At first glance our Christmas tree probably looks like the typical kid friendly, low budget tree. And it is. Bought for about $12 after Christmas a few years ago and decorated primarily with ornaments that were gifts or from our childhood trees, it certainly fits the bill for a family striving to pay off their homes as soon as possible. While not a fabulous designer look alike tree, it is perfect for our family at this time in our lives.
Decorating the tree is a family occasion. My husband and I unwrap the ornaments that kids put them on. The kids love hearing us tell where the ornaments came from and how old they are. They love helping to decorate the tree while listening to Christmas songs once the lights have been added. Christmas tree lights. Oh yes the reason for this post….
The past few years our lights have slowly stopped working. I’ve used strings that were only half lit or blinking on and off sporadically, just trying to make do without spending money to purchase more. This year there weren’t enough working lights to decorate our door and the tree. I cringed.
But there were icicle lights.
I nearly laughed at my own thought. It’s not like having lights dangling all over the tree for Little One to pull is a good idea or as if it wouldn’t look ridiculous either. But as I sat playing Candy Crush in order to avoid my problem, it hit me: icicles didn’t need to be draped on the outside of the tree. They could be wrapped around the center of the tree with the icicle strands wrapping each individual branch. Hubby thought I’d lost my mind. He also muffled a laugh as he shook his head. But when the tree was finished, he agreed it looked just like the tree always looked. It was actually easier to wrap because I didn’t have to double back on each branch in order to hide the strand running between the bushes.
If you get into a bind, but have some icicle lights (or decide to buy icicle lights instead) consider using this trick in lieu of traditional Christmas tree lights. Can you tell I used icicle lights?
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