Christmas trees have an important part in the Christmas celebrations. The trees are usually evergreen confers including spruce, pine or fir trees. Nowadays taking environmental issues into consideration people have replaced the original tress man made artificial PVC replicas. These trees are used so as to maintain the festive spirit as well as to protect the environment.
People decorate their homes with beautiful Christmas trees. Kids of the household take special interest in decorating these trees. The trees are decorated using lightings, colorful lamps, flowery arrangements and candles. Other traditional decorations include bells, candy canes, stockings, wreaths, angels and candles.
Children in particular like these Christmas trees as they place their stocking under the Christmas trees. They do so with a hope that at midnight Santa Claus will fill their stockings with the gifts they had asked. At midnight when the children fall asleep the parents fill the stockings with gifts and place sweets near the stockings so as to make the children happy. Next morning when the children wake up they are delighted to find these gifts and thinking it to be a gift from Santa Claus they thank him.
Both setting up and taking down the Christmas tree is done on specific dates. Christmas trees were not brought in and decorated until Christmas Eve and then removed the day after twelfth night (5thJanuary). To have a tree up before or after these dates is often considered unlucky.
The ornaments to decorate the Christmas trees are usually made of glass, metal, wood or ceramics. Earlier apples and pastries shaped as stars used to adorn these Christmas trees. Earlier candles were used to light up these tress but later lighting bulbs were introduced to beautify the Christmas trees. Many people also decorate outdoor trees with food that birds and other wildlife will enjoy, such as garlands made from unsalted popcorn or cranberries, orange halves, and seed-covered cakes.
