Christmas tree decorations, do you change them every year or so?

[EleanorLavish]

We have been married 16 years, and I think our first tree decorations were very cheap multipacks which I gave to charity shop after a few years. Since then we have been gathering decorations each year. The kids get to pick one each every year. We go to a garden centre or similar and they pick whichever one they like. So the decorations are all individual.
I have a few glass baubles, a few gold ones etc that I’ve splashed out on, but there is no theme. It’s lovely when we decorate it though as the kids (mostly teenagers now!) love getting out ‘their ones’ each year. They can take them with them when they have their own houses and families.
But I’ve noticed people on here talking about ‘themes’ or ‘this year we have gone for’ type comments.
Just wondering whether many people do switch decorations every year/few years?

No, we do similar to you and have made it a tradition to each pick a new bauble to add to the tree. When the D.C. leave home or set up their own they’ll have a starter pack of baubles from over the years. It’s interesting to see what they pick. We have a glass shark with a Santa hat, a little house with an Xmas scene, a rainbow and a beehive amongst many others

We do the same as you. Broken ones go in the bin and generally acquire a couple of new ones every December. My DH had some really good news this week and so I bought him a bauble for the tree so that every year when we unpack the decorations it will be something we remember. Lots of our baubles have little stories behind them, it makes me happy even though our tree does look a bit like a tinsel factory exploded near by.

God no! We've had ours for years but buy one or two new each year. Pretty random selection.

I have decorations from when I was a kid on my tree. It has every colour in there. But for the table wreath and other decorations I may pick a theme. This year it's dark red, so as there's dark red in the tree I don't change that but might select some dark red to put on the wreath and table. It's more holding back other colours than buying new. I have about enough decorations for four trees collected over the years so I can rotate.

We use the same ones each year. We have a theme of sorts in that the decorations are mostly red, green, and gold, but they're such an eclectic mix of shapes and sizes that it doesn't look organised at all! I love it

This year we have a 12 week old kitten so I've left any precious ones off. I'm really missing them! I love all the memories attached to our decs and can't imagine having a complete new set every year!

We bought a huge bag of Christmas decorations from a charity shop when we first got married. 19 years later we are still using them, with very few additions. The DC have made a few over the years, but we’ve probably bought fewer than 5 new ones.

DM still has the fairy for the top of the tree, that belonged to her DM (born 1919) and lots of 1960s/70s gold foil monstrosities.

I don't think anyone actually chucks away all their decorations and buys new ones every year. That's borderline psychopathic.

I do think some shops like to pretend that's what everyone does though to convince us to buy more!

We have a mix of decorations - the children choose a new one each year.
No theme or colour co-ordination!

My husband and I were talking the other night and remembered that I did have a theme for the first few years then our daughter brought home from nursery a decoration she made - that got put on the tree theme out of the window! 15 years later we still treasure that angel decoration & many others of random colours!

Christmas is about family, memories and nostalgia and the tree is the centre of it.

I have 2 sets of basic baubles which are different colour schemes and choose which one I want each year. There are then more personal ones which go on each year. So my colour scheme does change but I don't but new to do it.

Over the years we've collected enough for a few trees so we can change the theme if we want too. We got rid of some old pink ones a few years ago but apart from that, we keep them all and they get used.

God, no. Apart from anything else, like the cost for a fairly big tree, , I don't want the loft cluttered up with a mass of different lots. I love our trad decorations collected over the years, some going back to when I was small (back in the very olden days).

I used to have a neighbour who had a different colour scheme each year (and often complained of being skint!)

She once asked me what colour tree we were having that year.
'Er, green?'

I hate the thought of people buying whole new sets every year and hope that doesn't happen much IRL.

I've started buying the DC a bauble each year for their stockings so that they can build up a collection to take with them when they leave home (they've had to be of the slightly more sturdy variety!).

Yep - my tree looks like the Christmas fairy threw up in it! If people insist on a tree it’s a memory tree, with baubles from relatives who are no longer with us (if ever I have been asked if I want a memento when some I loved has died I always ask for a bauble for the tree), then there’s the ones I picked as a child, the ones bought in holiday (the Greek one with a blue donkey on it is a classic!), all bring back sniles

I've been buying a few new bits every year.

However, we still have some retro decs that I refuse to get rid of as I think it gives the tree character!

We definitely don't do 'matching' in this house, it's a concoction of all sorts

My DC get a new decoration every year and have done every Christmas so over the years we have built up quite an eclectic mix of decorations. I don’t have any actual baubles, just a huge mix of rather odd decorations. We have Edgar Allan Poe on there for reference .

My Mum matches her Christmas tree to the room decor so if she redecorates, she has to buy matching baubles. I think my tree is a rebellion against her in ways .

I have a colour theme but I don't change it every year. DH and I bought cheapo multipacks of plastic blue baubles that went with our old lounge when we first moved in together ten years ago. I replaced those baubles this year as they were starting to look tatty (scratched, paint flaking off etc). I've bought a load of white and clear glass ones this year that I expect to last for a long time. Donated the old ones to our local village hall. I haven't had any decorations passed down to me and my children aren't big enough have made any yet.

That would be sacrilege!
Our decorations have been added to over years and years. They're part of our family history, just as the ones when I was a child were.
Even the ones that are threadbare or falling apart. It's just part of Christmas for us.

Some are too fragile to go up now, but we take them out, pass them around and reminisce as we decorate the tree each year. Then pack them away safely until next year's decorating.

Ok, we're not The Walton's, I promise!

We have collected ours over the years and they have been added to by the DCs home made efforts. We now have enough for several trees and I love them all.

I can't wait to unpack them this year and see them all again.

And the children have always decorated the tree, since they could stand, and place a bauble.
I don't change what they put where, it's their time of year. I place the lights first (for aesthetic safety reasons) and then leave them to it.

When the tree goes down we discards y broken ones. The next year we assess what we have and buy a few more if needed.
They all clash badly.

I appear to be the opposite to everyone! I buy generic baubles, last year&this year i bought black, white & silver and that is our theme. I do tend to buy new ones every year, but I dont get rid of the old ones, they are kept in the garage incase I want to use that colour one year. I have one bauble from my childhood which I believe was my nans. I have 1 special one for each of my children with their name and year of 1st christmas on. And one for my cat who died. Other then that I don't have any emotional attachment to any decorations. My children have never really made any at school, and they aren't really interested in decorating the main tree. They do have small trees in their bedrooms which they like to decorate themselves.

@LER83 don't you worry about what you are doing to the planet. Why on earth would you need to do that.

its really sad.

We have traditional red, green and gold. Some get lost /broken and we buy a couple each year.

I'm still using the same ones that I bought to use on my first tree when I first got married many years ago.
Unfortunately, the salt dough ones fell apart when I stored the box of decorations in the garage one year and the damp ruined those ☹️