Christmas decoration themes!

[Rach224]

Yep, it’s happening. Christmas talk is happening!

You can blame the garden centre I went to today when I walked in and it slapped me in the face with about 17,000 baubles. I was shocked they’re out so early to be honest but… if i’m also being honest I loved it.

Got me thinking and then I realized that I am officially in a predicament. We have moved a few times over the last few years and haven’t been settled for Christmas at all. This is the first year we can enjoy it in our own home and splash out on some lovely decorations!

My predicament is this…

My nearly 3yo DS is VERY excited for Christmas (for the first time) and loves the candy cane/ginger bread man theme. It’s fun, vibrant and quite kiddy.

I do however, love the more traditional decorations and colours and feel we would eventually (although probably many years down the line) outgrow the kiddy candy cane theme. Whereas traditional I can add to each year and probably never really get bored of.

Does anybody else have a theme? Do you switch up your theme? Is the candy cane theme tacky?

I love the candy cane theme for children! I have three Christmas trees. We have a slim snowy one in our hallway which I typically decorate white and silver. Then a main one in the living room which is also snowy; this is usually decorated grey and silver and white. Then we do a small pre lit green one in our children’s play room which is full of gingerbread men, candy canes, and home made decorations. We got lots from m&s last year! I think traditional green and red also looks beautiful 🤩

@Sam202012 ohhh I only wish we had space for two! We are in a flat so can only make the space for one main tree in the living room. I really do want to do the candy cane theme for my son but would have loved to have had a playroom so I could have put it in there - that way I could have a more traditional and less busy tree in our living room. Gosh I’m really stuck over this!

Could you do a small candy cane theme tree in his bedroom and make it fun for him? I have seen trees decorated before in traditional colours such as green and red with subtle pops of candy cane ornaments added. That would also look lovely 😊

Your DS will be young for such a short time, I would go with the candy cane / gingerbread man theme. He will love it and remember it when he thinks of Christmas. There will be years ahead to do a sophisticated arty Christmas theme.

We have a theme but sometimes we split it between rooms. So this year - for example - the lounge will be traditional red green and gold. The rest of the house (including a small tree in the dining room) will all be white and green.

My tree has both, candy cane and trad? My tree is stunning people hugely admire it

Do you need a theme? We have a tree, has been replaced twice, as I recall. Bought a few decorations the first year, then added to each subsequent year. DSs used to choose a tree Decoration each year. Love having a collection of assorted decorations 🙂

Could you combine both? We go for gold and red plus some wooden/natural bits. And then buy new bits on that theme each year. Ginger bread and candy canes would fit in too

Don’t do a theme - you will regret it every time you see a beautiful decoration and then realise you can’t get it because it doesn’t fit the theme.

I’d buy a set of traditional coloured baubles to tie everything together and then just let ds
pick what he wants - trees look better when they’re not too matchy matchy imo.

We go every year and each pick out a decoration and it’s one of the children’s favourite things to do - and now they’re 10 and 13 the tree looks pretty eclectic.

We always have 2 trees. One massive real tree and this has all our posh decorations (we bought a lot pre DC). It's silver / ice "theme".

The kids tree is the tree of tat. Every piece of random crap we've collected over the years goes on this tree. It actually looks quite cool. I believe it passes as kitsch 😂

Much nicer and less limiting to not have a theme - I agree candy cane stuff will sit fine alongside more traditional decorations but if it doesn’t and it’s what your son loves what does it matter? Personally I love a bit of a mish-mash, feels like it’s what Christmas should be rather than a tastefully co-ordinated display.

I say this as someone who can be quite anal precious about Xmas decorations, my now grown up DD still takes the piss out of me for rearranging the tree multiple times each year 😳

We’ve only ever had space for one main tree but when she was younger she had her own in her room which she loved - she’s saved all the decorations she bought or was given over the years and will use them for her own tree when she leaves home. Could that be an option for your little boy?

Agree. I have no “theme”. There is a place on the tree for all sorts and none of it matches. Looks great x

Well im in my 40s and have gingerbread candy tree. I also have a frosty tree with snowflakes and icicles. And a navy and silver tree in the hall. Gingerbread is by far my favorite

We have 2 trees. The main living space is open plan kitchen, dining, playroom because our DC are young. This one is red, white, gingerbread, candy cane vibes.
Then we have a living room which is mainly used by me and DH, the DC rarely go in. It's decorated very traditionally anyway, lots of wood, dark green, gold with a fireplace. The tree in here is a darker red, green and gold theme. I may add some navy to it this year too. These are all colours in the room anyway in cushions and accessories.

We don't have a theme, out main tree is different colours and all different unique baubles collected and done made by DS over the years, I truly love it. When we first started we used a big pack of baubles as a filler and candy canes as DS loved them. He's 11 now and every year we've bought 1 or 2 baubles with meaning to us, think Big Ben one the year we first took him to London etc. Now the tree is just full of memories. My mum used to have themes and the tree looked lovely but was a bit bleurgh!

I just restrict the colour palette to red, green and silver. The stuff that’s on there is all over the place, but the colour scheme ensures it looks good. I like that we have a mix of old treasured heirloom decorations from my youth, fancy tasteful glass and ceramic things, ornaments brought back from travels, and cardboard and glitter monstrosities from school all snuggled up together. A Christmas tree tells a family story.

I say that as someone who once decorated Christmas trees professionally. Once upon a time it pained me enormously to sully my perfectly themed tree, to the extent that my friends found it hilarious when I had to start adding toilet roll middle angels. But now I love that it’s all so personal.

We've always just done random and no theme but my 12 year old has decided she wants a theme this year so going to go out and get some new decorations. I would keep it as your son likes for now, can change it in a few years.

No theme because my Mum was a twat who would only put up an artificial tree with baubles that matched her room decor every year. If the decor changed, so did the baubles. It was the most soulless thing ever. If we made a Christmas craft at school, she’d bin it on the sly!

Our decor is just a mismatch of various different things I have found and loved over the years. We have so many different tree decorations, none of them match at all. Everything from Edgar Allan Poe through to a vegan sausage roll. Fuck you Mum