The first year I have my own tree!!

[TobleroneBoo]

DP & I moved out of our family homes in Feb so this is the first year we will have our very own Christmas Tree! I am beyond excited as we were so close to being out just before Xmas last year but it didnt happen.

Also DP has told me to buy & decorate exactly how I want - is it too early to start shopping? I wish I had picked up a packet of wooden snowflakes last year from Matalan as there were about 30 small ones and they would have been a great start but they had gone by the time I decided to go back for them.

So can you recommend any shops I should visit?

[OhNoNotMyBaby]

'Buying the tree day' is one of the most important days of the year in our household. It's always the 1st Sunday in December - without fail. We go to a tree nursery and spend a long time arguing over which is the best one. The arguing is essential btw! You absolutely cannot agree until you've stood up at least half a dozen trees.

Congratulations on your new home too! I am sure you will have a lovely, lovely time.

oh - are you going 'designer' and only doing 1 or 2 colours, or will you just throw everything on? I buy my DCs a tree decoration every year as a stocking present so they will have a ready-made stock when it's their turn.

[Sunflower30]

Exciting! I've never had a real tree, I bought a big posh artificial one last year. It's beautiful but I would like to have a real one too! How do you manage to keep it looking nice from the beginning of December OhNo? This is the only thing that has put me off in the past, I like my tree up in the 1st week and I worry it will be dead by Christmas Day.

[HandbagCrazy]

Ooh how exciting.
What sort of decs are you looking at? My mums artificial tree is perfectly coordinated red and gold, warm white lights and a bauble on every branch.
My sisters is artificial, silver and blue with blue lights.
Mine is a mish mash - coloured lights, I began with red, white and gold but have added randoms as i collect baubles from
Our holiday destinations.
They're all lovely in their own way

Tip is you're getting a real tree - measure the height of your room and then measure the tree (and remember to include room for the stand). Me and DH have the same argument every year - I want the tree I think will fit (I have high ceilings) and DH always has to chop part of it off because it's too tall! I love this arguement because it's the beginning of Christmas for us

[HandbagCrazy]

Oh and it's never to early to shop! I have a Christmas factory shop near me which opens soon and some places (garden centres / card shops) sometimes sell stuff now I know because I bought card factory Christmas cards a week ago

[TobleroneBoo]

Ahh you are all fuelling my excitement! We did nab one in the Homebase sale at the end of last year, before we had even moved out ( I definitely have my priorities in order) but we will have to see how that looks when the time comes!

I have visions of red / gold with clear lights and ribbons and baubles etc but I will see what takes my fancy when I shop. Also having two kittens might have an impact on what I buy, how much I want to have crashing to the floor to spend

[OhNoNotMyBaby]

Sunflower
I buy a Nordmann fir and make sure it sits in a pot of water. They last a long time and look beautiful. I don't know if the water makes any difference though...

Make sure you go somewhere where you can choose an unbagged one so you can stand it up and view from all sides. Also, the unbagged ones will have been cut more recently than the ready-bagged ones.

[HandbagCrazy]

A tip I was given was to cut about half an inch off the bottom before putting it in the stand, and put warm water with a little washing up liquid in it in the stand, and top this up every few days - the water keeps the tree going and the washing up liquid stops the needles falling out at much.

As for cats, my suggestion is wooden and felt decorations rather than anything that may break (I did the same when dnephew was at that 'grab everything and chuck it on the floor' phase)

[That1950sMum]

Its the beginning of August! Of course its too early. There's still a more than a third of a year to go.

[girlywhirly]

For child and kitten proof tree decs, choose items made of fabric, wood, plastic, metal or knitted/crocheted. You can also look for plastic shatterproof baubles rather than the very breakable thin glass ones.

John Lewis tend to get their displays out at the start of October, but a lot of shops only have limited selections until Hallowe'en is out of the way and they can use the display space again.

[BiddyPop]

That1950sMum - this IS the Christmas board!!

Toblerone:
With cats, I'd echo the non-glass advice. Wooden, felt, perhaps resin as well?
And probably not things like ribbons or tinsel threaded around that might prove too tempting to pull on?
Yes, think about long term - do you want a very stylish tree or mishmash, do you want to add to it over time, do you want 1 colour or a few? What types of styles do you like - Scandi, chic, homestyle, very minimalist...
Do you want to buy everything or make some?
Do you want to buy on the high street or crafty places, or a mix?
Get a good set of lights, maybe even 2 depending on the size of tree you want

I still bring back a decoration every year from holidays which I think is a lovely tradition and reminds me of those holidays as I decorate every year.
I made some things over the years - sewed tiny felt stockings to put candy canes in, made bells from egg box portions painted and with qtips dipped in glitter for the clapper, knitted a couple of small stars, and we have some of DD's ones from crèche/school as well.
We collected lovely cones in forests and dried those out too, tied on a ribbon and hide those in the middle.

There are lots of places that do lovely decorations that you wouldn't think of. Fashion stores often have small things to pick up now! Garden centres and interior shops are great. And loads of great inspiration and buys on the web.
Or to use as decorations - like shaped cookie cutters with a ribbon tied on that you can use again after Christmas.


Enjoy the hunting and planning!

[NarcyCow]

We always found that our cats climbed artificial trees and even slept in them, but didn't climb real ones. So we just make sure the decorations on the bottom branches of the real one aren't fragile and we're fine.

[TobleroneBoo]

I am so excited! Thank you for your responses!

I think I want quite a rustic-y looking tree so wood would be a good idea. I do have a very lovely glass gold heart which is very special to me as we bought it in the country we got engaged in, I might have to hang that somewhere else other than the tree now!

I have also been badgering my DF to make me a wooden tree with shelves as our front room is slightly too small for a tree, but I could still have the wooden one to make it festive

[HandbagCrazy]

Another tip I've just remembered (that I stumbled on when we brought our last dog home and he kept trying to pee up the tree). Baubles with loud bells / noise making stuff inside can frighten dogs / cats enough that that stay away from the tree. Ddog kept brushing against ours when trying to sneak under the tree - he jumped out of his skin a few times then decided to leave the tree alone.

Also, not sure of your finances but when me and DH got a tree we were broke so we bought 2 cheap bauble sets and then a few nice ones - we've then added more nice ones over the years and slowly reduced the cheap ones.

Which colour are you going for?

[CakeNinja]

Buying the tree is such a fun trip out!
Dp and Ds go in his big transit van and dds and I follow in the car. We go out to a farm that has reindeer and make dp pull out pretty much every single tree - he stands there while we all umm and ahh over them all and make him find ones we previously said no to so we can compare!!
There's a shop too, we buy our wreath there, and some candles and a few new decorations.
Nothing beats the smell of a real tree in the house

[wobblywonderwoman]

If you like that look, I would wait for matalan to get their stock in. They gave really beautiful stuff at Christmas

I bought sage green, ivory and red tartan baubles and the ivory had a stag head design

[liquidrevolution]

Look on the decorations you buy now as a short term thing and invest on one or two beautiful pieces in the january sales. I am gradually replacing the old cheap stuff we bought 7 years ago with nice new bits and it means I get to look at decs every year. Looking for a gorgeous vintagey style angel for the top of the tree this year.

Hang everything breakable and valuable up high. And enjoy yourself!