Artificial Christmas Trees: 10 Tips for Quick and Easy Setup

Every year, in the rush to decorate our homes for the holidays, setting up the artificial Christmas tree always turns out to be a frustrating venture that takes far more time than we think it ought to.  But did you know that assembling and decorating the tree doesn't have to be stressful?  Here are the top 10 ways to make setting up your artificial Christmas tree a quick and stress-free job:

1. Keep all the Christmas-tree items stored in the same area.  If the various parts to your tree are scattered among multiple boxes and in various locations of the house, setting up the tree is bound to become a real chore of hide and seek.
2. Check the lights first!  Way too much time is wasted every year when families assemble their pre-lit Christmas trees, only to find that when they plug the tree in, one or more sections don't light up.  It's much easier to troubleshoot lighting problems when the tree is still disassembled, so always check the lights first.
3. Keep all your decorations organized and in separate boxes.  If your ornaments are mixed in with strings of lights that are tangled up with garland, you'll spend more time just sorting the whole mess out than you would have spent decorating the tree had everything been organized in the first place.  Do yourself a favor, and when you put it all away this year, make sure it's well organized.
4. When decorating the tree, always put lights, tinsel, and garland on before fragile ornaments.  Many people make the mistake of putting the ornaments on the tree first.  Then when it comes time to wrap the lights around the tree, ornaments will undoubtedly fall off and get broken.
5. If you're still using those old metal hooks to hang your ornaments on the tree, throw them away and buy something more secure, like spring-hinged ornament clips.  Not only will ornament clips make decorating a lot faster, but they'll keep your valuable ornaments fastened securely to the tree, which can be really helpful if you have kids or pets.
6. If your artificial tree doesn't have color-coded branches, buy some colored tape or permanent colored markers, and do it yourself.  Wrap the base of each branch in a small piece of colored tape.  Then put a ring of the same color tape on the tree's center pole, right at the level where the branches need to be inserted.
7. If you don't already have a rolling artificial tree stand, invest in one.  Positioning the Christmas tree can be an even bigger job than assembling it, and the last thing you want is to have it tip over as you're trying to scoot it into just the right spot.  Many online specialty stores now carry rolling artificial tree stands that feature casters, making the moving process a lot easier.  These stands usually cost $50 to $100, but you'll be glad you spent the money once you realize how much easier your tree is to move when it's on wheels.
8. If the tree is broken or damaged at the end of the season, fix it before you put it away.  After the holidays are over, we know that it's a lot easier to just chuck everything in a box and worry about it next year.  But if you take the time to fix things before you store them away, you'll save yourself a lot of precious time next December-time that will be better spent with your family, enjoying the season.
9. At the end of the season when you're packing the tree away, put the parts back in the box so that next year they'll be unpacked in the order you need them.  For example, the tree stand and instructions should be the first thing you take out of the box, not the last!
10. Better yet, if you have the space, consider storing your Christmas tree fully assembled.  It is possible to buy Christmas tree storage bags that allow you to store the tree assembled, making the process of setting up the tree next year a lot easier.