christmas tree

WEEKLY ROUNDUP MONDAY 24TH NOV – SUNDAY 30TH NOVEMBER

| Suzi Tench

I used to love writing these kinds of posts and sharing what I had done in my week, and it’s something I’m keen on re-starting. At the moment, I can’t add any photos to my posts, I have used my allocated media space and need to upgrade my plan, but I will be adding photos to my blog Instagram so you can view them there for the time being! I am planning on writing these posts and publishing them on a Saturday morning. The Weekly Roundup posts will cover the week previous to the one we are currently in and will be dated in the heading with the week that they cover (as above), so they will be easy to track and spot!

MONDAY 24TH NOVEMBER

I had the day off from work today and spent some of the day making hair braids with red, white and green kankelon hair for my boyfriend to wear to his work’s Christmas party. I made some 3-strand plaits, some twists and a couple of fish tail braids, connecting them to mini hair claws so they would be easy to put in and take out. We had been shopping for food a few days previously and had picked up some frozen Salmon Risotto, which we had for tea.

TUESDAY 25TH NOVEMBER

I had work between 6pm and 10pm, but during the day, I managed to write a blog post and publish it (you can read that here). I also started working on a blog plan for posts that I want to write for the rest of 2025 and 2026. Work had some lovely Christmassy plants in, and I came home with 2 sets of hyacinths in sparkly pots to display in the house.

WEDNESDAY 26TH NOVEMBER

I had a shift at work from 12pm – 4pm. I was awake early and did some housework – laundry, putting the bins and recycling out for collection and cleaned the kitchen. I spent some more time on Excel (my go-to software for planning), working out a blog schedule. While at work, I realised that one of the feathers from my Pandora charm had disappeared, so I need to look into getting that fixed or replaced at some point.

THURSDAY 27TH NOVEMBER

I had a day off today, and my best friends and I had arranged to meet for a late lunch and a few drinks. I had a bit of a panic as I didn’t know what to wear, the weather was cold and rainy, and half the clothes I used to wear don’t fit anymore as I’ve lost so much weight. I finally decided on a dress that I layered over a black mesh top and black vest top, tights, boots and my trusty fake fur coat. I did my makeup and got a bus (a single ticket was bloody expensive!) to our meeting point earlier than planned. We went to Wetherspoons, where I had a pint of Atlantic Pale Ale and Scampi and Chips. We sat and chatted and had a lush time. I’d made an application to change my surname via deed poll, and the certificate had come earlier in the week, so I took that with me, and my besties signed it as my witnesses! My boyfriend came to pick me up later and dropped my friend home.

FRIDAY 28TH NOVEMBER

I had a shift between 4:45pm and 10pm. I was up early and spent some time doing some cleaning and tidying. I had sardines on toast with some parmesan cheese for breakfast – something which I love but don’t have very regularly! I also wrote and published another blog post (you can have a read of that here). I spent some time planning more decorating and looking at house decorating stuff online before getting myself ready for work. My boyfriend cooked us food for when my shift was over, we had Quorn Chicken Nuggets, beans and chips, which were yum! We got down some of my Christmas decorations and had a look through them to see what we could use and sorted through them.

SATURDAY 29TH NOVEMBER

I’ve been wanting a proper, real Christmas tree for the past few Christmasses, but, for one reason or another, I’ve never been able to have one, not to mention that for years I’ve not really felt very festive. This year, though, I’m finding that the festive spirit is seeping back into my life and I’m getting really excited about Christmas this year! Before I started work (6pm – 10pm shift), my boyfriend and I headed to the local B&M and bought a real Christmas tree!! We got some new decorations to go on it, too! When I got home from work we put some Christmas music on, poured ourselves a good glug of Dooleys and set about decorating the tree! We were up until gone 3am, having too much fun decorating the tree and chatting.

SUNDAY 30TH NOVEMBER

Sunday was a bit of a chill day; I had seen an ornament on Facebook that was similar (or maybe even the same) as one my Grandma used to have, being advertised for sale in the local tip shop (a shop near the tip that people can donate items to that are too good to be thrown away). I showed my boyfriend, and we decided to visit the shop to see if it was still for sale. Unfortunately, the item wasn’t there anymore, but we had a look at other items they had in the shop. We then visited the tip and got rid of my old, fake Christmas tree, which was falling apart and had gone rusty. When we came home, I made us fried cheese toasties, which we had with salad for our lunch. We decided to have a roast dinner later and prepared all the bits for that. We have been doing some scrapbooking and ordered some photos for our scrapbook pages from Free Snaps, so we can make some more pages for our memory book when they arrive!

Blogmas – Tinsel Tuesday

| Suzi Tench

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Another day in my Blogmas series!  Tinsel Tuesday’s are all about decorations and today I want to talk about the Christmas tree.

I am really liking where the whole Christmas tree and decoration thing has been going for the past few years.  Gone are the days when everyone’s Christmas tree was decorated in a very similar way and was fairly traditional in terms of styling.  Now, choosing and decorating your tree is done in a way that fits with your decor or personality and there is no right or wrong way to decorate it, once you have chosen from the plethora of styles, colours and materials the tree can be made from.

I have seen trees made from driftwood that would look perfect in a scandi styled room or if you were a keen beachgoer or surfer.  Some trees have been made from marabou feathers which would look amazing in minimalist, duo-toned rooms, coloured trees that fit in with a more eclectic taste and the more traditional ones that are just lovely anywhere you want to put them!

Personally, I really love a white or black tree with brightly coloured baubles and trinkets festooned all over it.

Baubles are another thing that seems to be changing and becoming less traditional.  There are so many different options to choose from – clear baubles with snow globe effects added into them, doughnut shapes, avocados, cute characters, alongside the more traditional ball or drop-shaped ornaments.  There is pretty much a decoration to suit any taste!

I have tiny dinosaurs that I hang on mine which were made from small children’s toys.

I love how diverse the whole tree choosing and decorating thing is becoming and love to see my friend’s trees when I visit as no two will ever be the same!

Here are some of my top tips for decorating whichever type of tree you choose!

  • Test the lights before adding them to the tree (this saves so much faff if the lights turn out to be defective.)
  • Add the lights to the tree first, turn them on and arrange them so that you have the lights evenly spread across the whole tree.
  • Add any lengths of things next – things such as tinsel or ribbons and arrange them as evenly as possible between the lights.
  • Add bigger baubles and ornaments, keeping the majority to the lower part of the tree.  If using a few different colours I always attempt to not have 2 of the same colour hanging in close proximity to each other.
  • start placing smaller trinkets further toward the top of the tree and bring down to mingle with the bigger baubles.  I try to alternate bigger decorations with smaller ones as I get further down the tree.
  • Have fun with how you decorate and let your personality be seen!  Remember there is no right or wrong way to decorate your tree!

What sort of tree and decorations or colours are you going for this year?  I’d love to hear about what sort of tree or decorations you have chosen and why in the comments!

The Foolproof Tree Decorating Guide

| Suzi Tench

In all the years I have been putting up my tree and decorations there is always something I have forgotten to do, whether it be to check the lights work or having to take all the decorations off because I havent added them to the tree, so today I’m going to share a guide on how to decorate the tree.  Unfortunately there are no pics as I was having too much fun and totally forgot about taking any…

  1. Choose where your tree will be placed, check that there is a power socket near by for the lights to run off or add an extension cable to the nearest socket and make sure that it reaches where your tree will be placed.
  2. Assemble the Christmas tree if you are using a fake tree or bring in the real one and make sure it is acclimatised to the indoors temperature and watered before starting.
  3. Get out all the decorations, lights, tinsel and bead strings you want to use, sort into piles – big baubles, small baubles, accent decorations, tinsel, bead strings, lights.
  4. Check that the lights work.
  5. Place lights on the tree, I find it easiest to work top down.  Plug lights in and switch on to check placement, it’s easier to move the lights around and spread them out evenly without other decorations getting in the way! Turn lights off before continuing to the next step.
  6. Add any tinsel or bead strings and check placement.
  7. Now to add baubles, start with the bigger, most plain ones and add to the bottom 2/3 of the tree.  Again check placement is fairly even and spread out.
  8. Add the smaller, more plain baubles to the top 2/3 of the tree, checking placement as you go.
  9. Now you can add the accent decorations, make sure these are evenly spread out with smaller ones to the top of the tree and larger ones to the bottom part.
  10. Pour your favorite tipple, gather around friends and family and hold a “Switch on event” then stand back and admire your hard work!

My Christmas Decorations

| Suzi Tench

My style can be described as being bright, fun, non-traditionalist, hippy and boho, and my Christmas decorations really embrace my style.  I’m not a huge fan of tinsel or traditional Christmas decorations, though I do add elements of the traditional into my decor.

I have Christmas trees, fairy lights and stags,but not in traditional colourways, I prefer white or black trees, my stag decorations are bright pink and glittery, instead of tinsel I choose bead ropes, marabou feathers and pom-pom trim.  I have really bright baubles on my black tree and have chosen little dinosaurs to hang from my other, scroll down to see the photos that I have taken of my non-traditionalist, seasonal decor!

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I didn’t want to hang my wreath on the front door because, well, its Wales and it rains!  Not just that but I really didn’t want to get him all dirty either.  I hung  my wreath on the next available door – the door to my downstairs living room.

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Joy lights which I have placed on the shelving unit opposite the door to my living room.  This is the first thing people see when coming into my home.

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My small tree that I have decorated with multi-colour fairy lights, pom-pom trim, marabou feather trim and tiny plastic dinosaurs!

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Here’s a close up of the dinosaurs!

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My second tree which is decorated with beaded ropes and baubles.

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A close up of one of the decorations on my black Christmas tree – my initial!

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Pink stars, green stars and purple stars also adorn the tree.

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Skull and Crossbone upcycled tree which I’m thinking of having as my table piece for Christmas dinner.

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My pink glitter stags, my mini Christmas Tree and its pom-pom decorations (which are also lights!) on my back windowsill.

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Here’s a close up of one of the stags!  I’m really liking the effect the rain on the window has!

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And lastly, my santa card peg fairy light garland.

How have you decorated your house for christmas?  Do you have a theme or colour palette that you use?

Christmas Decorating Ideas

| Suzi Tench

There are so many different Christmas decorations available now, from cute, retro funky baubles to minimalistic metallic ones.  With the array that is on sale its easy to get overwhelmed so I’m here today to give you some ideas with your Christmas decorations!

I think the easiest thing to do when deciding which decorations to choose is to first come up with a theme and colour palette before actually purchasing any decorations. Here are a few that I really love….

Traditional – Green, red, gold.

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Image source https://christmas.365greetings.com/christmas-decoration/beautiful-christmas-trees.html

Minimalistic – Metallic silver and one colour.

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Image from https://www.christmastreeworld.co.uk/blog/

Bright – Pink, blue, yellow, orange, lime green.

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My Bright Themed Christmas Tree

Pastel – Baby pink, baby blue, lemon and soft green.

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Image from http://godfatherstyle.com/22-pastel-christmas-decor-ideas-to-add-glamour-to-your-home-decorations/

Jewel – Red, gold, green, blue, purple.

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My Jewel Theme Christmas Tree

Galaxy – Metallic blue, green, purple and pink.

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Image from https://secretgram.me/black-christmas-decorations-36-super-elegant-black-and-gold-christmas-decor-ideas/38-black-christmas-tree-decorations-ideas-decoration-love-black-christmas-decorations/

Retro – Bronze, gold and metallic brown.

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Image from https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/294634000619291224/

Elegant – Black, white and silver.

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Image from https://www.lushome.com/black-white-christmas-tree-decorating-ideas/128351

Once you have chosen your theme and colour palette you can then choose the colour of your tree, and with so many different colours and styles to choose from sometimes it can be hard to know which colour to go for.

Once you have decided on the best tree for your theme the next thing to decide upon is the lights for your tree.  There are 4 main ones to choose from – coloured, cool white, warm white and bright white.  Coloured are the more traditional sort of fairy lights with bulb colours of red, green, blue and yellow, cool white give off a blue tinged light, warm white lights are yellow toned and bright white lights give off a brilliant white light.

I would choose Coloured lights for the Bright and Retro Theme

Cool White lights work well with the Pastel and Galaxy Theme

Warm White lights work well with the Traditional Theme

Bright White lights work well with the Minimalistic, Jewel and Elegant Themes.

Now that you have chosen your theme, tree and lights we can now look at the fun stuff – all the shiny baubles and other decorations to hang on the tree!!!!  First though, you should decide whether you want tinsel on the tree or not?  I personally dislike tinsel, having Aspergers means I can be hyper-sensitive to certain smells and tinsel is one of those things that I don’t do well with smell wise so I choose not to use it at all.  However, there are alternatives to tinsel including beaded ropes which come in many different colours, marabou feather trim, ribbons and other haberdashery trims works well too and you can buy that in many fabric or craft shops.  Whatever you decide on pick out one colour from your colour palette so as not to overwhelm the other decorations.

Choose big baubles in one colour from your palette and add smaller ones in either the same colour or another from your colour scheme, mix up finishes to add interest (choose shiny ones, matte ones, glitter finish, dimpled etc) and if you want, mix up the shapes of the baubles – tear drop ones work really well for the bottom of the tree where as I find round ones work well for the middle.

Select smaller baubles in differing colours (that match the colour palette of your chosen theme), again you can choose different finishes and textures.  Smaller baubles work well for the middle of the tree and top. Most of the large and small baubles can be bought in multi packs and are fairly cheap to buy so you can add as many or as few as you wish to your tree!

Now for the extra fun bit, choosing the eye-catching elements!  These elements are things like bows, shaped baubles, clear baubles, and baubles with special finishes.  Most of this type of decoration are the ones that are sold as single decorations (and are a bit more expensive than the regular baubles) and are designed so that you only add one or 2 of the same one to the tree, this means that the eye will be drawn to them, add a fun element and are a way to really personalise your theme.  Most places that sell trees will sell this type of decoration, I have found Asda and B&Q to be good places to have a look as they carry a good range!  Whatever you choose, have fun with these decorations and add as many or as few as you wish!

What sort of theme are you choosing for your decorations?