Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Our Green Christmas Tree

I know, I know. Miminalism and decluttering are the things to do at the moment. I can dig that. We just got rid of a mattress and a bookcase on Gumtree this week. We're into it. But it's not my religion. The classic minimalist aesthetic is not my cup of tea. I love Bea Johnson's work on bringing minimal waste to the mainstream, but there is no way I could live in a house like that! The inside of my bathtub has more character. And anyway, sometimes a bigger and better, new and improved thing doesn't have to be bad.

Introducing our new, relatively enormous CHRISTMAS TREE! It's beautiful, isn't it?


My little Quincey is 9 now. He is in the twilight years of his childhood and I want to make those years memorable and wonderful and warm. Will a new Christmas tree achieve that? No. But when we pulled the old one out of the bag and he said it looked scrawny and had probably shrunk since he was little and please could we get a new one, well, he did have a point. 

This is our first and until recently our only family Christmas tree. We got it in the UK in 1998 at
Poundland. Yes, for one pound. You have to gaffa tape the feet to the desired surface (or prop it up against the couch as pictured) for it to stay upright. It's shedding. It looks like an anorexic version of Oscar the Grouch. It's time.


So where do you head for a new Christmas Tree? Gumtree of course. Our new one was 15 minutes drive down the road. Perfect size. Pick up immediately. Cost $25. Bargain.

I was a little worried that we'd need more decorations to make our new one look good, but turns out we had enough with a few home made extras. An added feature of the new tree is the lack of fairy lights. We haven't had lights for years now and we still feel cheery when we gaze upon it. But I think that's because of the Angel Quin made in Kindy.


As for Oscar. I'm going to take him to work so he can brighten our days there. He's the perfect desk top size.

PS
I really think I'm on a winner here with the advent calendar situation. All the cards came in just one cardboard box wrapped in plastic. So not bad waste wise, and definitely better sugar wise!



Happy Festive Season everyone!

9 comments:

  1. It looks lovely and great idea to look for a second-hand tree :) I kind of miss putting up a tree, when I was a kid it was fun to get out all the decorations and arrange them, its a nice tradition to have. We don't really have space or spend much time inside, so I don't bother at home. There are so many decorations in public spaces (for SO long) I feel like I get to see enough Christmas. I must have missed your advent calender idea, what's on the cards?

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  2. I think I an a bit if a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas. I'm sentimental which is why I can't really embrace minimalism! The cards are just Pokémon cards for Quincey. We've been watching our sugar intake lately and cards seemed a better option.

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  3. Where did you get the dolly pegs? They are so cute. I've been thinking about them lately..

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  4. Hi Vicki, I'm afraid these were gifts. but I think you can get them at craft stores.

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  5. My best memories of childhood are putting up the Xmas tree. My mother was very proud of her tree and put in a lot of effort. It always looked fantastic. When we lived in Europe, the two of us actually went into the woods to lop a fir sapling and collected moss for the manger. The tree was decorated with beautiful baubles, wrapped lollies and real candles that were lit on Xmas eve only. A magical time for me that stirs wonderful childhood memories.

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  6. the people demand more posts / updates! :)

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  8. Hi Kurt, Thanks for the prompt! Yes, we have had an extended hiatus from the blog but promise to get online again soon! Promise!

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