Tree decorations

How many decorations a tree needs

Ten to fifteen baubles per foot of tree is the usual starting point: 40 to 60 for a 4ft tree, 60 to 90 for a 6ft, 70 to 105 for a 7ft. Use two or three sizes, with the largest low down and the smallest near the top, and hang some deep in the branches rather than all on the tips so the tree has depth. Add a 20 to 30cm topper, a ribbon or tinsel run of 9m for a 6ft tree, and a few hanging shapes that are not spheres: a glass postbox, a robin, a star.

The sections

Glass baubles are the 96 hand-finished pieces, from a rainbow onion to a red London postbox, at £2.50 to £7.99 each. Baubles are single shatterproof spheres including the 14cm and 20cm statement sizes. Bauble packs are boxed sets of 33, 50 and 60 in a colour scheme, most with a topper included. Hanging decorations are bows, ribbon and lit hangers. Toppers are the angels. Tinsel is Festive's chunky cut in gold, silver, red and green. Scents are the Scentsicles hangers that make an artificial tree smell of pine.

Colour schemes

Gold and red is traditional and suits a green pine with cones. Silver and white, or silver and midnight blue, suits a modern room and a white or grey tree. The glass baubles are mostly single pieces in red, blue, gold and white and are collected over years rather than bought as a set. For a tree done in an afternoon, a boxed pack of 50 in one scheme plus a topper is the shortest route.

Glass or shatterproof

Glass has a depth of colour and a weight that plastic does not, and the hand-finished pieces here are the ones people keep. Shatterproof baubles are the practical choice with children, pets, a slim tree that sways, or a tree in a shop. Most trees end up with both: shatterproof spheres for the bulk and glass pieces at eye level.