LIGHTING:

      
When buying light sets, choose the colour or colours which coordinate best with your decorations.  Select green cords for use on green trees or "lightly" flocked green trees.  White cords should be used on heavily flocked trees.  Miniature lights not only look beautiful on your tree, but are cool burning and conserve energy.  Use only miniature lights on artificial trees.   Miniature light sets are available in strings of 35, 50, and 100 bulbs.
       
           The general guideline is to use one set of 50 miniature lights per foot of tree: however, don't hesitate to use four or five times that many lights to create additional glamour and impact.  Be sure to follow instructions with your light set to determine how many sets can be safely plugged together.   Replace burned out bulbs immediately to prevent strain on remaining bulbs.  Do not plug together different lengths or different brands of light sets.

        Placement of lights should dramatize the size and shape of the tree.  Check each light set.  If a set doesn't light, begin at plug end and make sure that each socket has a tight fitting bulb.  Save all extra bulbs.

        Conceal your power source.  Tape the receptacle end of a heavy duty extension cord to the trunk of your tree near the base.   Coil excess cord underneath tree stand.  Light sets should be plugged into each other "piggyback" fashion, forming a rigid column of plugs parallel to the trunk.  Tape to trunk of tree where necessary.

        Divide the tree into imaginary pie-shaped wedges, top to bottom.  Drag plug down through the middle of the tree and plug into the extension cord.  Coil and conceal any excess cord inside body of tree.   Start with the first bulb at opposite end from plug.  Lightly twist cord around top branch to hold bulb in place.

        Place light string over your shoulder and begin filling in the first wedge.  Work from top to bottom, back and forth, in and out, keeping within the boundary of the imaginary wedge. Have light set plugged in so you can position each bulb properly.

        Never cross from one branch to the other near the tip.  Conceal the wire toward the interior of the tree then cross over to the next branch from the interior.

        For the most dramatic effect, each bulb should point upward and slightly outward. The bulbs may be held in place by looping the wire around the branch. By placing a bulb near the tips of branches you will define the silhouette of the tree.

        When first light set is in place, insert plug from next set into plug of previous set (or into end plug of previous set if using "end-to-end" light sets). Run lead bulb to where the previous ended, concealing excess wire.  Continue until wedge is completely filled with lights.  Begin procedure all over again at top of the next wedge and continue until all wedges are lighted.

        If you want to store your artificial tree sections with lights in place, confine each light set to either the removable top or bottom section of the trunk. Novelty lights should be considered lighted ornaments and should be added after regular lighting is completed.  It will take five 10-light novelty sets for a 7 foot tree.