How to hang Christmas decorations (From Bucks Free Press)

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How to hang Christmas decorations

7:08pm Tuesday 20th December 2011

By ivor »

A few days ago yours truly paid a visit to my friend who spurred me on to write a blog last year on “How to dress your Christmas tree”.

This year their tree was much better, probably a seven out of ten, however their other decorations such as paper chains and bunting were a complete disgrace.

Naturally yours truly broached this delicate topic and spent few moments instructing my friend on how to hang their decorations after all dressing trees and hanging decorations are something that I consider myself knowledgeable in.

Even though nobody apart from myself is likely to see them I always spend time putting up paper chains at Bigun Hall indeed the decorations and tree make Christmas don't they?

The technical name for a modern tin foil paper chain is a “garland” rather than paper chain which refers to decorations made of crepe or tissue paper.

Thankfully every room in the Hall still has picture rails around the walls so its very easy to affix the decorations. Usually I decorate just the grey drawing room and the billiards room.

Don't forget to wipe the picture rail over with a damp cloth to remove any dust or dirt that may have built up over the year.

Next, starting by the door, push a small drawing pin into the top of the picture rail in the corner of the room so it is out of sight.

Then put a pin in at the opposite end of the picture rail followed by another in the middle. It always helps if you use a tape measure to find the dead centre after all there is nothing worse than lopsided decorations.

To get a good effect two garlands should be used on every wall.

Modern decorations are made of tin foil and have a little loop to hang over the drawing pin making the process of hanging them straight forward.

If the decorations hang too low then simply put another pin in the middle and hook the garland over it to reduce the depth of the loop.

In the middle of each wall there should be a centrepiece decoration such as large hanging bell, star or tree affixed to the middle drawing pin to attract attention to the centre of the room.

Here at the Hall I still use proper paper chains made of crepe paper dating back to the mid 1960's indeed I even have some from the 1940's. The holy grail of paper chains were manufactured by a company called “Paul Jones” another name to look out for is “Apex”.

Nowadays these decorations are extremely rare and highly valuable indeed you can expect to pay anything from twenty pounds upwards for a genuine “Paul Jones” paper chain from the 1960's.

Of course the old paper chains were highly combustible and the safety officer at the local fire station would probably have a fit knowing I was still using them.

This year I invested in some of these newfangled LED lights for my Christmas tree, the lights seemed so tiny so yours truly bought several boxes to make up the same wattage as my old lights, however I fear I have overdone it.

My seven foot tree has over a thousand LED lights on it and looks spectacular however the lights are so bright you can see them from outside through the curtains even when the curtains are drawn!

I hope you have found my guide to putting up paper chains useful, maybe you have some tips on hanging Christmas decorations that you would like to share with us?

What do you think?

*Don't forget to read my regular column in this Friday's edition of the printed version of the Bucks Free Press!

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Comments(85)

Mama36 says...
7:33pm Tue 20 Dec 11

Kirsty Allsopp be very worried!! Not!!