Is your tree themed or 'eclectic'?

[0pheliaBalls]

As in, do you go for a colour scheme/'look' or is it a glorious mishmash of much loved decs?

I've done a colour scheme type thing for years - last few has been natural wood and red, a few years ago we had blues and purples and so on. Over the years we've collected some gorgeous bits and bobs and this year I'm tempted to chuck them all on the tree, reds, purples, wood, glass, metallic, all of it together. Will it look sweet and eclectic or just a bit clashy and crap? Will I itch for order?!

What do you do, tree wise?

I tend to colour theme, but have a base of silver and glass ornaments that I've had for years and keep adding to. Over the years we had various colours with the base colours, ranging from homemade, cheap and cheerful, muted shades and brights.

Was planning on silver and gold this year, but may have to rethink having a tree depending on how the new dog settles in.

The last couple of years Jimi Hendrix has been our angel on top of the tree

Now THAT is a Christmas Tree Would love to see it

I would like my dh on top of my tree and I would make sure I shoved the top up really hard !

I like a theme. I've tried various ones and I have a weakness for flirting every few years with folksy scandi type things and bright Russian caravan type stuff but always end up going back to all my really light sparkly stuff I've collected. Most years my tree is white, cream, silver and gold, with a bit of red. It looks magical. I buy one or two new things every year, and we have some beautiful old things inherited from dh's gran.

My parents have an amazing collection of stuff going back decades and I love that too. Their tree is always more eclectic with all the old tatty things on, and it's lovely. I don't often see them and we don't always get on, but I always go round and decorate their tree with them.

Jimi

I was just about to ask why jimi angel is so sad then I realised it's his moustache!

Eclectic, but *fairly classy. Nice glass baubles in rich colours prodominate. 25 years of collecting and buying things on holidays and trips off. So memories rather than a theme.

*not sure if Micky mouse head baubles count, even if they are deep colours with gold stripes.

Eclectic here, with coloured twinkling lights, the DCs choose a new decoration each every year, anything goes except tinsel, which is not permitted. I really don't like colour themed trees, they just seem soulless and like shop window displays to me.

The stuff the DCs have made at school and nursery over the years is all carefully hung over a piece of metal wall art on the wall next to the tree, we only have room for a fairly small tree so this is a good way of being able to keep using the ever growing collection of stuff.

Elephants - we also have a few Micky ear-shaped decorations done in the colours of the different Disney princesses

For the uninitiated, Micky Bauble

I have a themed tree in my living room, in all red and gold.

I have one in my kitchen that is all gingerbread men, cookie cutters, gingham and wooden spoons...

I have one in the playroom that I theme. One year all pink dolls and toys, one year lots of bunnies, last year all the toy story characters and this year Disney princesses because we've just got back from Florida and DD is obsessed!

(She wants a tree in her room but if I get a 4th tree I think DH will divorce me....)

Eclectic I have every Christmas stocking teddy I ever got 37 yes coloured lights my Nana's pipe cleaner 70's decorations and silver new bridge ornaments I also have tinsel DP hates it but that's ok as he is away this Christmas so I am off to buy more tree decorations :)

A loose theme.

The girls choose new baubles every year, but they're always in one of four colours: red, white, silver or gold.

Then each year, I'll decide the colour of the tree (red white and silver last year) and put on the decorations in that colour.

I have virtually no plain glass baubles - they're all interesting designs / shapes / histories behind them etc. so the decorations are silver angels or glass baubles or a metal Santa etc... The decorations themselves don't match and all have a special memory (and my DDs can tell you them all!) but they're linked together in a few colours so it looks nice too.

Not matching, but not eclectic either!

Ok, the theme of our main tree is our family history, we have decorations from every holiday we've been on, stuff the kids have made, their first shoes, decorations they've chosen each year... I love it, they love it, it feels like home.

Then in a corner of another room I have a sleek slimline version that I decorate to a colour theme, usually white, and anyone touching it will get their fingers chopped off

White and red lights and a complete mishmash of ornaments collected and made over the years (absolutely no tinsel though). The dcs always help to decorate it and they know every ornament - it's my favourite moment of Christmas, the smell of the pine, the act of decorating and then admiring it afterwards. Personally I think themed trees are for shops and hotels - they look a bit sad in houses.

Themed here! And a different colour scheme every year

This year going for blues to mark the birth of my son. Will add silver from the decorations I already have.

We have special ornaments and handmade ornaments as well as the 'themed' sweetie ones. By sweetie I mean candy canes, candy striped Christmas trees, a tin man m and of liquorice etc. It was really trendy the year dd was born and we had to buy new ornaments as ours got stolen. The first year we lived together we had a Christmas party and asked everyone to buy us one ornament instead of a new home gift. We had some beautiful, personal ones and they all got stolen. So, when dd was born DH and I went a little crazy. My mum and dad buy dd a new ornament every year. It goes on their tree but dad wants to give them to her one day when she is bigger. I want to get my Dec's down now!

My tree is themed and beautiful until the DC's come home, all three of them (aged 18,21 and 23) gang up on me chortling in a evil manner, and drape the tree in foul multi coloured tinsel. It ends up looking like an episode of norovirus in a tinsel shop. This is probably the last year we'll all be together so I'm going to embrace the horror.

Ours used to just have clear glass baubles, some iridescent, some with a bit of glitter, all different shapes. With hundreds of tiny white lights, it was very delicate and beautiful. We had another one in the dining room that was all red and gold.

Then we had kids and the breakable glass had to go, and I never had the energy to put up the second one.

Now it's multicoloured but generally rich jewel colours, and there are lots of memories of holidays or occasions, like the little baby blue crushed velvet star I bought when I was pregnant with DS. We still have the clear lights but now there's a string of coloured lanterns as well (they remind me of childhood trees).

Now that the kids are bigger I'm starting to consider reinstating the extra tree so maybe the glass will make a comeback.

Oooh, I can't wait : )

Total mishmash. I find something very soulless about a co-ordinated tree

Mines completely random shit thrown together . It's not tacky, it's all cute dare I say retro/kitsch looking decorations. No colour scheme but I don't have gold or pink on there because they're my least favourite colours.

Mine is Disney themed. Collected over many years with new bits added when we see something.

The something this year is a mickey and Minnie tree topper.

Every time we go away, I bring back something for the tree. I also buy things to celebrate significant events such as births of our dcs. Sometimes people give me items for the tree-children from the school where I work have given me some lovely things over the years. Every year it takes forever to decorate as we reminisce over each thing before hanging on the branches. Over 30 years of memories on our tree. No colour theme at all, just many, many happy memories.

Elephants thank you for posting that! It really gave me that 'Oooh Christmas' feeling :) (the green light that is, not the micky shape!)

NCIC I hope you have a lovely Christmas and I hope it isn't your last together x