Your Tree: prefab decoration "sets" or collection of various bits and pieces?

[noiamnot]

which do you do?

We have various bits and pieces. They are all quite traditional in design, little gingerbread men, toy soldiers that type of thing and mostly red.

COllections of stuff i made as a child, kids have made and nice bits i have picked up over the year.

I have a yearly tradition where i get a baubaul from someone elses tree in exchange for one of mine, don;t ask me why i started it as a kid and now have hundreds of different ones.

collections of stuff that i have bought over the years

i think buyin a set of decorations is a bit soulless

we have built our up over years. We buy a new one every year with the children. We have some home made ones (tucked at back!) and some glass ones and some metal ones and some wooden ones. Some felty ones, loads of fair trade ones and lots and lots of moons and stars.
The boys like to torment me by telling me which ones they are taking with them when they leave home.

we started getting one or two new decorations each year after we got married, but try and keep to mostly silver/red/wooden with the full knowledge that once ds is old enough to be making things it will not stay like that.

What's a prefab dec set then? .

Ours is just bits and pieces we've had over the years plus the odd bauble that I've half inched from my parents and stuff that the kids have made.

that's a great idea charlee!

prefab is like one of those kits you can buy with all the baubles and bows and everything altogether to decorate one tree.

bits and bobs, I am into little felt decorations this year so have lights, felt animals with little bells, and glass baubles.

If I had my way there would be nothing on the tree aside from the lights.

I have two sets of decorations and two trees. Gunmetal sparkly ones for the silver tree indoors and purple, gold and feather ones for the real tree on the balcony. One of the local birds has fallen in love with the balcony tree and sits there making goo-goo eyes at it.

we have toy dinosaurs + power rangers on ours nicely set off with a plastic wolfs head at the top! Whats amazing is that when the lights are on it actually looks really cool (bit pagan iyswim).

go on post a pic witch!

Ah thank you NIAN, think that's the sort of thing my MIL has, white tree with matching pink and silver baubles, not really my sort of thing but different strokes and all that.

i decorate mine with adorable felted cashmere sweaters.

Rofl at STG, do you also have 'waste jewellery' baubles along with the felted cashmere

Mostly bits and pieces accumulated over the years (but mainly quite traditional and I do admit to some fairly ruthless editing and colour theming - one year red, one year silver and so on )

The collection is now being augmented with thigs my daughter has made - all charming, all precious but not conforming to my design criteria at all!

Those would be things, obviously.

We have stuff going back 50years or more. We also have a tradition now that we buy ONE new tree dec each year.

We don't use them all - we'd need a tree 20' high!

mum of a friend of ds had professional tree decorators in for hers - ds was shocked as her 3 boys were not allowed to touch the tree or add to it. It did look fab but a bit soul less was a bit [shocked] at professional doing it!

obviously ranting - do people not reuse their 'waste jewelry' how terrible for the environment all that land fill full of cashmere and semi precious stones.

I do that as well Jux. But one for each of us.

at professional tree decorators. Have rethought my plans and will be adorning my tree with

a) slightly broken Tiffany earrings (well, what else can I do with them?)

b) handmade bunting (cashmere optional)

c) festively-decorated cupcakes

Am available to do your trees too - £200 per hour plus travel costs.

where is the fun in having someone else decorate your tree?

oh bocca darling would you be able to come and do the stables for me, i simply don't have enough time what with the town house and the publicity tour for my books about simple living.

its all a bit strange isnt it the professional tree decorating. But to be fair to her they own a hotel and it was the same ones that did the stuff there. Plus she is v busy with 3 under 7 boys. But still odd and a bit naff actually. Think it would make good new career though, bit seasonal unless you do easter bunting too