Sheesharee said: I'm trying to grasp putting the ornaments in the middle section. If you don't have enough to fill wouldn't it look like the color is just in the middle? I don't think I'm explaining this right. I don't think your trees look like there's vertical color in the middle. It's all well balanced. Back to Me: I will try to explain it better, sorry, so much easier to show someone in person LOL. OK, what I ment was you would put a large amount of the plain gold balls (in this case) in the internal part of the tree. You can place them sporadically inside the tree making sure though you start at the inside (where the trunk is) with the plain gold balls. Let me make this part more clear with what I deal with. Primary decorative ornaments I want to be able to see easily: Primary tree decorations. The pretty red decorative balls. The crystal drops. The glass icicles. The silk flowers,in this case red(this is something I choose to use) Secondary: The plain inexpensive gold balls. These are ment primarily for the inside "stuffing of the tree", BUT, some are used in a much smaller amount on the outside areas of the tree (parts you can see) for bringing in the gold ball as a SMALL ACCENT. So in answer to your question you would be treating your plain balls as a filler and tiny accent, NOT as the primary decoration. You would be using the PRIMAIRY balls on the outside, icicles, crystal drops, silk flowers. So that means you would buy 100 or so of the cheap balls for the inside and small outside accents. You would then be buying the PRIMARY balls, crystals, icicles in much larger amounts (I use at least a total of 300-500 of these primary items) Now my DD doesn't like as much as an over kill tree as me (although anyone coming to her home and seeing her tree is just in awe of it) So she uses the same items as I do basicly, but cuts the amount of ornament down to about HALF of what I do, and I think her tree is very beautiful. Now, I am just explaining how I decorate a tree, it doesn't mean that it is everyone elses taste. In the evolution of your tree you will come to the realization of what is best for you. My tree that I am doing this year was an evolving process, it took me quite a few years to get where I am, that is because since I am not wealthy, I have to do it a little bit at a time every year. I am happy to say, that I don't think I have to buy any more for the cream, crystal, and gold tree. Thank goodness! LOL Oh, yes, and as a bonus I can used the glass icicles and crystals with any color theme of tree, they fit right on in, so that saves me money too. This is an example of my cream color theme on some stacking plates. Does that make more sense?

We have two trees, one fully decorated in our best room with traditional Norwegian candles and ornaments on it (we celebrate all day on Christmas Eve and open presents after dinner), and a small table tree in our library room that is only decorated with small white lights. The Yule tree is pre-Christian in origin, but Christians adopted the custom after Martin Luther (supposedly) brought a tree into his home from the forest one Christmas. He put candles on it to signify Christ as light of the world, and the tree itself, being an evergreen, symbolized eternal life. The simple white lights and no ornaments are actually quite beautiful. One verse of a Christmas carol that I love describes a walk in the woods at night and seeing snow on a fir tree with stars shining above. The stars are the twinkling lights on the tree, mentioned in the song: "The twinkling lights that deck thy boughs Enchant me with their shining spell And in a language all their own The lovely Christmas story tells."

Thank you, everyone, for your comments! I'm new at Houzz and never thought I would get so much feedback. I'd been busy so I haven't got the chance to update the thread. Perhaps, I have read all your recommendations. My ball is still in construction but is on the go. I loved the kissing ball idea and the acorns and pine corns (I haven't had the chance to get them, tho) Here's an update, I'll be waiting for your feedback! Also, I'm currently having trouble with the lighting I only have plug ones, and the outlet is too far away so the cable has to go all the way down to the wall, and looks horrible. What do you think?

I hopefully figured out what was lacking on the tree. The silver beads were too tiny and I hung them wrong, which was the traditional scallop with one strand. I ordered two of these Kurt Adler silver beads, and they're larger which will make a difference from afar. :) Take a look at this video, it's kind of painful to watch because the guy is so bad at it, but he showed me how to do it this way. It's simple. A question for all of you below the video. Painful, just painful. I'm not going to post the video but there was a green tree full of colorful ornaments like how I do mine. They hung the beads last and I'm thinking about doing that because it really makes the tree stand out. If you do garland, when does it go on the tree?