How to do a tasteful tree?

[stella1w]

Last year had a three foot potted one on a table. Put everything on it... Tacky angel from my youth, mardi gras beads, loads of coloured lights, old pretty baubles, looked cheap and cheerful. This year went for a cut four foot one on floor and as have a toddler, no nice baubles, just plain ones, had tinsel as let dd help. And it doesn,t look like a tree, just an explosion of tat. For next year, tips for decorating a tree?

[nellyjelly]

2 colours. Once I used dark blue and a copper colours. White lights. No tinsel though some of thatwiredribbon tastefully strewn is nice.

Keep it simple. I sed to love having a different them every year. Then I had the DC and taste went out the window!

[nellyjelly]

That wired ribbon

[Doitnicelyplease]

We have a big real tree each year
Put only white lights on
Have fairly coordinated decs we have mostly white, silver, red, green plus random ' special decs' more personal ones that get added to a bit each year
No tinsel
Ours always looks classic and tasteful but still homey/ cozy and not. 'Designer'

[PottedShrimp]

no tinsel. only one or two colours. No coloured lights, just white?

[Anothercuppatea]

I must be the only person who prefers coloured lights! I think they look more retro/vintage. Everyone does white lights- its boring! And lots of old fashioned individual decorations- like you have collected nice bits over the years. I suppose everyone has their own idea of 'tasteful'.
I do agree with no tinsel though.

[PottedShrimp]

My mum likes coloured lights, and when i look at her tree it does remind me of my childhood, all the bright colours, and god knows what else on the tree, anything and everything, including tinsel!

[GrassIsntGreener]

We have had tasteful lights, nice white ones with a fuzzy round covering on, for years. This year it's bright, cheerful and anything goes!

[Arithmeticulous]

Don't let the children help decorate it.

[exoticfruits]

Gosh-how sad not to let the DCs do it- it is half the fun of Christmas! I can't understand why people put a tasteful tree first.
I do it myself now and can do a theme but I really miss those days of doing it together and having to surreptitiously move a few for balance.

[HECTheHallsWithRowsAndFolly]

I used to do all that.

one year I had all white decorations (that looked fab!) I've done the red and gold thing. I've done nothing but red bows. One year for some odd reason I did tartan bows It looked lovely though

but that goes out the window when you have kids because the joy they get from a messy wodge of tinsel is far more lovely for you than looking at a 'perfect' christmas tree.

For the first couple of years after I began to realise this, I still rearranged things after they'd gone to bed.

Now I let it be. And my tree is glowing with coloured lights, heaving with tinsel and sporting a fabulous range of decorations where through some amazing feat - not one in any way goes with another!

and it's the best tree I've ever seen!

[TheElfOnThePanopticon]

I think I manage a good balance if tasteful/kids involved.

White lights, red or Ted gingham bows, red/green/gold baubles and felt decorations, and then the crowning touch of star/ heart/gingerbread man shaped biscuits made by the children, half decorated with white icing and half made as stained glass window biscuits. The ones on the lower branches tend to vanish into small stomachs, but I rearrange a bit when that happens.

[PottedShrimp]

haha - yes, all the baubles were at toddler height and on the same branch! I would level it up when they had gone to bed too. And we always had their nursery made decorations on the tree. Still got a lop sided faced angel on the top even though they are now older.

[SorrelForbes]

Last year I sprayed the tree with glue and then sprinkled it with pewter coloured glitter. The decorations were all glass and pewter coloured too. It looked very sparkly!

[GrassIsntGreener]

Can't wait to adorn my tree with multi-coloured paper chains!

[buttercrumble]

Let the dcs help, then sort it out when they have gone to bed......

[exoticfruits]

Ask yourself which a DC would rather do - see a tasteful tree or help do it? I know the answer for any child. You all have years ahead to do tasteful trees. When you look back on childhood you think of winter days, getting all the old favourites out and hanging them on the tree- I can't think of anyone saying 'the best thing about Christmas was my mother's tasteful tree- that we were not allowed to touch'!
Even now mine are older the decorations all mean something and we hang on the tacky things they made when little. It wouldn't be the same without!

[MakeHayInAManger]

We don't do tasteful trees. Ours looks like Christmas vomited on it, courtesy of dd helping me decorate it! (I haven't moved any of her baubles, and we had a wonderful time). I did ban tinsel from it though, but have lametta. Coloured lights too, the other ones didn't work and I'm not fussy! I love it!

[HECTheHallsWithRowsAndFolly]

That's true, exotic. I will have decades of tasteful trees.

I bet every christmas I'll look at the perfect tree and wish it was covered in tinsel and had all the baubles on one side

I'll probably do it like that!

[betterwhenthesunshines]

Some 'base' decorations in a general theme. Ours is gold with red - I have sets of glittered apples, basic shiny baubles, gold wire shapes. And then all the random things that we are adding to - a few amazing and ££££ decorations bought in Fortnum & MAson / Harrods in January, a red velvet & gold coach from our visit to the Museum of London this year, decorations from Austria when we went skiing, DH bought 2 beautiful glass ones back from Poland etc + dried bread & glitter nursery ones and the Fimo ones etc that children made all go on. My farourite is the wonky star made from lollipop sticks. DH said "maybe this can go?" this year. They love getting them all out of the boxes and unwrappping all the tissue paper

This year we have a massive taste failure on the lights front: I got so fed up last year with searching for which bulb had blown. But the only lights left were red cherry lights. So it does look a bit like a Spanish bordello....

Have a friend who does only white and silver and rustic twiggy shit and it always looks amazing - the white really stands out against the dark green.

[exoticfruits]

I spent years wishing for a tasteful tree, and now I can do it I preferred the magic of the childish efforts!

[roooibos]

I have coloured LED lights, I had a comment in how lovely they looked against everyone's white ones. I have warm white on the tree on my front garden but the colourered ones are different, Christmassy & classy.

[MrsGeologist]

I've had a tasteful tree for the past few years because the DCs have been too young to help/make decorations.
It's just red and green baubles of various sizes. Some are matte, some are glittery and some are shiny. All the same shade though.

I think I'm ready for a tat fest next year.

[RikersBeardisFresherthanSantas]

This year I have gone for pink and purple as the base theme. I will let Ds1 help and add his tat from nursery, but I think having a basic theme makes it look planned.

No tinsel, ever.
although I do like its unique smell

[pumpkinsweetie]

Nevermind making a 'tasteful' tree, surely it's about making it bright & festive to be attractive to dc.
The whole fun of christmas is decorating the tree with dc, as they gasp in awe of all the baubles, tinsel & lights that they embellezed the tree with

My dc take so much pride in their tree, and really enjoy doing it.
Christmas is about the dc, stuff the naff ni on boring, pansy tasteful trees

[alistron1]

Our tree has coloured lights, tinsel, a large variety of mismatched baubles, strings of beads and candy canes on it. is that tasteful?!