Some of my fondest memories are of watching my parents un-tangle colourful fairy lights whilst I would rummage through the lofty scented boxes trying to find my favourite decorations.
Not much has changed, tradition has continued, and now our Daughters watch as we tangle... un-tangle the fairy lights. At 8 and 10 they are now tall enough to put things higher up and not just load up one branch until the whole thing tilts, although I have to say part of me actually misses that bit. Now... they've got so good at it, in fact, I don't even need to re-arrange it after they've gone to bed... well, maybe just the odd one.
Although I have inherited some of those beautiful decorations from my childhood, I really do love sitting down with the rest of my family and making new ones. Every year we make something new, this year (whilst sitting in our little caravan Ellie, in Suffolk, in the middle of summer... I know!) my daughter and I got to work on some new creations. I made a little heart with red stitches and she made a little bird with sequins. I suppose if you was going to call it a theme it would be hand-made & vintage.
For really simple decorations, that smell as good as they look, tie lovely ribbon around Cinnamon sticks, make a big loop to go over the branch then tie a bow, You can also do this with dried slices of orange, just make a small hole near the edge and thread through ribbon and loop. It really couldn't be more simple. Another nice idea is to thread pop-corn onto cotton to make a long garland to hang around the tree, so simple and cheap yet so pretty!
One year we just had nothing but edible decorations, it was great but did end up a little bare by the end of Christmas.
I'd love to see your tree pictures! please send them in so we can all go ooooooh and aaaahhhh.
Emma x
you are invited to follow my blog
ReplyDeleteYour tree looks lovely. We'll be putting ours up in a few days' time. When the kids were small we didn't put anything edible on the tree after one day I found our eldest, about 3 at the time, had eaten all the chocolate Santas and put the wrappers in the dog basket to frame our pet! He's nearly 21 now and trustworthy but our 11 year old finds it hard to resist Christmassy temptation. I'll send a pic in when ours is up. We have a French theme this year ...
ReplyDeleteHi Steph. I had a real giggle reading your comment.. I remember my dog eating all the chocs one year and then going on to open all the pressies under the tree... she was only a puppy, worse than the kids! Can't wait to see a picture of your tree!
DeleteEmma x