Just recently, I fluffed (my term) and shaped 50 Christmas Trees for a national home improvement store. I am kind of pro at shaping trees so I thought I’d share some of my secrets because if you don’t have a nice fat fluffy tree before you decorate well…… you won’t have a nice fat fluffy tree when your done! And yes, you can even make a skinny tree look fat and happy if you try.
1) Assemble it fully by putting each section in the stand. (That’s a no brainer right?)Then loosen the screw at the bottom of the tree (the one holding it in the stand.) If you can turn your tree around as you go it is much easier, if your tree will not turn then leave yourself enough room to walk around it. Yes, you have to fluff the back if you don’t it will not be full.
2) I always start at the bottom. I don’t know if this is the correct way but it is the way I like to do it. It is especially easy if the tree doesn’t fully drop when you take it out of the box and you can drop each branch, fluff and turn as you go, bottom up.
3) Touch each stem of each branch. This is a must and the most important step. If you skip it you’ll notice it. Yes, it takes time but it will pay off in the end.
4) When you get to the top, take it off to fluff unless you can spin it. Another must. People notice the top. I can’t tell you how many bad tops I see.
5) At this point step back and look it over. There always seems to be an empty spot just like with the real ones. You can fix this usually by taking that section and giving it a half turn in either direction to fill in the gap.
6) Take your time. To create a full, beautiful tree it will take time. The trees that you see in stores that look sort of “Charlie Brownish”, look that way because someone was in a hurry or didn’t really care what the tree looked like. And really, how can you not care about a Christmas Tree?
These are the some of the trees I shaped, it was really hard to get a good shot. These trees were already lit and put up on the decking, really glad I didn’t have to do that. I concentrated on making sure that for the most part you could not see through any tree. What do you think? Did I succeed?
Listening to Christmas music in October was not really all that fun but I will have it back on next week the day after Thanksgiving.
Happy Christmas tree decorating!
Today, I am doing something that scares me and that’s why I am doing it.
