To not have a theme for our Christmas tree?

[Fern86]

Our Christmas tree is so random.
4 kids and we pretty much let them do whatever ever they want re decorating the tree. Decoration day starts with a trip to Dobbies so everyone can choose a new bauble. Nothing matches yet i tell myself it’s kind of magical but I keep seeing all these wonderful themed trees and wondering if we should be making more of an effort?!

I love the randomness of our tree. All the things the kids have made over the years. No theme required.

Some of the middle class snobbery on these threads almost matches the snobbery on the "do you have a Christmas eve box?" threads.

Posters say things like "oh no, they look cheap amd awful, I could never. I love the things that Oscar and Olivia made in nursery, and my grandmother left me her ornament collection when she died, and we go as a family and choose a lovely bauble each year!"

When what they want to say is "ew, how common and cheap is a theme!?"

Having an eclectic mix of handcrafted (by your own children (or the ones who work for pennies in a John Lewis sweatshop) and hand me down ornaments isn't the be all and end all for some.

Christmas trees are supposed to bring joy, and for some people that is matchy matchy, job lot "candy cane lane" B&M. And for others, it isn't! Ho ho ho!

And some will say that mismatch trees are ugly and passé.

I don't like mismatched tree they make me sweat.

Anyone can have their tree how they ant no need to be unkind.

Christmas tree decor is a taste-based not classed-based issue @3amShopper . Both eclectic and carefully themed trees can be found across all strata of society.

We have the same ‘theme’ every year - hideous!

Our tree is a colourful over decorated hot mess with as many lights as we can squeeze on it, baubles collected over the years and every colour of tinsel we can find. It’s bloody wonderful! Sure, to most people it probably looks ghastly, but we love it.

Every year I normally do the same. Each DC chooses a new bauble or ornament for the tree. I'm really sad as this year is the first time I can't (I had an accident and on strict bed rest) I'm not even sure my tree will go up this year 😭 my youngest is only three so it's really his year of really understanding it all.

I'll miss nativity plays, carol concerts etc.

I'm quite sad.

Absolutely. But you know what I mean, don't you? With the snobbery. It's awful.

Same !! Kitsch best describes ours we love it.

I find the colour coordinated themed trees completely soulless. Our tree is groaning with twenty odd years of family memories in the form of clay father Xmas decs made at preschool, weird photo ornaments, trinkets from holiday destinations and random stuff I've seen and liked at craft fairs. None of it matches and I love it.

Sorry you're going through this X I'm sure you've plenty of exciting Christmases with your ds ahead, try to keep that in mind and I hope you get well soon x

Why would you let children near a tree?? Because they love it ! My happiest memories as a child are my mum letting me and my brother loose on the Xmas tree, and yes, I realise she probably rearranged them when we were in bed, but seriously??? What a depressing post.

Mum has a couple of trees - one is themed and it's her holiday tree so she can look back at all the ornaments from around the world - so there are things like a New York Yellow Taxi and the like on there and my kids have started buying her bits when they've been on holiday to add to it as well.

Our living room one is themed as in I let the 10 and 11 year old loose on it with the box of baubles and anything goes on it (I think there's a cuddly Pikachu keeps finding his way up there as well)... but the one in my WFH office is all colour coordinated and tasteful because I wanted it like that basically and I only bought one huge cheapie box of baubles so they're all colour themed by virtue of me doing it cheap as shit.

Being a bit ott at Christmas, I have enough baubles in the loft now to do any theme at all I like - so I do tend to pick a bit of a theme each year and stick to it. This years is red, gold, green. Last year's was 'woodland' and so on.

BUT every now and again the theme is 'everything' in which every random colour and decoration under the sun gets thrown on. 'Everything' is a theme in itself, I think.

I can’t stand minimalist trees. I don’t mean the tall skinny ones, they can look great. I mean minimalist decoration - three or four baubles, one piece of tinsel that looks like it’s been thrown on, a small light string and a bow on the top. Still each to their own.

No theme on our tree. We've got so many bits that we've collected over the years, some commemorating dates special to us, ornaments from various places we've visited, and pieces that have been given to us (including our infamous Naked Santas!). When we're dressing the tree we're often saying 'do you remember who we got this from' and it leads to happy reminiscing. Love it.

Ours is the same! It's full of decorations bought on holidays, made by the dc at school/nursery and generally gathered through the years. Baubles from various themed packs get thrown in too but none match haha I love it!

I make a nice decoration with them every year where we try a different craft. This year it's felt and they've both planned what to make (4yo is pretty confident on making a Dino dana style brachiosaurus). We've done snow globe style, raggy poinsettias, card angels, cross stitch, crochet and salt dough too.

I like my tree to look like the decoration box has thrown up over it. I have stuff that my late parents bought as a young married couple, things we've bought, stuff ds made, and buy new things each year. Its all meaningful and memories, not a curated collection

I have to confess - I hate Christmas decorations! At home, not in shops (I always look at other trees with envy). I have no coordination or style. I hate tinsel with a passion. So my tree is (currently) baubles and a star. I may try and put lights on it at some point and I have ribbons on the way but other than that it will be the most boring tree in the street (and ruined the second my autistic children get home from school 🤣).

I don't know anyone who has a 'themed' tree in real life, to be honest, especially people with kids. Surely the whole point is that you get your favourite stuff out each year and the kids go 'Oh, I remember this one!' etc and you also end up with the stuff they've made at school etc.

I suppose mine is, at best, moderately cohesive, but I don't have kids, and any matchiness is solely because the decorations on it are all the kinds of styles that I like, if you see what I mean - there is no deliberate theming! And loads of the baubles are just random ones that people have bought me etc.

My mum still has stuff on her tree that her kids made at primary school. For context, her youngest child (me) is 47.

No-one sent me an email about having a theme. We have an artificial tree and boxes of random baubles etc collected over the last 40 years. We assemble the tree, put the baubles and lights on it, plug it in and smile.

Isn't that what Christmas is about? Or have I missed another email?

My tree and some of the baubles belonged to my late ILs (DB has our childhood decorations). Rest of the decorations are holiday souvenirs and others that have memories attached to them.

Never heard of a themed tree. Isn't the theme 'Christmas'. You need to step away from Instagram.

Oh Christmas trees are filled with memories - every decoration has one attached to it, and it's wonderfully evocative. The nostalgia attached to our mismatched, crap decorations is overwhelming.

Actually @beanontoast , my very favourite Christmas decorations are a box from the charity shop about 5 years ago. Vintage 50s/60s glass ones. They don't match anything else on the tree and don't even match each other but they glitter and sparkle in a way that modern baubles just don't. We have a baubles in all colours of the rainbow, as well as little straw people tied with ribbon, various fairtrade nutcrackers and beaded robins, a blue and white ceramic bauble from Amsterdam, and yes, the three wise men decorations which DS made about 15 years ago, whose bodies are loo rolls.

There is a "story" behind almost every decoration. A matchy matchy tree in whatever the trendy colours are that year does not have a story and speaks volumes.

Our main tree is all the baubles each child has selected every year. Four kids, oldest is 18 this year. The 'specials' are now pretty much all there is room for on our tree-with the odd bits I've picked up /saved from my own childhood. It's very random but I love it.
I also have a second tree in the hallway way which does have a theme and is tasteful. It looks lovely but if I had to choose I'd have the rando one every time!