Baubles to a curated Christmas

Last year I squeezed our Christmas tree into my convertible Fiat 500 (Geoff, he had the roof down). The fabulous Botanical Boys carried it upstairs for me. As much as I’d love a huge 20ft Norway Spruce (just like the Queen) our tree is normally around 5ft. With two now strapping teens, I’m hoping for a bit bigger one this year. 

I’m not a huge fan of Christmas, the pressure to provide the latest Xbox Fortnite, update, thingy, tends to take the romance away. What I do love is decorating the tree. You are practising mindfulness at this moment in the festive madness. Heaven. I absolutely love baubles. They hang, don’t they? There, baubles have qualified as wall art. Along with Christmas wreaths and antlers. You heard it here first.  

When the boys were little I hung soft objects on the tree so they could go up and touch the beautiful hanging decorations. Knitted angels, soft dinosaurs, marshmallow cupcakes you name it, it’s on our tree. As a stylish art director or party pooper (you decide) I struggled with “letting go" of the stylish one colour neatly balanced Christmas tree that you see in the magazines.

Over the years the boys and I have carried on collecting decorations together and I confess it’s the most unplanned, lovely mess, I have ever seen. The boys have been choosing decorations for some years now. That is a testimony of my love for them. Wait for it, breathe, there is no colour scheme (I’m breathing) but somehow our tree just works. 

Many years later we now have a Christmas tree that is like a scene from a "My Little Pony" movie or a bad night out in LA. I can’t work out which. We have hung or shall I say “curated” pink glittery skulls, poodles in Cadillac’s, red spotted mushrooms you name it. I haven’t done acid but it feels like I have when I look at our Christmas tree.

Therefore, I feel more than qualified to offer you my assistance on the best baubles in town. The glitter beetle from House of Hackney and the Jeff Koons balloon dog from Paperchase are definitely on my hit list, as long as the boys approve. I draw the line at an Arsenal bauble. 

When Beth a locally based quilting artist asked me to stock her Christmas decorations I don’t think she knew what she was letting herself in for. Luckily Beth’s quilted decorations are so beautifully stylish and they fit in our collection perfectly. They are slightly too sophisticated for our tree but if she could quilt “The Gunners” on a stocking I might be tempted. Anyway, if you’d like to support a local Hackney artist, take a look at her decorations in the collection they really are something. 

I can't work out whether it's Ho, Ho, Ho, or No, No, No, but when it comes to decorating the decorating the Christmas tree it’s Go, Go, Go. 

Beth’s beautiful quilted decorations are now in our Christmas Collection.