To hate the

[SirHisss]

fucking Christmas tree and the fannying about to put it up?

I'm too short to reach the top, I have to walk around it with the bloody lights then climb on a stepladder to fix them in to place, it's so tall I need two sets of lights for it which invariably become fankled round each other. My landlord has fitted all the plug sockets about 1cm off the floor so the ridiculously big plugs don't fit and I have to use an extension cable which looks ugltly. There are plastic pine needles all over the carpet and the cat will fuck half of it up by this time tomorrow.

I said I was buying a pre-lit one this year to make it a bit easier but as usual never got round to it and decided to make do.

Can you employ people to come and do this for you?

Why not buy a shorter tree?

Mine needed 5 sets of lights!! (I didn't do the lights, my much taller DP did!)

Assuming it comes in bits, fasten the lights to the top bit before you insert it into the rest of the tree,

Don't wind the lights round the tree, zig-zag them back and forth, one set on each side.

Keep the extension cable under the tree and conceal it with presents.

I find it's easier with a short pair of kitchen steps , about 3 steps, ratehr than a full stepladder, but iit would be silly to by a set of steps just for doing the Christmas tree.

There are specialist erecting and decorating services, but as part of Christmas tree sales. So your best bet would be asking in face book for an odd-job person,

You need a tree that's in proportion to the room. It needs to have a presence

Was “fankled” an autocorrect for “tangled”? Because it’s a great word! 😁

I’m with you though, op. It’s worse getting it all down imo. 😠

It's a Scottish word that means tangled 😁

I have very high ceillings and a bay window - it does look lovely once it's up but it's a pain to do!

A short one would look silly, I think.

Can you get a light curtain? The lights just hang from the top. No winding. Unwrap from the top when time to put away. The attached pic is from Amazon.

I do not have these particular lights but thought they were a good idea.

Jesus Christ... I think that would tip me over the edge

Why have a tree?

At Christmas time, many people follow a tradition of putting up a decorated tree in their home during the season. Have you never heard of it?

Amazing! Thank you for teaching me a new word! 🤓

I bloody love doing my tree. Had the same one for 27 years. All the branches have to be clipped in. I use 2 lots of lights but run them up and down, not around. I have a two step ladder that I use.

It sits on a small table I hide with a Christmas cloth so the light plugs are hidden, then the presents go underneath.

Stick Christmas music on enjoy a couple of hours decorating.

I've only one set of lights on my strapping seven foot tree, but there are about 600 lights per string so it's easier than using a shorter string with fewer lights on it, and needing more sockets. In fact, you could really do with a (four-gang) switched socket extension, then you can switch the tree lights off and on easily instead of footering about with multiple plugs. You can hide the extension if you want with wrapped presents, a tree skirt or some nice sparkly tinsel, whatever works for you. I also have a set of kitchen steps which come into their own for this job, they're the very dab!

Doing the tree is always a faff but it's worth it in the end. Stick some Christmas music on, have a half way break for your preferred hot beverage and festive treat of your choice and away you go.

@Anewuser what is the secret to this? I read about people having a lovely wee afternoon - Christmas music on, glass of something nice to drink, merrily hanging all the pretty baubles on the tree.

I hate hauling the thing out of the cupboard, putting it together and faffing about with the branches and trying to fluff them up, the lights tieing themselves in knots umpteen times and the fecking tree skirt thing getting all bunched up 30 seconds after I fix it because the cat thinks its a new toy.

It is up now and looks lovely but it will take me a few days to stop resenting it.

I bought a pre-lit tree last year and it’s a game changer! Ours is only a small one but it’s so good not having to mess about with the lights.

A few years ago I bought a huge pre-lit tree from marks-in August! It was reduced from £200 to £40. The pre-lit tree is wonderful !!

Pre-lit tree from Blossom Hill was a game changer for me. I used to hate doing the lights, now I just do the fun part of hanging the decorations.

At work , they put the whole, decorated tree in a cupboard and produce it ready decorate from year to year. I'd be tampered to do the same if we have the space at home.

What???

Of course if you don't want one that's fine but to suggest like that ^ 🙄

It's not compulsory. You can choose to ignore it, like any tradition.

My Granny used to leave hers decorated in the cupboard and just bring it back out - I wish I had a spare cupboard with space to do the same!

I'm going to keep an eye out for a pre-lit one in the sales.

I do realise that Christmas trees are not compulsory, but I like mine. I juse hatebthe process of putting it up.