Oh Christmas tree…..

Yeah I know, I’ve been mentioning Christmas for weeks and you may or may not give two hoots about the festive season (the hubster for one would join you in the not camp), but for me it’s a special, beautiful time of the year.

I don’t know about you, but one of the things I love about the season are the traditions, be they big or small. As I’ve mentioned before one of ours has long been having the tree up by the 12th December (my birthday) and I’ve insisted on a real tree as long as I’ve been able to. Only, for the last two years, what with the curious baby we had roaming the house, I had to admit a real tree perhaps wasn’t the best idea. Instead I resigned myself to a small artificial tree on a table, out of his reach. And it broke my heart. Really, especially the first year. I’ve prided myself on my tree in years gone by, so seeing this tiny little fake thing, well it was better than nothing, but it was just not right.

So this year, now that Oscar’s a bit older, I knew I wanted to try a real tree again. Despite husbandly protestations I’ve rearranged the furniture and made a tree fit in our tiny lounge. And I couldn’t be happier. Yeah Oscar’s had a play with the baubles, but anything too precious has been put up high and anyway he has to learn.

My decorating style is colourful, mismatched and fun. And I love it. I couldn’t begin to have a colour co-ordinated, all matching tree. They remind me of the ones I see in shops and hotels. Mine is truly a homely tree and will only get more bonkers as the years go on of that I have no doubt. I can’t wait for Oscar to start making me things to add to it as the years go by.

So here’s a look at this years tree and a few of my favourite, haphazard colourful decorations.

Here she is. What a beauty!

I said I’d get a proper tree in our tiny lounge, and I did!

One of the first ‘special’ decorations I bought when Ben and I first moved in together. It came from Accesorize and it’s still one of my faves.

Ben’s ‘Boobie Bauble’. I bought him this, from Ann Summers. It looks fairly innocuous, until you look at it closer. hehehehe!

Oscar’s taken a real shine to this Father Christmas and quite rightly so – he’s a beaut! The pink glitter bauble behind him, is also one of my fave plain baubles

This is just so American 😉 . Remember the Alamo. From The Alamo. We visited in 2010 and what a fab reminder of our trip.

My beautiful Welsh dragon, bought when we lived in Swansea. Ben wanted to find one wearing a Santa hat, but alas had to settle for this! I love this dude. Reminds me of some very happy times.

We made this with Oscar when he was 7 months, old for his very first Christmas. We went to a local ceramics cafe and made this, along with hand print tiles for all the grandparents. I took it out this year and was amazed at how tiny his hand was. I’ll admit. I got a little teary. Yeah this is a very precious bauble indeed.

And the most recent one is this, Christmas Thomas the Tank Engine. As soon as I got it I knew the Boy would never let me keep it on the tree. Ahh well. He’s Oscar’s decoration for 2014. Every year we’re buying Oscar a decoration especially for him. Each Christmas they’ll hang on the tree, then be put away in a special box. When he moves out, I’ll give him the box, so he’ll have a collection of decorations ready and waiting for him and his new home. So far he has Thomas and an Elmo from last year!

Hope you enjoyed this whistle stop tour through just a couple of my favourite decorations. What’s your tree like? I’d love to know!