These photo’s of my handmade Christmas decorations summed up how Christmas felt this year. Soft and fuzzy, but not in a bad way! When it came to decorating and bringing the festive spirit into my own home I was feeling pretty tired. I gave my all to 2025, from weddings, workshops and family life, I was there for all of it.
For many years, setting the Christmas table and wrapping presents were the only ways I could express my creativity. Now I have created a life which uses all these things I can calm down when it comes to Christmas.
As a Mum, Christmas brings a lot of nostalgia. The box of Christmas decorations feels like a time machine. I really can’t remember my children being little, I know I was there. My memory won’t let me have the memories back yet, if that makes sense. When the decorations come out, I can feel Christmas’ past. Tiny hands, little faces and the excitement of the season. It connects me back to all the work I’ve done and reminds me of how far I have come as a Mum. Bringing up children is a hard job, there are no certificate’s. We have to find our own markers of growth and for me Christmas is one of those points in the year.
Normally putting up the tree is my least favourite day of the year. When my son was little and we were building new traditions, I foolishly thought ‘Tree Day’ would be magical. It wasn’t, my husband was banished for years from getting involved due to bad fairy light choices and a football match.
The years following it was just me, little ones and a million pine needles, it was awful. This year was a turning point. The tree went up on a Monday after school, I cleaned before and only brought out one box at a time. After years of training! The children put the decorations out beautifully, even the hand made ones from preschool. There was minimal moving when they went to bed! I dressed the mantle with fresh foliage garlands, left over from workshops. I’ll say it again, garlands make decorating SO easy!
We were meant to be having work done in our kitchen before Christmas, it didn’t happen. Soon, maybe? As a result, the dining room and kitchen were kept very minimal. The huge stocking was purchased back in May and was filled with rustic and tumbling foliage. I wanted it to look hedgerow-y. I added hand made funny fish and brass bells for a bit of sparkle.
For the Christmas table itself, I had brought two new white tablecloths (Dunelm have very affordable ones). They were very nice but needed more detail. I layered up with cream and white embroidered vintage cloths from my collection. I added vintage silver bud vases, a terrible choice as they kept tipping over. However, I wanted to use these beautiful British grown Chrysanthemums, so persevered.
A few perfectly timed orders for Christmas bouquets came through, I was able to get these from my local wholesaler. They were amazing and lasted nearly two and half weeks in a vase. They were like snowballs. I looked over at the table on Christmas day as people were chatting and laughing. The candle light reflected off the white tablecloths made the room glow, I let myself take a minute and thought, ‘I did that!’.
A new tip this year is to buy slim but tall pillar candles, saves having to relight tea-lights.
By true serendipity a box of Christmas goodies arrived from Talking Tables just as I was decorating. After running so many workshops and teaching others how to make Christmas beautiful, this was treat for me. I added their sweet velvet bows to my garland. I received green and pink, I’m saving the pink for spring – I have an idea! This pink stripe tablecloth is my new favourite, it went straight on and has been washed and reused many times since. Thanks so much team Talking Tables.
Another gem that arrived just before were some seed bombs from Seedball, I was kindly sent a box of the bee friendly collection and the Wildflower Tubes. I usually jazz up my crackers for this table but am always left with too many left overs. To simplify this year, I wrapped these in off-cuts of wrapping paper and ribbon and dotted along the table. They all disappeared, glad I kept the ox-eye daisies and poppies back. I’ll sprinkle these in the back garden where grass has taken over.
That concludes my Christmas for 2025. The more we host, the more we realise less is more and we get to enjoy it. Cosy days and brisk winter walks work for us. Memories get made in unexpected places and I love that. 🙂
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