Creating Your Tree

• 1). Get white wire coat hangers. Decide how long your want your tree to be--two hangers equal 1 foot. Lay them on a flat surface. Take the first hanger and close the top hook to form a loop. The thin wire is easy to bend, but you may use pliers. Hook the second hanger around the neck of the top hanger. Close the top into a loop. They will form a tree shape. With both hangers on a flat surface, bend the second hanger gently around the first so the two hang straight down. Continue adding hangers until you have the desired length.
  
  
• 2). Light your tree with bright, lightweight LED mini lights. Battery-powered lights are best because you can then hang your tree anywhere. Wrap the strings around the outside edge of the hangers to create the outline of a tree. Hold the lights in place with wire twists from the grocery store.
  
  
• 3). Decorate your tree. Drape garlands from the hanger tips across the middle of the tree form. Do both sides if it will be seen from both. Use store-bought or homemade ornaments, photos of your past year or friends and family, paintings made by your children or Christmas cards you receive. Use lightweight decorations and space them evenly so your tree will hang straight. Secure them with small clothes pins or paper clips. Make your tree an advent calendar by hanging envelopes marked with the days until Christmas and open one a day. Have fun with your tree and make it personal.