Christmas Tree Shaping Guide

There's nothing like a beautiful artificial Christmas tree to set the tone for a warm, enchanting Christmas. A naturally shaped Christmas tree is not only the highlight of your festive decor, it makes your home come alive with holiday cheer and spirit.

Normally, high quality artificial Christmas trees feature a hinged construction and come with three folding trunk poles that you have to put together. In such a tree, the branches of the tree are already permanently attached to the tree trunk with hinges, and all you have to do once you've put the tree pole together is shape the folded-down branches to give your tree a lush, lifelike look.

Here are a few professional tips to help you make your Christmas tree the topic of conversation at all your holiday parties.

Bottom Section
Once you've placed the large bottom section of hinged branches into your tree stand, start with the lowermost row of branches and gently pull down each large branch. To make sure you don't miss any of the branches, you can tie up the remaining closed branches with a piece of cord.

Small Branches
Next, pick one of the large bottom branches and find the short attached branches closest to the trunk of your tree. Carefully pull out and angle the short branches towards you. Make sure you bend these small branches to form a gentle curve and be careful that their shape doesn't turn out to be too angular.

Then, push the two gently curved tree branches in an upward and outward direction to resemble the foliage of a real tree. Find the next set of small branches and bend them in a gentle curve. Now push these two curved branches in a downward and outwards direction.

Upper Section
Work row by row and move out towards the upper part of your tree section. When you complete one section, add the next section and continue up to the large section at the top. As you move towards the tip of the tree, try to vary the distances of your upward and downward bends to create a natural, lifelike look.

Start with the bottom row of the top branches and shape these in the same manner as the lower branches. When you reach the small, single branches attached to the tree trunk, curve them gently and bend them downward in a low, deep dip.

Top Branches
The top, long Christmas tree branch is bent straight and pointing upwards. To finish shaping the treetop, hold the top, straight branch and pull the top row of branches upwards gently by their tip until the branch tip is about two to three inches away from the base of the top branch.

Take care to space the top-row branches equally apart. Repeat the same process with the rest of the rows in the top branch, making sure there are no holes or gaps and the tree-top looks lush and full.

When you are finished, take note of the areas where the sections meet. Make sure the all the branches in these sections blend together to create a natural look.

Helpful Hint
If there is a bare wire or an unsightly tip on the end of a large Christmas tree branch, take one of the small end branches and wrap it tightly around to mask the incongruity. This will make sure your tree looks dense, full and beautifully shaped.