Talk to me about your Christmas decorations

[thereistheball]

DH has just told me my Christmas decorations are insipid and joyless. I would describe them more as tasteful. I don't like flashing lights, gaudy colours, kitsch, tinsel. I have a lot of vintagey, 'antiqued' glass baubles, and love bird decorations for the tree. I usually add colour to the tree with a long scarlet velvet ribbon (I am adding a royal purple one this year). Our wreath is made of white beads. How do you decorate for Christmas?

I love the sound of your tree. I guess mine looks insipid and joyless too then. I loathe tinsel.

For the very same reason DS and DH are having their own tree downstairs in the hallway this year. Red flashing lights, big plastic baubles and tonnes of lametta, tree chocolates and tin foil star. Primark Santa train peeping and grinding around it.

My tree will be glass and crystal upstairs in the living room. I use strings of beads instead of tinsel.

That's a good idea. I might let the family have their own tat tree.

It will be a fake old one from Argos too, just to up the level of tack!

Four our tree I will dig out our collection of decorations.
There's quite a few made by me pre-kids: Scandinavian-style angels and elves (red bodies and red hats) made from Panduro Kits a bit like these but without the gold stars.
Straw stars
Plain baubles red and gold - small for the top and bigger near the bottom of the tree
'Candle' lights
Felt snowflakes and small wood reindeers
A few sparkly multicoloured kid-friendly decs acquired over the years - they get to choose on every year when we buy a tree
A few more assorted handmade decs collected over the years.
No tinsel but a few gold star beaded garlands

The kids (5 & 8) do most of the decorating after I fix the lights, and then I 'fix' the decorations after they've gone to bed

Well we do use a real tree, but I have resigned my tasteful tree and go for full on kiddy delight now. We have coloured lights-NOT led-instead of the white ones. I do the lights, then DH and the boys can come in to help decorate it. Gone are the beautiful glass baubles...in are the coloured candy canes and mini santas. Over the last couple of years however I have managed to collect some lovely things. The kind that kids love but that don't look TOO much like tat. Bells, little puddings and angels. I think we have a happy medium!

We have two trees one in the dining room is the smaller of the two.

It is all decorated in silver and teal which matches the dining table and dinner service.

The one in the front room has only red/white/green decorations, decoupage baubles, red stars, white and red snowflakes and some lovely individual decorations from Debenham, M&S and House of Fraser.

I only do white lights, but not the bright led things and i don't do tinsel.

My decorations have been collected over the past 22 years.
Glass ones for the tree (assorted colours but traditional)

Then for the hall/stairs
Mantlepiece
Kitchen cupboards
The arch between the back room and dining room

I've got : white/pearl/clear glass/silver
Bronze/gold
'traditional' like FC,stockings,The Snowman, fabric

I do a different colour scheme for the area each year (same decorations just moved )
And we buy something new every year.

But no lilac.pink,lime,turquoise,or teal

No tinsel

This year I'm buying warm white lights I do have coloured but they are tiny

This year I have been inspired by my German sister in law to do a table decoration with candles. She showed me a kind of candle holder that you can fill with pine cones and stuff, and . . . . It probably looks insipid and joyless too. Can you describe to us his choice of decs, just so that we can confirm our level of insipidity?

Is it really about tinsel and santas?

i luff my tree, i bought it last year from amazon. it was £100, is 7ft tall with warm white built in led lights (300 of them) last year we did a dr who themed christmas so all the decorations were blue, white and silver. this year we have gone a bit scandinavian so lots of red and white, and wood. but only on the tree as the rest will be my usual mis-mash of random colours. i do use tinsel, but the very thick luxurious type.

We have had our Argos fake tree for 16 yrs and it gets covered in everything from tinsel to tasteful decs Plenty of time for me to do colour cordinating etc when the kids leave home if I can be bothered

we also have those garlands across the ceiling and paperchains in the hallway.

We have a tree from Homebase. Looked fine in the shop but once we got it home we realised how big it is. Takes up the entire corner of the room and touches the ceiling but I love it!

Decorated with silver and white decs. Now the girls are getting older and making bits etc (4 & 2) there's abit or red sneaking in so may just have to embrace that and buy a few more red decs to incorporate. Lots of simple white lights sparkling away. Have a box full of beautiful expensive glass dec from before DC that will stay hidden for a few years yet.
I also have real jingling bells on the tree which are great at alerting me if the tree is being fiddled with by toddler fingers! :)

Last year we bought 2 little tiny trees for the girls to have in their rooms and cover in whatever tat they wish. Last year Dd1 covered hers in so much tinsel you could hardly see the tree underneath!!

Hmmm. I have 8 large plastic crates of decs so can do most looks... Have done:

Wooden decs, raffia bows, festive moustache over mantel, dried orange slices, cinnamon gold walnuts garland, cookie cutters etc.

Red pink gold orange green lime turquoise baubles only on tree, matching satin ribbon bows to tie (not loops), no tinsel, matching lights

Foliage and flowers, tiny birds, silver ornaments, mirror chains, white lights

This year I'm going to invest in foliage to go up the stairs.

Your look sounds lovely, I would give dh his own tree. One year I was heavily pregnant and couldn't be arsed and DH did ours. Looked fine. Honest.

I don't get the coordinated look at all. You would probably find our tree tasteless but I love it. Mix of glass baubles, various animals, tinsel (which a lot of you seem to hate) and lametta (the best bit). Plus coloured lights. We have greenery in the hall, fake since we had kids, with beautiful big hand blown bauble for each child.

I buy a few decorations each year and they all have memories.

My mil does a coordinated look, all minimal and in her eyes tasteful. Am afraid I see it as insipid, uninspired and bit bland tbo.

Guess mine prob looks tasteless and tacky to her. Would do big grin but can't remember how!

I don't do insipid "looks like a Homebase display" trees, but I don't see that the flip side of that is liking tinsel. I loathe it.

White lights and beads on tree and a whole host if interesting and unusual baubles, including glass, wooden, things the kids have made etc.. I have some free-standing bits around, angels, nativity figures, candles and so on.

In the dining room I have more lights around a large mirror and plant, and I have a mistletoe garland, again with lights, wound around the banisters up the stairs.

Massive wreath on the front door, icicle lights dangling from the guttering and, I'm afraid to admit (but the kids forced me!!) I have a nodding reindeer on the porch roof. I seem to have triggered some neighbourly competition, as each year more and more stuff is appearing on houses nearby.

Oh and a real tree is a must! I just love the pine smell. As for needles dropping, well, that's what the hoover is for.

Your tree sounds lovely op. I do 2 trees, might actually do a third this year and like the sound of your birds and a sort of antiquey look, the colours in that room are pinks and plums so that would work well.
In my kitchen I have a real tree, scandi type decorations, red white, wooden etc. I hope to get some oversized white snow flakes to hang at the windows too.
In the hall I have more traditional tree, with my decorations I've collected over the years. I use plain gold balls through it to pull it all together. On the stairs I have a garland with dried apple & orange slices.
In the dining room I have silver and plum over sized baubles hanging from the curtain pole and from the light over the table.
I also do a fresh foliage display on the mantel in the sitting room.

That post sounded a bit rude. Wasn't meant to be - sorry. I guess I just like the memories behind the decorations especially the ones the kids make and I struggle with mil who buys a theme each year and then chucks it away afterwards.

mine is a sort of dr Seuss theme, lime green and red. it is gordy but the trick is to really through yourself into it and go completely OTT. After years of tasteful trees i wanted a change and I love it.

lunar that sounds fab, Seuss Landing is one of my favourite places!

My tree isn't minimalist at all

It's actually because the decorations mean so much to me that I like having my tree. It's not co-ordinated like a hotel reception tree. But all of the decorations are really special. Glass icicles, glass bubbles etc bought from my trips to Sweden over the last 20 years. I still hang home made ginger biscuits on it etc I don't change the theme to match my house. It's the same tree most years, but I always add some special baubles I've found on my travels each year. I go away with work a lot at this time of year, so I always try and buy at least one nice thing to hang on the tree to help me stop feeling homesick and missing my family.

DS and dh just want a plastic tree, plastic baubles, gory tinsel. They have chosen a theme in red that wouldn't look out of place in a brothel reception.

It will sit right infront of the glass front door too.

Your tree sounds beautiful bin (how do you abbreviate your name?!). I have bought baubles and other decorations on trips abroad, family outings etc. I love the memories and the interest.

Would love to know where people get the non led Christmas lights from though. All ours are led but would really like proper bulbs.

Just plain old Bin!

Do people really throw their baubles away each year?

I'm a bit shocked at that!

She likes to theme Christmas. What can I say.

She would probably be horrified at how much the few I buy each year cost!

In a soppy way I'm imagining passing them onto DS and his future partner, who'll have memories of all the happy Christmases past.

With my luck he'll probably marry Mrs "Annual Theme Baubles" and she'll chuck the lot.

We always get a Huge 7ft real tree.
Had most of my decs for years. Mostly they are white & natural colours lots of beads in silver. Plenty of wood things, & I usually put lots of cinnamon sticks tied in bundles on, to make the room smell nice.
We do have to be careful as the cats like to climb up it!
We have a second tree in the front of the house that you can see from the road. This usually gets a few red bows & white lights, just keep it simple. ( less to put away in Jan)