Decorating Survey

We put up our Christmas tree tonight (I'll post pictures sometime soon, I promise).  As I was decorating (I'm the "main decorator), I kept thinking about all the things I was doing and wondering if everyone else did the same.  So, thus began my little 'decorating survey'.

1. White lights or Color?
2. Do you decorate the back of your tree?
3. Do you use ribbon or beaded garland or similar items?
4. What is your tree topper?
5. Do you put candy canes on your tree?
6. Do you have a themed tree (color, items etc)?
7. If you do have a theme, does your wrapping paper match it?
8. Is your tree the only part of your house you decorate?
9. Do you put lights on your house?
10. Do you have yard decorations?

Post your answers in the comment section!

Comments

[Denise H.]

White lights or Color? WHITE
Do you decorate the back of your tree? NOPE BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SEE IT.
Do you use ribbon or beaded garland or similar items? BEADED GARLAND AND RIBBON
What is your tree topper? A WHITE WOODEN ANGEL
Do you put candy canes on your tree? NOPE
Do you have a themed tree (color, items etc)? THIS YEAR I DID WOODEN ANGELS, WHITE, SILVER, BURGANDY AND RED BULBS AND RED AND TAN STRIPED RIBBON.
If you do have a theme, does your wrapping paper match it? I TRY TO MATCH MY PAPER WITH THE TREE TO A POINT BUT I DON'T GET ALL CRAZY ABOUT IT.
Is your tree the only part of your house you decorate? I DECORATE MY LIVING ROOM, DINING ROOM, KITCHEN, ENTRYWAY, HALLWAY AND I EVEN HAVE A LITTLE SNOWMAN IN MY BATHROOM.
Do you put lights on your house? NOPE.
Do you have yard decorations? I ONLY PUT THEM ON THE RAILING LEADING TO MY FRONT DOOR WITH GARLAND AND THEN A LIGHTED CANDLE IN EACH WINDOW.

[LeeAnn]

1. non-blinking blue and white lights
2. some of the back of the tree is decorated, but not like the front and the sides.
3. I have some silver beaded garland, but haven't used it.
4. we have a lighted silver bow on the top.
5. no candy canes on the tree.
6. We've been using a Blue/Silver colored theme tree for the last 5 years.
7. yup, the wrapping paper usually matches it too!! LOL!!
8. The tree is pretty much the only thing.
9. We do put lights on our house, hopefully this weekend we will get those up!
10. We have a few yard decorations, one that includes a 6 ft. inflatable Tigger too!!

[Nikki]

1. White lights or Color? White Lights
2. Do you decorate the back of your tree? Depends on how much I put on the front and sides of the trees ... The back never gets completely decorated.
3. Do you use ribbon or beaded garland or similar items? I use ribbon with one of my themes
4. What is your tree topper? I use a cowboy hat on our western tree and a star on with our other theme
5. Do you put candy canes on your tree? Nope
4. Do you have a themed tree (color, items etc)? One of my themes is a western tree and the other theme is using silver/purple bulbs with clear glass hearts and silver ribbon
5. If you do have a theme, does your wrapping paper match it? My wrapping paper doesn't match my themes ... I do have a tradition with my nieces on using character wrapping paper ... this year its Tinkerbell!
6. Is your tree the only part of your house you decorate? No. I usually decorate the living room pretty heavily with Christmas stuff ... take down pictures and put up Christmas pictures and lots of decorations
5. Do you put lights on your house? I think my husband only put up lights once ... we live on a farm so not too many see it
6. Do you have yard decorations? We used to have a lighted horse that looks like the deer ones and a happy holidays sign but they recently got melted in our garage fire.

[zoe]

white lights only.

yes we decorate the back of your tree because we have so much crap.

i tossed my beaded garland last year because it had developed this odd plasticy smell. i am looking for a new one.

we do not have a tree topper because i sent a man to buy the tree. the tree is so huge that there is no room for a topper. unless i want to cut a hole in our ceiling.

no candycanes...evil things happen if i do.

no theme...unless you count a variety of childrens handmade "stuff" as a theme.

Is your tree the only part of your house you decorate? pretty much.

Do you put lights on your house? god no. it's cold outside.

Do you have yard decorations?nope. cold.

[Denise]

Just realized I spelled angel "angle" in my post. Oops! (<--- got that one right this time!) :o)

[Denise]

1. White lights
2. No, because it's in a corner and you can't see it anyway!
3. Ribbon
4. A big red bow because I can't find an angle or a star that look good.
5. No
6. Green, red, gold
7. Not really
8. No, we decorate throughout the house. Mostly in the great room, kitchen and dining room.
9. Yes, $300 dollars later! (we had them professionaly hung this year - we will do our own next year)
10. No

[jenny]

1) white lights this year.
2) i decorate what people can see.
3) no ribbon, no garland (gee, i sound boring)
4) a star.
5) i have put candy canes on before, but not this year (tucker would be in a sugar coma if we did).
6) i don't really do a theme - but some theme trees are very pretty - like when everything is in a similar color - i like that.
7) wrapping paper never matches the tree.
8) no, i like to decorate here and there. my husband says this year i have to be more 'festive' since we have a little guy now. grrrrrreat. i love festive. :)
9) i like to put lights outside. makes me feel more in the mood for everything. i think this year we are putting lights on our deck and in the trees in our yard.
10) okay, i have two things to actually put in our 'yard' this year. a little tin 'sign post' santa with a welcome sign and this wooden sign you post in the ground (hard to explain). i hate the blow up santa's, or anything plastic and lighted. my husband thinks i am a scrooge for that. i just think i am normal. :)

[Jessi]

1. White lights (got the old fashioned large bulbs for this year!)
2. Yes, but not as much as the front. (The less appealing ornaments go there.)
3.Ribbon and wooden cranberries
4. An old fashioned Santa
5. No
6. Somewhat a red and gold theme with lots of santas
7. The colors of the wrapping paper have to match the color scheme of the tree and our home...it's a pet peeve of mine!
8. No!
9. We live in a townhouse, so we jsut do lights on the bushes out front.
10. no

[Kim]

1. White lights or Color? white all the way!
2. Do you decorate the back of your tree? our tree is always in front of a window... so i put a lot more lights on that side, more ornaments on the inside.
3. Do you use ribbon or beaded garland or similar items? no.
4. What is your tree topper? a lighted star.
5. Do you put candy canes on your tree? no.
6. Do you have a themed tree (color, items etc)? nope... we just use ornaments we've gotten as gifts over the years... each one is a memory. my college roommates and i had a themed tree though... our school colors, and the tree topper was a halo (we were the 'saints'). haha.
7. If you do have a theme, does your wrapping paper match it? no theme... but i'm sort of anal about all my presents matching EACH OTHER.
8. Is your tree the only part of your house you decorate? there's a few other decorations i put out, but i don't really go overboard.
9. Do you put lights on your house? yes.
10. Do you have yard decorations? no.

[Michelle Sauer]

White lights or Color? WHITE ALL THE WAY
Do you decorate the back of your tree? NOT USUALLY, NO REASON TO!
Do you use ribbon or beaded garland or similar items? NOPE, JUST ORNAMENTS AND LIGHTS
What is your tree topper? A STAR
Do you put candy canes on your tree? HAVEN'T YET, BUT AM NOT AGAINST IT
Do you have a themed tree (color, items etc)? YES, WE HAVE A DEEP RED AND GOLDISH/SILVERISH COLOR. I MAY CHANGE IT THOUGH, WE'LL SEE. I'VE HAD IT FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW.
If you do have a theme, does your wrapping paper match it? YES, I'M ANAL LIKE THAT.
Is your tree the only part of your house you decorate? NO, I HAVE A HUGE WREATH FOR THE MANTEL, A SMALL VILLAGE, OTHER VARIOUS DECORATIONS TOO. I LOVE XMAS AND ALL THE DECORATIONS THAT COME WITH IT.
Do you put lights on your house? JUST A FEW ON THE FRONT PORCH, BRIAN WON'T GET UP ON THE ROOF AND DO THE LIGHTS, AND WELL I'M AFRAID TO!
Do you have yard decorations? NO

[Carrie]

1. Well up until this year it was a "Purple & Silver" theme....but we switched it up this year and did silver, red & green.
2. We decorate it all...I want a tree that spins!
3. Sometimes ribbon...when we had purple and silver we used some shimmery ribbon.
4. This year I bought some cheapO one and its kind of ugly but the kids like it!
5. NO candy canes....My children would NEVER leave them alone...Its hard enough to keep the cat out of the tree and to add candy would be a disaster.
6. See #1
7. No matching wrapping paper
8. I dont have a ton of xmas decor....I put out a few things, but thats it! I am still gathering items here and there.
9. No lights on the house...I have good intention to when we actually have some money :-)
10. We dont buy yard stuff....we live on a dead end street so no one would really appreciate it...OH and we live in town so I am sure that some hoodlum would ruin it!

[Lina]

1. Our current tree has pre-hung multi-colored lights, it's not up yet, just a mini table-top tree I snagged while shopping on Friday. I am considering going to the trio of country looking trees to let the kids decorate w/ their choice of light color for each tree & decoration since I am not in the mood to have them redecorate a big tree day after day like they ususally do. I won't miss the tradition of the big tree falling once a week!

2. I decorate where you can see, but I also have mine out away from the wall-so you usually can see the whole thing!

3. I tried ribbon 1 year. Martha, I clearly am not...

4. Started w/ a pretty angel that lights up, then went to a lacy star & now settled on a gold metal lacy star that is too heavy to stand up on it's own.

5. No candy canes-kids & dogs would have them gone the 1st hour.

6. Again, tried the theme & even Martha's brand couldn't help make my tree look less like Charlie Brown's.

7. I bought matching wrapping paper this year, does that count?

8. I will sometimes throw a few decorations around the house, upstairs only. I used to decorate both up & down, but what a pain! I always have visions of putting cute miniature trees in the kids bedrooms for them, but Lord knows they won't leave the darn things alone & they'd be junked up in a matter of weeks! Do like to decorate the bathroom w/ lights & let the kids take a soothing bubblebath by Christmas light :)

9/10. I have mini-trees for outdoors (have to get them put up yet) our lamp post has a string of large bulbs that looks most hideous during the day, but @ night it pleases the kids & a wreath on the house.

[heather]

1. colored blinking lights
2. I decorate whatever you can see... side/back... or all the way around obviously if it's in front of a window.
3. silver bead garland
4. star topper
5. no, I'm not a candy cane fan
6. I used to have all white lights and all snowflake/snowman/silvery ornaments every year. Now with kids I felt like I needed to make it a little more fun and interesting so now it's a mish-mash of colored lights and different ornaments.
7. I don't match wrapping paper to the tree, but I try to do all coordinating paper each year. My husband never likes that idea.
8. A few decorations all over... the kids each have lights and some decorations in their room.
9. Last year was our first year for lights! Loved it! We're definitely doing something again this year, we just have to figure out the plan on the new house.
10. No yard decorations.

Nic, you're going to post your own answers right?! When you post the pics of your tree and decorations....

[Kasey]

1. White lights or Color? Does blue lights count...not white, but not all color :)
2. Do you decorate the back of your tree? We decorate the back sides but not all the way around
3. Do you use ribbon or beaded garland or similar items? no ribbon but silver garland
4. What is your tree topper? an angel
5. Do you put candy canes on your tree? nope...Mike would eat them all
6. Do you have a themed tree (color, items etc)? our theme is adding a new ornament each year based on what we've done that year and also putting up the ornaments our parents had gotten us when we were younger...
7. If you do have a theme, does your wrapping paper match it? nope...
8. Is your tree the only part of your house you decorate? We decorate the kitchen, living room, bathroom and a little downstairs.
9. Do you put lights on your house? Of course :) colorful icicle lights this year
10. Do you have yard decorations? We did put up yard decorations each year, but not this year. After Frosty got stolen last year, we didn't have the heart to have another one stolen...

http://kaseymikelaughlin.blogspot.com/2006/12/frosty-has-been-stolen.html

[Jessica]

1. Multi-color
2. We decorate as far as you can see, and that's it
3. Nope
4. It's been a pretty red star the last couple of years...itching for a new one, tho
5. Always
6. No, but I would like to
7. No, but again I would like to
8. We put a few other things out...a X-Mas-y tablecloth, candles, snowmen on the bookshelves, just little stuff that's easy to get out and then put back away
9. No, we have them but always make excuses not to put them up
10. Nope