Plug in the next set and keep going. When you string the top section of the Christmas tree, don't wrap the lights around as many branches—this will help the tree look evenly lit from top to bottom.

Hang the Christmas lights around the tree starting from the top, working your way down. Don't wrap lights too close to the trunk—instead, have them rest on the inner parts of the branches.

My first Christmas tree was a stately, 5-foot fir that was a little too tall for the living room ceiling and tilted ever so slightly to the left. It was beautiful. It smelled like Christmas and ...