in the long run worth the initial investment. I bought mine more than five years ago and they are still working. I normally use 100 lights for every foot of tree and since my Christmas tree is eight feet tall, I use 800 lights.

Choose a theme so your Christmas tree doesn’t look like a hodgepodge of decorations unless that’s the theme you’re going for. It can be whimsical, traditional, ornate, playful, or DIY. Be creative…there’s no need to buy ornaments when you can make your own, or simply reuse or recycle decor from previous years that’s still in good shape. A dear friend just bought styrofoam balls and wrapped them in colorful retasos/leftover fabrics to make them look like candies and dumplings.

Don’t confine yourself to Christmas balls…the more shapes and textures on the tree, the better! Aside from balls, I like stars, candy canes, stuffed toys, bells, flowers, snowflakes, ribbons, etc. Also consider adding personal or sentimental items like pictures or keepsakes.

Though there are no hard rules when decorating, I prefer my Christmas tree to be bursting with decorations and looking really “busog.” Remember, there is no such thing as going overboard when you’re decorating a tree, and more décor means that it will look merrier.

After Christmas, don’t forget to store your ornaments properly. I put them away in acetate boxes or place them individually in plastic bags to preserve them. I have huge plastic bins where they are stored according to color. This way, you extend the life of your decorations and get to recycle them in the years ahead. Christmas lights, on the other hand, are stored in zip lock bags.

For me, decorating the Christmas tree is a therapeutic labor of love. Though our tree prompted my son Paolo to exclaim, “Ma, really? A pink Christmas tree?,” Gabbie and I are delighted with how it turned out. Don’t worry, Paolo. Next year, we’ll have a more “masculine” blue tree as you’ve requested!