My husband has binned the Christmas decorations

[IDontDrinkTea]

…yes really.

We’ve still got the tree thank goodness, but was putting it up with the children, when I asked him to go and fetch the rest of the decorations. He then disappeared to the garage and the loft for a very long time, before coming back and very sheepishly saying he has a vague memory of accidentally taking them to the tip.

Since I’m now starting totally afresh, would anyone like to share where they have bought nice ones from?! Especially since DH will be paying!!

I think I’m going to go out tomorrow and get some cheap baubles to put on the tree. Because it’s currently up in the lounge but bare. And it seems a bit sad to take it down again, but also a bit sad having it up for a week while I wait for whatever I could order online to be delivered with the postal strike. So I’ll buy some cheap ones, maybe if I have time I’ll go somewhere where I can maybe get a few nicer ones… then perhaps keep an eye out in the January sales to replace the collection.

I do feel quite gutted. Trying not to let it show as I can tell DH is feeling guilty and it wasn’t intentional

I second The Range. Some of it is beautiful. My DD got a rocking horse bauble this year; it’s so pretty I want one myself!

Especially since DH will be paying!!

Not the point of the post but I never understand why a married couple with kids still has his money/her money.

Typo has a fab one of a cat bent double grooming it's own arse. It's fantastic!

I think I’d buy lots of cheap filler baubles and have those up until Christmas, and then do a big splurge at liberty sale or somewhere after Christmas so you have some lovely ones for next year. Maybe ask friends and family to donate a bauble each to your plight so some have some special significance !

Yes, go to a garden centre and have lunch in the cafe. Each choose a bauble and pad the rest out with silver/gold whatever.

I'd also buy baubles from special places we've been together and charity baubles.

Not the point of the post at all, but hey, I’ll answer it. We pay the bills, put some in savings and then split whatever is left for our individual ‘fun money’. He’s offered to pay for new decorations out of his portion. I like feeling like I have my own money.

I’ve always liked fancy but few rather than filler, personal choice

i'd get a few fancy ones this year then add on later years

've always got stressed at loads of boxes to choose from. I've got a friend who’s got 15 boxes to choose from

Thank you for clarifying, even though it wasn't any of my business - sounds entirely fair, and good that he has a way to put this right with minimal effect on your money too.

I’d look in local charity shops as well. Nice baubles are expensive. Some of mine are 30+ years old. I would be upset if they all went. Definitely get a clear storage box to keep the replacement ones in.

Homesense have some lovely stuff and good prices if there’s one near you.

I like Villeroy and Boch for (one-off) yearly decorations, etsy for kitsch/unique decorations, I actually have my decorations from all over the place, John Lewis for the odd one, charity shops (you can find odd things through the year that aren't technically christmas decorations - but tie a ribbon on them and voila!, also garden centres. I like having a memory attached to each if possible - our wedding anniversary is in November so always buy one when we are out doing stuff for that if I can. It's fun to make it special and you have a chance to start again with all that.

I buy at least one new every year (especially this year!). Christmas decorations are often reduced before christmas as well so look out from the 15th onwards.

Just look out for opportunities to enjoy it and buy a massive amount of cheap decorations in the meantime! I am so sorry though!

Oh god - I think this is my worst nightmare! We had a furry rodent friend get into the nativity set that my grandmother bought for me when I was born and I was heartbroken that that had been damaged beyond repair. Amazingly I managed to find the exact same style set second hand on eBay over 10 years later and I was so chuffed to have it again!

decorations wise, the range is great. My one by me also arranges everything by colour so it’s really handy to go ‘ok, I just want shades of gold’ and hit that bit.

For something a bit special, I adore the decorations on catesbys.co.uk. I love the fruits and I love the vintage style ones. If money were no object…

My XH pinched all the decorations when we split! All the DCs 1st Christmas baubles and things they'd made. I was very upset at first, but it soon felt like it didn't matter.

I think getting some inexpensive decorations first is a great idea, then add to it with the more expensive ones.

I'd not put too much into it right away, as decorations do accumulate over the years. Lights, candy canes, biscuits and bits of red ribbon would be really pretty -- every year we get that far and think of stopping, but don't, and then the tree ends up overladen!

@ConsuelaHammock oooh the Belleek stuff you mentioned is beautiful 😍

I'd go absolutely ballistic. I have some special things my adult dear children made when they were still in nursery. They are irreplaceable. Also some from DH gran. My Xmas baubles are mostly hand blown glass and very expensive, about £10-£20 per bauble. DH would need a lot of money to replace as I have enough for 8 foot tree.

I would be so sad. I have so many decorations that bring back happy memories.

But I would also do the garden centre idea and then buy cheap filler baubles from home bargains/primark/B&M/Asda, and then you could build up your collection each year.

Our first Christmas when we moved in together I bought some beautiful delicate glass baubles from garden centres and we bought 1 special decoration and then bought cheap boxes of baubles from Tesco. I still have most of the filler decorations from 11 years ago but nowadays use them on a 2nd tree/decorations in vases.

We still go to the garden centre but now we just get DS5 to pick the 1 special decoration. This year it is a Christmas bus, the year before a yellow stegosaurus.

I've had some beautiful ones from Primark in the past. Haven't been for a while so not sure what's in store this year yet.

Check card shops for gift bags - reasonably sturdy, various sizes, in nice Xmas designs & (when I got some a few years ago) on good offers for multi-buys.

Wasn’t my DH but this happened to me about ten years ago. I was really upset, ended up having to buy some random mix of baubles a local florist was selling off as everything sold out early that year!

But I’ve got a big collection again now so you’d never believe it had happened and I’m mostly over it. Some that have become my new favourites are just individual ones from Tesco 3for2, the range do some nice ones too.

I would have cried 😭.....seriously .....I have a collection of 35 years worth of decs....ones bought to celebrate each of my children's and grandchildren births.....babbles bought from cities around the world.. as well as handmade ones from when my DC were small.... each decoratipn evokes a memory....

Highly recommend these - bought them last year and they look so cute

www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Ornaments-Hanging-Angels-Holiday/dp/B09GM9SR2F/ref=sr_1_29?keywords=religious+christmas+tree+decorations&qid=1669766442&sr=8-29

think its very reasonable for a pack of six too

Are you crafty at all? We couldn't get to our christmas decorations last year so I decorated the tree with homemade decorations. Big white pom poms to look like snow balls, I cut holly leaves out of felt and threaded them between red beads to make a garland to wrap around the tree etc, things you could do with kids. You could also string popcorn to hang as well.

I always gey my decorations in the January sales, John Lewis usually have a sale on and I pick up some bits then