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Aluminum Christmas trees were first introduced to the market in 1958, and each holiday season they reappear, bringing retro Christmas splendor to homes across the country.
The unique “needles” of these trees are made of strips of non-tarnishing aluminum that reflect color and light with an almost ethereal quality.
Although they are made of durable, long-lasting materials, they can be damaged with mishandling. With these tips for proper decorating, your aluminum tree will last for many years to come:
The Do's
When assembling your aluminum tree, start at the top and work down, placing branches carefully into the holes of the trunk. Hold the branches at their base, not in the center where you might damage the needles.
Keep it simple. When decorating a traditional tree, the focus is on the ornaments, but, with an aluminum tree, the focus should be on the tree itself. Over decorating only detracts from the sharp-edged, space-age look of the tree.
Decorate with light-weight glass, plastic or aluminum ornaments.
Use wide-mouth ornament hooks for hanging.
Use a rotating color wheel to illuminate your tree. The needles will catch the light and reflect it with icy brilliance.
When you take the tree down, remove the ornaments carefully. Then remove the branches from the top down, again grasping them at the base, near the trunk to prevent damaging the needles.
The Don'ts
Don't use string or wire to attach ornaments to the tree.
Don't use strings of lights on your aluminum tree. A short in the wiring could possibly electrify the tree, and your goal is to dazzle your guests, not shock them.
Don't clutter the branches with tinsel or garland.
Additional Decorating Tips
For maximum retro effect, use ornaments of all one color, in different sizes. For example, if your aluminum tree is silver, try decorating it with red ornaments in two or three sizes.
If you prefer to use ornaments of several colors, try adding the same number of each color ornament. Multi-colored ornaments look especially nice on a white tree.