how do you get the lights evenly on the tree?

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

I am sitting here looking at our tree and its shambolic. There are spaces with no lights and bits with too many.

How do you all do it? I took my time and really tried this year and still its uneven.

You have your tree up already!

I plug them in so they are switched on as I put them on.

I've never had much success unless I put loads on!

Will watch with interest!

Just put them on and fiddle for hours until they look right.

I bought a string of 200 or something... no dark gaps now

I had them on when I was doing it and it still turned out crap

I think theres 160 lights and its a slim tree.

I think I will just have to keep adjusting them until January when it comes down!!

And this is the earliest I have ever put the tree up, but its been a shitty year (apart from DD2 coming along) and I needed some twinkly light therapy :o

You'll be sick of that therapy long before the 25th

I read a tip once that if you look at the tree reflection in a window or mirror its easier to see which to move. Mine is in front of my french doors so its ideal and it works.

I have two sets. One go to the top and zig zag fairly one-sidedly down; the other start near the top and zig zag the other way, picking up a lot of slack on the lower branches.

I always switch on (obviously) and rearrange prior to putting anything else on. I haven't got the tree yet, but that is how I always do it.

Never. I love fairy lights :)

Opposite ways! That makes sense. I have put both sets on the same way.

Take off and redo or just have a wonky tree? Hmm.

Go around the tree. Open the twisty wire and stick branches through the wires do the lights stay in place. Wrap lights in and along the branches to the inside, not just around the edge of the branches. Put a good few in the middle around the trunk.

Some people advise going up and down when putting them on, I suppose at least you could always miss out the back and spread more of them over the front of the tree?

i bought a tree which already had lights on it

I sort of close my eyes and squint at the tree. It means you see the lights and whether they look even but don't really see the actual tree - just the overall shape. Does this make any sense

I HATE putting lights on the tree, they always seem uneven and I spend the time between Christmas and the tree coming down constantly adjusting them (& dislodging all carefully placed ornaments in the process)!! Hence why my tree usually doesn't go up until a few days until before Christmas!

I do the squinty thing too, I don't think there are ever too many lights on a tree, I have 2 sets, usually start at the top and do zig zag, then zig zag the other way with the other set. Although you can always just chuck more lights on to it.

Ours always looks quite nice in the end, once all the beads and tinsel and crap are on it. It's always slightly wonky regarding lights, but after about 24 hours you get used to it and stop wanting to adjust.

Start at the top and then go around until I reach the bottom. Then readjust pretty much every day until I am happy with them! Can't wait to get our tree...

Jeepers I do the squinty thing too I just realised. I am lol at the thought of all you squinting at your trees!

CherryMonster, me too! Saves hours, especially when DC are champing at the bit to put the other tat on! Very worth the cost.

Before my miracle tree, I would put the lights on starting with the last light before the plug, going in a spiral around the tree occasionally singing 'Here we go round the mulberry bush,' (but only when alone) in an upwards direction. Then, I'd switch the tree lights on and the wall lights off and faff around for about an hour until I was happy with it - only then were the DC allowed to start hanging bits. After they'd done their thing I would get them to bed, wait an hour or so for them to get to sleep then re-hang everything.

These days I just say ' there's the boxes of stuff, away you go.

Put on twice as many as you think you'll need! The lights are the most important bit. We always have a massive tree but millions of lights (4 strings of 160 I think) You really can't have too many lights.

Possibly I am slightly obsessive

We have quite a big tall tree. I use four sets of 400 lights. I turn the lights on before putting them on the tree so I can see which bits have been missed. For the top, I go round and round and for the bottom, I do one set at the front and another set at the back and just one set for the middle part. I try to put the lights a few stems in and wound them round the stems so there are some lights in the middle too. I love loads of lights as near Xmas, I love sitting indoors just with the lights and tv on. It's so relaxing.

Up and down is apparently the way to go rather than round and round. At least that is how they do the tree at the Rockerfeller Centre in New York. According to a pic on Pinterest.

Dont go around the tree if its up against a wall you can get away with just putting them on the front. Start at the top and go in an s shape down to the bottom missing out the back. My mum does this and it looks fab. Obviously if you can see the back this is no help at all to you!

I just upon absolutely loads. They are very soft white lights so there sort of needs to be loads to get maximum sparkle.

You marry a man who has OCD tendencies and leave him to spend hours moving the wires around until he's happy.

DH and DD got the Christmas box out whilst I was enjoying a lie-in, so I didn't really have much of a say. The lights are nearly even, bless them, and there's an unsightly big sparkly cluster of green baubles just at DD's armsreach, but as long as they are happy, there's no fallout