Decorating for the holidays should be a fun family activity, so make it easier and less stressful with a few simple tips.
Protect your home’s surfaces when you hang decorations:
- To hang a wreath without damaging a door, put a thumb tack into the top edge of the door and suspend the wreath with fishing line.
- Use plant ties or zip ties to attach garland or lights to hand rails, so you don’t need any nails or screws.
If your family celebrates with a real tree:
- Cut at least a half inch off the trunk before you put it in the stand so it can absorb water more easily.
- Cut a 2-foot diameter circle from a piece of plywood. Then attach your tree stand to the plywood with small screws. Wrap plastic sheeting under the plywood and staple it to the top. This forms a stable base for the tree, while the plastic protects the carpet from water spills. It also allows the tree to pivot easily for decorating.
- To simplify watering, tape a large funnel to a length of plastic pipe and rest the pipe in the water reservoir of the tree stand. You can hide the funnel in the branches and secure it with a bread tie.
Keep those strands of lights organized:
- Notch a piece of cardboard on each end to make a cord caddy to wrap the string of lights around. Then label the cardboard with the location where the lights will be used.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Decorating for the Holidays should be a fun family activity, so make it easier and less stressful with a few simple tips. First, protect your home’s surfaces when you hang decorations. To hang a wreath without damaging a door, put a thumb tack into the top edge of the door and suspend the wreath with fishing line. Use plant ties or zip ties to attach garland or lights to hand rails so you don’t need any nails or screws. If your family celebrates with a real tree, remember to cut at least a half inch off the trunk before you put it in the stand so it can absorb water more easily. Make your tree stand more user friendly by cutting a two foot diameter circle from a piece of plywood. Then attach your tree stand to the plywood with small screws. Wrap plastic sheeting under the plywood and staple it to the top. This forms a stable base for the tree while the plastic protects the carpet from water spills and allows the tree to pivot easily for decorating. To simplify watering, tape a large funnel to a length of plastic pipe and rest the pipe in the water reservoir of the tree stand. You can hide the funnel in the branches and secure it with a bread tie. Finally, keep all of those those strings of lights organized by notching a piece of cardboard on each end to make a cord caddy to wrap them around. Then label the cardboard with the location where the lights will be used.
