Juggling too many balls and becoming increasingly disorganised we get our festive decorations/trees up later and later as the years have gone by it seems.
I was sawing the base of the tree on Christmas Eve last year which must really have annoyed the neighbours. I have vowed that we start decorating tomorrow which means major decluttering.
Anyhow, probably too late for this year (maybe not) but I often see very impressive outdoor decorations (illuminated animals etc) as we pass houses/gardens, and these seem to be of considerably better quality than the rubbish many DIY stores sell.
So just wondering, if you want quality decorations/features beyond over-priced commercial rubbish, where do/did you source them?
Upmarket garden centres are usually the best.
Not as overpriced as the high street usuals and mostly have a large choice on display.
At least the garden centres near us do.
They have areas with a theme or colour palette so you end up with a coherent display. Unlike from the high street where it’s very possible to buy a load of stuff that all looks wrong together.
I always used to put the tree up (and other decorations) eithe Xmas eve or the day before. In recent years I move that to the weekend before if Xmas eve was a weekday - though we have to buy the tree at least 10 days before Xmas to be sure of getting a decent one.
Interestingly a few years ago a discussion with a work colleague who didn’t mind working immediately after Xmas - in fact positively wanted to - and apparently took her tree down the day after Boxing day She said she always got bored with Christmas. I asked when she put her tree and decorations up: 1st December. No wonder she was bored with it!
We have an artificial tree that’s about 30 years old and still looks good, and buy a real tree when we’re home for tall or virtually all of the whole period from Xmas Eve through to 6th Jan, using the real tree in one room and artificial in another, otherwise the artificial is the main (and a diddy one in tge other room).
As for buying decorations, other than the tree that’s a rare thing as they last for decades - just occasionally get something when we’re in a shop and see something that catches the eye - could be anywhere. We had a bit of a restock about 5 years ago when we saw some nice stuff in a department store garden department sale just after Christmas, and now have a choice as to colour scheme, or multitudinous which I rather like. We changed all the lights to LED around the same time, though they are a bit dim compared to latest models, and blue/green are brighter than red/yellow, whereas I’d prefer a warmer effect (a small tree in another room gets the ice loo with blue and white LED lights). I may replace them some time when I see some at a good price.
We’ve occasionally got quite nice decorations from the big chains for a fair price, but more often than not it’s expensive and poor quality - I suspect there are some really good quality suppliers out there online if you can find them.
Our tree comes from a local farm on Advent Sunday (the Sunday closest to 30th November and the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, as I’m sure you all know) and stays up until Epiphany (= Twelfth Night = January 6th, ditto). I’m annually amazed it lasts so well, though I keep the room as cool as the family will tolerate and water it well.
Our decorations are a glorious mishmash of things we buy, usually on holiday. We started with the star that goes on top, which we bought in Boston on the last day of our honeymoon in 2003. An interior decorator (or anyone with taste) would be horrified at the overall effect, but it’s lovely to get them out each year and remember where and when we got everything.
Next time you are in the States look out for the Christmas shops - they are open throughout the year. They have a range of items from tat to some rather nice local items based on sights local to the area. Some of the shops have a good range of Black Forest decorations.
