Christmas tree and its decorative details. Christmas tree decoration: from choosing a style to implementation

Someone is limited in the design of only a few compositions, someone hangs a wreath of fir branches, someone just decorates the window with snowflakes, and someone adheres to the good old tradition of setting up a Christmas tree. We have selected for you interesting and creative ideas for decorating and decorating a Christmas tree on New Year 2019, as well as tips to help you choose the right decorative elements in connection with the symbol of the year.

A bit of history

For many centuries, spruce has been the main symbol of the New Year and Christmas. But have you ever wondered why they decorate the Christmas tree for the New Year? Everyone knows this tradition since childhood, but why did it happen that few people are versed in this.

An old legend tells that on the day the baby Jesus was born, all the plants of the earth came to bow to him and brought their gifts. Spruce came last and for a long time did not dare to approach the baby, being afraid to prick him. She had nothing to bring as a gift, except for sticky resin and hard cones. Then the trees and plants shared their gifts with the timid spruce, and it shone with bright balls, rang bells and approached Jesus. The baby smiled, and the Star of Bethlehem shone over the top of the fir tree. That is why, according to this legend, it is the Christmas tree that is decorated for the New Year.

Concerning historical facts, then the first mention of the Christmas tree is found in Germany. It was from here that the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree for the New Year with colored ribbons, toys and sweets spread throughout Europe.

In Russia, celebrations were introduced by Peter I in 1700. The emperor ordered to start the year on January 1, to walk all night, congratulate each other, set off fireworks or burn bonfires and, of course, dress up a coniferous tree. This tradition still lives on in every family.

In addition to history, many are interested in when to decorate the Christmas tree at home. Usually, decorating a festive tree begins on the 20th of December. It is not recommended to arrange earlier so that the tree does not lose its beauty.

Someone prefers to decorate the Christmas tree as early as possible in order to enjoy its beauty to the fullest. And someone likes to decorate in the last days of December, just before the holiday. In any case, you yourself must decide on what date you need to do this.

Features of decorating the Christmas tree for 2019 Yellow Earth Pigand

The coming year will be symbolized yellow earth pig, therefore, the actual color is yellow and all its derivatives (orange, terracotta, sand, brown, red).

The main material will be wood. So the trend of decorating and decorating the New Year tree 2019 emerges: yellow or gold balls, crafts made from wood and other natural materials, gold ribbons, bows, beads.

Let's look at the options for decorating the Christmas tree in 2019.

wood jewelry

Wooden toys and crafts can be made with your own hands using blanks, or you can buy ready-made products. In any case, they will all look harmoniously on the Christmas tree!

Photos of examples of decorating Christmas trees:

From natural materials

To interestingly decorate the Christmas tree for the New Year, you can create entertaining Christmas tree accessories from natural materials with your own hands: cones, acorns, chestnuts, twigs, twigs, wooden clothespins and toothpicks. Even from ordinary corks and twigs, anyone is quite able to create creative toys.

Yellow Pig Toys

The design must include main symbol. Christmas tree decoration in the form of the main symbol can be sew from felt, from the remnants of different fabrics. But a yellow pig can be cut out of thick cardboard and painted with paints, tied. Try asking your child to draw an animal and sew or knit a holiday symbol based on the sketch.

Photo of decorations for the 2019 New Year tree in the form of a Pig:

Video: Christmas decoration from felt on a Christmas tree in the form of a pig with your own hands.

Basic styles in which you can decorate

There are several generally accepted and current styles of decorating the Christmas tree. Therefore, you can decorate a festive tree without being tied to a specific symbol of the year, but by choosing one of the well-known styles and adhering to the characteristics of this direction.

There are the following styles of Christmas tree decorations:

1. Classical.
2. Modern.
3. Vintage.
4. Minimalism.

How to decorate the 2019 New Year Tree in each of these design areas will be discussed in more detail below.

Classic style

The classic (traditional) style, despite some pomposity, allows you to decorate the tree quite restrainedly. Commonly used balls the same size and shade (gold, silver), bows to match the balls, cardboard figures, glass bells.

However, do not overload the Christmas tree with an abundance of shades and decor. In addition, to decorate a coniferous beauty in a classic way, you can use beads.

The classic style has not lost its relevance for many decades! And for the New Year 2019, you can beautifully and stylishly decorate the Christmas tree in a traditional way.

Modern

Modern means something modern, catchy, memorable, extraordinary. If you want to decorate the Christmas tree in an interesting and unusual way for the New Year, then you should choose Art Nouveau.

Take at least the usual glass balls that can hang next to decorative elements in steampunk style, bright candies and garlands of unusual shape. It could be New Year's Christmas tree in one color, for example, all decorated in red or yellow. Can you make an impromptu a tree created from pillows, computer disks, books, branches, sticks.

Photos of Christmas trees made and decorated in Art Nouveau style:

Vintage

Vintage is characterized by the use of elements that took place in past eras. And then you choose which era you would like to display. In any case, to decorate the Christmas tree for the New Year, plan muted pastel shades, wooden figurines, aged glass balls, vintage postcards, garlands with large balls.

Advice! For a vintage look, get out your oldest toys. Use heavy tape or a regular paper clip to secure them to the branches.

Minimalism

Spruce in the style of minimalism always looks fresh and does not go out of fashion. A minimum of balls, a minimum of tones and tinsel are used. Sometimes it is launched only one garland so as not to "drown out" the charm of green branches with other accessories.

For minimalism are often taken Christmas tree solid toys. White or silver look especially noble:

If you want to stylishly decorate the Christmas tree for the New Year 2019, then you should opt for minimalism! Minimalism will look amazing in any room. It is only necessary to harmoniously select and hang decoration items.

The combination of colors on the New Year tree in 2019

According to the advice of experienced designers, when decorating a Christmas tree, you must adhere to the correct color combinations. If we take into account color of the upcoming 2019, that is yellow and its shades, as well as gold. But if we take as a basis the trends of world fashion, then in the trend violet.

In any case, when choosing colors, see if they harmonize well together. Also, consider a few simple tips:

• Red, green, mustard, orange, white go well with yellow.
• Use a technique such as gradation. So, the top can start with white balls, which will gradually turn into purple, and those - into dark purple.
• If you have an artificial white Christmas tree, then it is recommended to decorate it with gold and orange balls for the New Year. Just what you need for 2019!

• Consider the overall gamut of the room. If the room is too bright, then it is not forbidden to use more muted tones, and if the room is pale, then decorate the tree with bright balls.
• Burgundy balls and ribbons look good against the background of dark wood furniture.

• Rain and beads should overlap in shade with balls. For example, if the balls are golden, then it is better to hang beads and rain a tone darker or lighter.
• Sometimes a monochromatic garland looks much more luxurious than with bright multi-colored lights.

How to decorate a Christmas tree: options and ideas

There are many ways to decorate a Christmas tree for the New Year. Christmas tree glass balls, rain and electric garland are considered traditional decorations.. And these accessories still hold the lead, but, in addition, There are many other interesting ones:

• garlands of cones;
• felt toys;
• postcards;
• wreaths;
• candies;
• wood crafts;
• bells;
• bows;
• tapes;
• Christmas tree beads.

You can use any one of the listed options to decorate the Christmas tree, or combine several. It all depends on your tastes and preferences!

Important! It is advisable not to combine all types of decoration at once - it will look overloaded. For example, Christmas balls look good with satin ribbons and bows, wooden toys can be combined with a garland made of natural materials, and vintage glass toys can be combined with Christmas tree beads.

The photo below is a great example of how you can beautifully decorate a Christmas tree for the New Year (a combination of white and red without frills):

Get creative with your tree. For example, a Christmas tree can be completely dressed up with sweets or fruits, fortune cookies, wish cards, surprise balloons.

Be sure to place somewhere in a conspicuous place the figure of YellowPigs. A soft animal can be planted under a tree instead of the traditional Santa Claus and Snow Maiden. You can decorate with salt dough crafts.

Interesting decor ideas

If we take a standard classic live or artificial Christmas tree, then there are a lot of options for decorating for the New Year. In particular, a very creative way is to dress her up with everything that is in the house and can fall under the concept of a “Christmas accessory”.

These are knitted mittens, snowflakes, postcards, hair accessories, artificial flowers, dried rose petals, burlap.

You can become a designer of decorations for Christmas trees by making them yourself!

Walk around the house, look in lockers and drawers, sort out your accessories. Now they need to be sorted by tone or size, and then proceed to design.

Below you can see photos of the original design. Maybe they will help you decide how you want to decorate the Christmas tree for the 2019 meeting:

Traditional Santas can be original and sparkle with new colors if you choose products of non-standard shapes and designs.

Openwork and elegant snowmen they will do their job too!

It’s not a sin to decorate an artificial and live Christmas tree for the New Year with an ordinary one. burlap or decorative mesh, which is sold in specialized stores in rolls.

Will also look good woodwork, cardboard and twine crafts

A Christmas tree decorated with decorations will look very cute and funny. bows. You can use bows of any size and color. Translucent bows will look stylish (as in the photo below).

quilling

The spruce will turn out to be original and very elegant if it is dressed up with crafts using the quilling technique (the technique is also called paper rolling). Just a few workouts and you can create Christmas tree decorations using paper, glue, pens and your imagination.

The undoubted advantage of such Christmas tree decorations is the fact that you can make them yourself!

Photo of crafts using quilling technique:

Video: how to make Christmas tree decorations from paper using quilling technique.

Flowers

They are associated with warmth, spring and summer. It would seem that they do not fit in with the winter holidays. But it was not there! New Year's tree decorated with flowers- a truly original and beautiful solution. For decoration, you can either buy flowers or make them yourself.

As for the last hand-made production, it is recommended to make artificial flowers for New Year's decoration of the Christmas tree from a variety of materials: paper, fabric (for example, organza, linen), corrugated, satin ribbons.

Video: how to make paper flowers.

Christmas tree without a Christmas tree

But if you want something truly original, then initially you need to be original. A do-it-yourself Christmas tree will help to decorate the room quite colorfully for the New Year. It could be construction from books, pillows, from plastic bottles, from clothes, disposable tableware and other items. We invite you to enjoy the creativity that was already created by someone and be inspired by an exclusive version.

There are no limits for fantasy, even the most ordinary pillows have the opportunity to become a real solemn decoration of the house.

Video: do-it-yourself Christmas tree for New Year's decoration (kanzashi style, thread, corrugated).

The procedure for decorating the Christmas tree

Although we have been decorating a tree on holidays almost since childhood, it is not always clear how to properly decorate a Christmas tree in stages. However, there are a few unspoken rules that will help you decorate the tree beautifully and make it the most attractive item in the whole house.

Here are the rules and procedures for decorating a Christmas tree:

• To harmoniously decorate the Christmas tree for the New Year, you need choose the right place for her about. Do not put a fluffy beauty in a small room, but a too small Christmas tree in a large room.
• Fix it securely. If there are small children and mischievous animals in the house, then it is better not to use glass products.
• Choose a beautiful garland with faceted light bulbs, a beautiful lampshade.
• The garland is hung at the very beginning, in front of all the toys, then she will not obscure them, but, on the contrary, beautifully set off.
• Use multiple garlands. For example, one can wrap the trunk itself, and the other - the branches of a tree.
• Decorate the tree with the included garland. In this case, it will be better to see where which light will fall, and what it will highlight.

• For big spruce choose large balls, small on it will look ridiculous.
• Hang large parts first, evenly distributing around the entire perimeter (it is advisable to decorate the bottom of the Christmas tree with large elements). Then smaller toys, filling the empty space and preparing the Christmas tree for the New Year.

• Desirable do not place the same toys next to each other, if not intended by the concept.
• The final step will be tinsel, beads, rain, sequins.
• There are several ways of decorating with balloons: vertical, horizontal, chaotic.
• You can put boxes underneath, edged with paper to match the entire decor.

By the way! Serpentine or even ordinary confetti would be appropriate to show off.

Video: how to beautifully decorate a Christmas tree for the New Year (+ decorating a white Christmas tree).

Christmas tree decoration

It's great if you have a Christmas tree growing on the street (at least in the courtyard of a private house or in the country). In this case, you can decorate the yard and turn it into a real fairy tale.

When choosing a Christmas decoration for a street tree, you need to focus on two things:

1. Safety. This mainly concerns the use of a garland. Only use appliances designed for outdoor use. Also, do not leave the device turned on unattended.
2. Sustainability. Try to fasten the “outfit” as tightly as possible so that during snow, rain and wind they cannot fall or damage your tree.

Christmas decorations for a street tree can be purchased or handmade. In general, all the recommendations and tips listed above apply to the street beauty. The only thing - crafts made of fabric, paper are not suitable(there is a risk that they will deteriorate due to precipitation, wind).

Advice! You cannot cope with such a difficult task alone (especially if the tree is rather big). So, invite guests, relatives, kids to decorate and create a beautiful and original composition for the New Year together.

In many families, decorating the New Year tree is a whole tradition, a ritual, a warning that the holidays will begin soon, that the New Year 2019 will soon be celebrated. This is especially pleasing to the kids, who love to help decorate the green beauty, hang balloons on her, pull sweets. It's fun and brings the family together. I hope these tips and tricks will help you decorate your Christmas tree in a fun and beautiful way!

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One of the most pressing issues before the New Year holidays is the decoration of the Christmas tree. Try to make it stylish and beautiful with us. Check out our tips and don't forget to put them into practice.

Style selection

In order for the Christmas tree to look not just bright, but elegant, it is necessary, first of all, to decide on the style. It must certainly match the interior of the apartment.

Of great importance is the temperament of the owners, their preferences and a variety of palettes. Beauty is determined not only by the cost of the decor, but also by its harmony, as well as by the general perception of the whole picture of the result.

Christmas tree style

Depending on the chosen decoration, different toys, materials, forms are used, all this differs in palette and texture.

European

European decor means no more than three colors in the design. Scarlet is the most commonly used. Pine can be decorated with balls, bows, angels. This option is the most classic and strict, restraint and conciseness are inherent in it.

Russian

Such a garment does not have a strict focus on color and shape. By and large, you can decorate with everything that is found in the New Year's chest. The more toys, garlands and rain, the richer the forest guest is dressed. This is the case when there is not much decor. Feel free to hang whatever you like.

American

Red with gold - really looks great, but is called the American version. You can combine red with white. Both combinations attract the eye and remind of the upcoming celebration. Bright, elegant, uplifting and will fit perfectly into many interiors.

Minimalism

The minimalist style is positioned as one range, one color and one shape. Everything that hangs on the Christmas tree should be the same and in small quantities.

Retro

Retro will remind you of pleasant childhood memories, and the toys that you inherited from your grandmother and mother will look great on the New Year tree. In this case, the older the decoration, the more it fits the style.

Old beads, bows, cotton wool, ribbons. Numerous decorations will only come in handy, such products will interest guests and will be remembered for a long time. Elements are always glass, slightly worn and reminiscent of the past.

Classic

Classic colors are red and green. Having dressed the spruce with balls of two tones, you can pick up a snow-white rain or bows. Gold would look good too. The garland must also have suitable color: green, red or white.

Eco

Eco-style is gaining momentum and continues to delight lovers of natural. Live spruce in this case is required. You can decorate it with everything that, one way or another, is a natural material.

It can be crafts made of fabric, paper, wood, and even baked cookies or fruits. An ordinary ball wrapped in paper or cloth will also take its rightful place on a pine branch.

Scandinavian

Scandinavians love white, and therefore it will become a favorite in this style. You can add red. Many natural products made of wood, textiles and paper are also suitable for decoration in this direction. Images of not only deer, but also any animals are welcome. Bows, ribbons, garlands will complement the decor and create a mood.

Champagne

All variations of beige and white symbolize the champagne outfit. Calm beige dominates. Shine of silver will add a festive sophistication. All shades of this palette are suitable: bronze, silver, aged gold, platinum, coffee tone and cappuccino. You can add dark gray. The garland will only work with gold or silver lights.

White-blue, "frosty"

The combination of snow-white and blue tones reminds of frost, the Snow Maiden and the New Year. Decoration in such colors will remind you of frosty days, snowdrifts and frost outside the window, and will also give you a magical mood. You can complement the decor with beige or gray ribbons.

monochrome

Decoration with a decor of one color will create a monochrome style. In this case, you can not stick to one shade, it can be blue in all variations or pink, or maybe yellow.

All variants of the chosen color will be perfectly combined, and the Christmas tree will cheer you up every day with its brilliance and festive look.

Elements can be from completely different materials, all kinds of shapes, and the lights are preferably the same shade or colorless.

rustic

The romance of the village is dominated by rustic. Calm beige is the basis of this decor. It is better to use natural materials such as straw, paper, fabric bows. There can be no shine, everything is restrainedly simple, without mother-of-pearl and gloss. Lights are preferably matte yellow or snow white.

Children's

For children, the most delicate variations of pink, blue, green, yellow are used, as well as heroes from favorite cartoons and fairy tales, clowns and animals, in the form of sweets, ice cream, colored icicles and powdered sugar. You can also use real candies, the child will definitely like it.

Choice of design colors, combination

When choosing decor, you should definitely stick to the interior. Look around and understand what shades prevail in the room. Creative approach is welcome. If there is basically only one shade, then it is better to dilute it, and not to match it, otherwise the festive spirit will not work.

For example, it is difficult to choose a certain style and palette for a fuchsia shade room. Repeating the shade, the spruce will simply be lost in the decoration of the room. If you dress it up in blue and white, then the holiday will envelop the entire room, and will not stand out from the general interior.

For a green room, yellow and orange robes are more suitable, and if the furniture is brown, then you can choose blue, turquoise and mint for the Christmas tree. And for a white room, in which there are bright options for different tones, a riot of colors is suitable, the main thing is not to overdo it with decorations. The most important thing is not to get out of the general interior and keep its style.

Preparing for decorating

In order for everything to work out in accordance with the chosen style, it is worthwhile to start buying the missing toys, jewelry and select accessories in advance. First of all, you should decide whether the tree will be living or artificial. it important point, because living trees are not symmetrical, and spruce branches are widely spaced.

If you choose a design with medium-sized balls, then the pine tree will look empty, and large balls will stand out too much. With an artificial spruce it is easier, everything can be adjusted to the required size, but it does not smell like a holiday.

If everything you need is selected and bought, then it's time to start decorating the festive spruce. First you need to determine how the elements will be located. There are several options. Which one will fit better into the home is up to the owners to decide.

Composition, decoration arrangement

Christmas tree decoration can follow certain rules or be chaotic, it all depends on the preferences of the owners of the house. The Russian version does not require a certain arrangement of balls, it is good to decorate such a Christmas tree with children, when you can hang everything and everywhere, because it is so interesting.

But more concise styles stick to the same design direction.

vertical implies the arrangement of garlands, balls and other decorations in a strictly vertical direction, namely from top to bottom. Such a spruce is stretched and looks taller and more slender.

horizontal strokes spruces are able, on the contrary, to make it more magnificent, and the location of all decorations should be either circular or strictly horizontal. Nothing can get out of the way.

Spiral Looks beautiful in single and two-tone outfits. As the name implies, everything descends in a spiral from top to bottom. Such decorations look extraordinary when tinsel and large balls alternate, which spiral down.

Not all styles require you to adhere to certain directions of decoration, but whichever you choose, any one should please you.

decoration

One of important rules- The tree should be commensurate with the size of the room. A small spruce in a large room will simply get lost, and a large one in a small one will clutter up the whole place and it will seem that the room is cramped. Compliance with the size of the room is one of the main factors.

Decorating a Christmas tree begins with its installation. The tree should be visible from all sides of the room, stand well and not stagger. Below you can make a beautiful snowdrift or decorate.

You need to start decorating spruce with a garland. Before that, you should check it for performance. Then large toys are hung, then small ones. The Christmas tree is dressed from the bottom up.

Large details at the bottom and as the tree grows, their size decreases. After the crown is decorated - it can be anything, the main thing is to be beautiful. And the final stage is tinsel, beads and other decor.

Decorating a Christmas tree is a very interesting and festive activity. Decorate your home with taste!

Nika Kravchuk

Do you know what the Christmas tree symbolizes?

In Soviet times, the Christmas tree almost imperceptibly began to be called New Year's. She was decorated with a five-pointed red star and almost completely deprived of deep religious meaning. But is the decorated spruce, the smell of pine needles, the lights of garlands and various balls on thorny branches - this is such an addition to the celebration and nothing more? It turns out that everything is not so simple. The Christmas tree has a Christian connotation and symbolizes ... However, about this and about many interesting facts read on.

Christmas tree - a tree with religious overtones

It is believed that the tradition of decorating a fir tree for Christmas originated in medieval Germany. When this event first happened, only God knows. It is often said that the first tree in history was the tree that Martin Luther planted in his house. Again, the exact date is unknown.

What did the decorated coniferous tree symbolize? On the one hand, the Christmas tree was reminiscent of paradise tree of life, the Garden of Eden and the fall of Adam and Eve. Just before Christmas, on December 24, Western Christians celebrated the day of memory of the ancestors of Adam and Eve.

But the Christmas tree is not a tree of sad memories. Because, on the other hand, it is symbol of the born Christ. God became Man in order to come into the world and redeem all people, to reconcile them with the Creator. In other words, to restore the connection that Adam and Eve broke at one time.

What do Christmas decorations symbolize?

After you have learned about the deep Christian symbolism of the Christmas tree, you understand why it is dressed up that way.

The Christmas tree is necessarily decorated with lanterns, garlands and an eight-pointed star on top. Why does it have to be a star? And remember the story of the Magi who came from the East to worship Christ. The Christmas star showed them the way.

According to one German legend, Luther, going into the forest, also saw how an angel decorated the top of a spruce with a star.

Why various fruits were attached to the Christmas tree is also understandable: after all, it reminded of the Paradise Tree of Life.

What do all sorts of other decorations indicate - Christmas decorations? If the tree is Christ, then the colored balls and lights are all believers who are in Christ, that is, the true Church.

This is the deep Christian symbolism of a decorated Christmas tree. It is clear why the Bolsheviks immediately abolished this pious custom, and then, at the request of "Soviet citizens", they allowed it, turning the symbol of Christ into an ordinary New Year's tree. But more on that later, but first we'll tell you how the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree came about.

Who first dressed up a coniferous tree for Christmas?

In historical sources, the first mention of the Christmas tree comes down to 1510 and no longer to Germany, but to the Latvian capital - Riga. True, the residents of Tallinn categorically disagree with this. The Estonians allegedly proved that their tree decorated for Christmas appeared four centuries earlier than the Latvians.

It got to the point that before the New Year 2011 a diplomatic scandal broke out between Riga and Tallinn: in which country did the Christmas tree appear for the first time? Who should celebrate the birthday of the Christmas tree?

But be that as it may, we know exactly when the tree first appeared in the future Russian Empire - after the decree of Peter I of December 20, 1699.

How the Christmas tree took root in the Russian Empire

Before issuing the decree, Peter I visited Europe, and during the trip he really liked the trees decorated for Christmas. After returning home, he carried out a calendar reform: the chronology was now conducted from the Nativity of Christ, and the New Year began on January 1. To convey the atmosphere of the holiday, Peter I ordered to decorate Christmas trees and light fires.

But this custom did not take root right away: at first, Christmas trees were installed and decorated only by German families living in the Russian Empire.

But by the middle of the nineteenth century, the situation had changed: in 1852 the first public Christmas tree appeared in St. Petersburg, followed by a whole parade of fir trees, installed in places of meetings of nobles, merchants, in clubs and theaters. Then, first in wealthy families, to show their status, and then in ordinary ones - to the delight of children - they began to decorate Christmas trees.

A corresponding Christmas business appeared all over the world: they made decorations and sweets. Such commerce brought good income and joy to both adults and children.

New Year's or Christmas?

With the advent of Soviet power, everything gradually changed. Christmas and Christmas tree like "priest's custom", were abolished to prevent children from imbibing religiosity from an early age.

True, the persecution of the coniferous beauty did not last long. Already in 1935, the party leader Postyshev achieved the rehabilitation of the Christmas tree from Stalin. She returned, but not as a symbol of Christ, but as a New Year's tree. And it was no longer an eight-pointed Bethlehem star, but a five-pointed red one.

But time brings everything back to normal: the celebration of Christmas, and carols, and solemn services, and, of course, a decorated tree with garlands and an eight-pointed (or six-pointed) star on top.

We invite you to watch the "Legend of the Christmas Tree" with your children:

Take it, tell your friends!

Read also on our website:

How to spend Christmas Eve? Is it possible to eat food before the appearance of the first star in the sky? What does the tradition of preparing 12 Lenten dishes symbolize and does it justify itself? Why is it so important to prioritize: first worship services, and only then cleaning-cooking? Read the article about all this.

The tradition of celebrating the New Year holidays with a Christmas tree has entered our everyday life so much that almost no one asks questions: where did the Christmas tree come from? What does she symbolize? Why is the tree an essential attribute for Christmas and? When did the Christmas tree appear and where did it come from, and we will try to find out in this article. In 1906, the philosopher Vasily Rozanov wrote: “Many years ago I was surprised to learn that the custom of the Christmas tree is not one of the indigenous Russian customs. The Christmas tree is now so firmly rooted in Russian society that it would never occur to anyone that she is not russian…»

As you already know from the article, he brought the tradition of celebrating the New Year with a Christmas tree to Russia by his decree in 1699. Here is a short fragment from this decree (letter " b» at the end of words is not readable):

“... now the year 1699 comes from the Nativity of Christ, and the next Genvara, from the 1st day, a new year 1700 will come, and a new centenary age, and for that good and useful deed, the Great Sovereign indicated that from now on to count in Orders and in all affairs and fortresses to write from the present January from the 1st day of the Nativity of Christ, 1700. And as a sign of that good beginning and a new century in the reigning city, after due thanksgiving to God and prayer singing in the church and to whom it will happen in your home, along large and passing noble streets to noble people and at houses of deliberate spiritual and worldly rank in front of the gate make some decorations from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper against samples, which are made at the Gostiny Dvor and at the lower pharmacy, or whoever is more convenient and decent, depending on the place and gate, it is possible to make ... "

Nevertheless, the decree of Emperor Peter had only an indirect relation to the future Christmas tree: firstly, the city was decorated not only with spruce, but also with other coniferous trees; secondly, the decree recommended the use of both whole trees and branches, and, finally, thirdly, needle decorations were prescribed not to be installed indoors, but outside - on gates, roofs of taverns, streets and roads. By this, the Christmas tree turned into a detail of the New Year's cityscape, and not the Christmas interior, which it became much later. The text of the sovereign decree testifies to us that for Peter, in the custom he introduced, which he met during a European trip, it was important as aesthetics - it was ordered to decorate houses and streets with needles; so is the symbolism - decorations from evergreen needles should have been created to commemorate the celebration precisely.

It is important that Peter's decree of December 20, 1699 is, almost the only document on the history of the Christmas tree in Russia in the 18th century. After the death of the impostor, they stopped putting up New Year trees. Only the owners of taverns decorated their houses with them, and these Christmas trees stood at the taverns all year round - hence their name came from - “ tree sticks».

Sovereign prescriptions were preserved only in decoration drinking establishments, which continued to decorate before the New Year. By these Christmas trees, which were tied to a stake, installed on roofs or stuck at the gate, taverns were identified. The fir trees stood there until next year, on the eve of which the old ones were replaced by new ones. Having arisen as a result of Peter's decree, this custom was maintained during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Pushkin in the "History of the village of Goryukhin" mentions "an ancient public building decorated with a Christmas tree and an image of a double-headed eagle". This characteristic detail was well known and was reflected from time to time in many works of Russian literature. Sometimes, instead of a Christmas tree, pine trees were placed on the roofs of taverns: “The building of the tavern ... consisted of an old two-story hut with a high roof ... withered pine; its thin, withered branches seemed to be calling for help.

And in the poem by N.P. Kilberg’s 1872 “Yolka” the coachman is sincerely surprised that the master, by the tree driven in at the door of the hut, cannot recognize it as a drinking establishment:

“We drove in! .. we rush in the village with an arrow,
Suddenly the horses stood before the dirty hut,
Where the tree is driven in at the door...
What is this? .. - What are you, gentleman, an eccentric,
Don't you know? this is a tavern!..»

That is why, taverns in the people began to be called "Christmas Trees" or "Ivans-Yolkins": " Let's go to the Yolkin, let's drink for the holiday»; « It can be seen that Ivan Yolkin was visiting, that you stagger from side to side»; « Christmas tree (tavern) sweeps the house cleaner than a broom". Soon, the whole complex of “alcoholic” concepts gradually acquired “Christmas-tree” doublets: “ raise the tree"- to get drunk," go under the tree" or " the tree has fallen, let's go pick it up"- go to the tavern," to be under the tree"- to be in a tavern; " yolkin"- the state of alcoholic intoxication, etc.

Where did the Christmas tree holiday originate?

It turns out that many Europeanized Slavic-Aryan peoples during the Christmas season have long used Christmas or Yuletide log, a huge piece of wood or stump, which was lit on the hearth on the first day of Christmas and gradually burned down during the twelve days of the holiday. According to popular belief, careful storage of a piece of Christmas log throughout the year protected the house from fire and lightning, provided the family with an abundance of grain and helped the cattle to easily bear offspring. Stumps of spruce and beech trunks were used as Christmas logs. Among the southern Slavs - this is the so-called badnyak, among the Scandinavians - juldlock, the French - le buche de Noel(Christmas chump, which, in fact, if you read these words in Russian, we get boo - Russian butt - back side ax-axes, there is quite a block or log; and no-yel is like a merger of words - a Norwegian tree or a new Christmas tree, or the best and most accurate hit night tree).

The history of the transformation of spruce into a Christmas tree has not yet been accurately restored. What is known for sure is that it happened on the territory Germany, where spruce in Vedic times was especially revered and identified with the world tree: “ The evergreen spruce was the queen of the German forests.". It was here, among the ancient Slavs, the ancestors of the Germans, that it first became a New Year's, and later a Christmas plant symbol. Among the Germanic peoples, it has long been a custom to go to the forest for the New Year, where the spruce tree chosen for the ritual role was lit with candles and decorated with colored rags, after which the corresponding rituals were performed near or around it.

Over time, spruce trees began to be cut down and brought into the house, where they were installed on the table. Lighted candles were attached to the tree, apples and sugar products were hung on it. The emergence of the cult of spruce as a symbol of undying nature was facilitated by its evergreen cover, which allowed it to be used during the winter festive season, which was a transformation of the long-known custom of decorating houses with evergreens.

After baptism and Latinization Slavic peoples(Pure-blooded Germans are not Aryans, but Slavs, more precisely Holy Russians - blue-eyed and fair-haired), inhabiting the territory of modern Germany, the customs and rituals associated with the veneration of spruce began to gradually acquire a Christian meaning, and they began to use it as christmas tree, installing in houses no longer on, but on Christmas Eve, i.e. the eve of the Nativity of the Sun (god), December 24, which is why it got the name of the Christmas tree - Weihnachtsbaum (an interesting word, which, if read in parts and in Russian, is very similar to the following - holy night log, where if to Weih add "s", then we get the Russian word holy or light). From now on Christmas Eve (Weihnachtsabend) the festive mood began to be created not only by Christmas carols, but also by a Christmas tree with candles burning on it.

A Christmas tree with candles and decorations is first mentioned in 1737 year. Fifty years later there is an entry by a certain baroness who claims that in every German house “a spruce tree is being prepared, covered with candles and sweets, with magnificent lighting”.

In France, the custom has long been burn a Christmas log on Christmas Eve (le buche de Noël), and the tree was assimilated more slowly and not as willingly as in the northern countries. In the story-stylization of the émigré writer M.A. Struve's "Paris Letter", which describes the "first Parisian impressions" of a Russian youth who celebrated Christmas in 1868, says: "The room ... met me embellished, but Christmas trees, kind to me according to Petersburg custom, even if it be the smallest, in her didn't turn out…»

Charles Dickens, in his 1830 essay "Christmas Dinner", describing English Christmas, does not yet mention the Christmas tree, but writes about the mistletoe branch, traditional for England, under which boys, as usual, kiss their cousins, and the holly branch, showing off on top of a giant pudding …

Now, knowing the truth about the Christmas tree and the holidays associated with it, you can perfectly celebrate the Christmas of the Sun (read the details in my article) and without a Christmas tree, and without Santa Claus, and without and not at midnight, and most importantly - on the present day Birth of the Sun, which is celebrated in the evening from the 24th to the 25th of December, and not according to our style from the 6th to the 7th of January.

It turns out that all christianity celebrates correctly Christmas Sun, and us, Russ, as always, deceived and slipped us alien gods, alien traditions and holidays, and in days alien to the truth! When celebrating, do not forget why everyone gathered at the table, and whose Christmas you are celebrating ...

Natalya Plakhteeva

The custom of decorating the Christmas tree comes from Germany. There is a legend that the beginning of this tradition was laid by the German reformer Martin Luther, who once was fascinated by the beauty of the stars that strewn the firmament. Since then, the Christmas tree has been decorated with candles, and a star has been placed on top in memory of Star of Bethlehem, indicating the way to the cave where Jesus was born.

In Russia, the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree appeared thanks to Peter I.

Since then, Russian people began to decorate the Christmas tree. Previously, the Christmas tree was decorated with all sorts of delicacies: marzipans, candied nuts, dried fruits, candies for the delight of the kids. Well, then gradually they were replaced by Christmas decorations and decorations.

Nowadays, a fashion has arisen for various decorations of Christmas trees in a certain color and style. It can be a lavish decoration, a simple outfit or a stylish designer tree. Today there are no definite rules on how and in what colors the New Year and Christmas tree should be decorated. In any case, this evergreen tree remains a symbol of the New Year and Christmas holidays, unforgettable childhood experiences.

Immediately after the New Year holidays, at Christmas time (from January 7 to January 19, in our kindergarten the traditional Christmas celebration.

In the process of preparing for it, we will definitely “redecorate” the music hall and the motley multi-colored New Year tree in other colors - silver-white and blue-blue.

These colors, in our opinion, further emphasize the solemnity of this wonderful holiday. Almost all toys and decorations for the Christmas tree are made by hand.

I offer several of my options for decorating the Christmas tree

For work I needed:

Paper white, color, for gift wrapping;

Napkin paper white ordinary and openwork;

Threads for knitting white, light blue, blue;

Knitting needles;

Small cardboard boxes

Decorative mesh for wrapping flowers silver-white synthetic;

aluminum foil;

Tree branches;

Lodgement for chocolates;

PVA glue.

From threads of white, blue and of blue color knitted cones and decorated them on top with a silver bow

From a decorative mesh for wrapping flowers, I made bows that look very light and airy.

I made houses, pendants with stars, angels and candles from blue cardboard, white paper, openwork napkins

I made big snowflakes out of white paper napkins. And I made small snowflakes out of blue paper with a figured hole punch and glued them in the middle of each large white snowflake

I made Christmas tree pendants from silver-white gift wrapping paper

From the same paper I made the pendants "Stars"

Small cardboard boxes covered with white paper. Decorated with strips of blue paper. From above, the gift was decorated with a bow of white paper folded with an accordion

I wrapped the tree branches with aluminum foil and fixed white pompoms on them.

Such bouquets will be useful to us for decorating the window sills of the music hall.

So, with a little imagination, you can make original decorations for the Christmas tree and the design of the music hall, where our Christmas children's party will soon take place!

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