Every year I tell James I’ll sort out and store our Christmas decorations in some form of orderly fashion but each time January rolls by I bundle them all together in various bags and boxes and shove them in the loft for another year. Not this year though. Following a recent shoot at my house I decided to chuck out all the broken baubles and pare back the collection. I’m intrigued to hear if anyone has any fairy light storage tips though as I still haven’t cracked the secret to a tangle-free string of lights.
We don’t have too many festivities going on at our house this year but last Saturday we had our annual friendmas get together which involved lots of cheese, prosecco and a screening of Elf. When I wrote this post I was in two minds about whether I’d deck out the whole house or just have a tree but after the mass organisation and the arrival of all the troops I felt it would be rude not to give all my baubles an outing. Turns out I am well and truly in the festive spirit this year.
Living Room
As you know I go for a faux tree. The baubles have been collected over the years with the most recent being this copper star one from Cotswolds Company. My lights are for a tree far larger but as I weave them up and down all the individual branches I need a lot of lights. The crates are ones we’ve had for ages. I did use a belly basket last year but this is far sturdier after a toppling incident last year.
Snug
After banging on about going fake, I do have a teeny, very well inspected real one in here from B&M Bargains. The galvanised bucket was from an antique shop and all the baubles are last years from Paperchase. The topper is actually a gift tag from HomeSense last year. We buy a Christmas decoration every year on our anniversary and for 2017 we bought a brass Nkuku star from Burford Garden Co.
Hall
In the hall I’ve just gone for bunches of eucalyptus over the mirror and from the metal star I mentioned in my Christmas decoration post from Lights4Fun, which is now unfortunately out of stock. The pom-pom garland over the picture ledge was from HomeSense last year.
Kitchen
I found this milk urn in a vintage shop in Tooting for £35 and loved that it still has the lid. James carried it back on the tube which got some interesting looks. I’ve filled it with a load of boughs from Waitrose and hung a few copper decorations from it. I love a trinket with meaning or memory; the Chatsworth one is from last year’s trip with my mum and my sister and the wish bone was from our trip to New York in 2015.
The little tree is an old one from Ikea. The star garland strung around the tree was from Chatsworth Stables last year but Cox and Cox have a similar non-illuminated version.
I’ve still got a few bits and pieces left to put on display which I’m sure I’ll get round to this weekend. How are your Christmas decorations coming along?
Lauren, no wonder you are feeling festive, your house looks beautiful!
On the subject of fairy lights we too had this problem until I saw a real simple idea to wrap them neatly around a flat piece of mount board. I cut a nick out of it at one end to hold the plug in place and so far we’ve been tangle free ever since.we also store baubles in old cardboard egg boxes too which helps cut breakages and tangles.
Ps I love that brass star decoration, is be tempted to h e it up all year!
xxx
I’m thinking I might have to keep it up all year too! Wish I’d bought a smaller one too but they all seem to be out of stock now, although I have seen the zinc ones available.
Great tips! x
Sounds random, but I use folded over cereal boxes to wrap my lights around, so they done get tangled. Any bit of large cardboard would do it.
*don’t* (it’s the morning time)
Great idea. Thanks Anna x
I used to do this. Now I wrap them around a cardboard kitchen roll. It’s so easy to put your lights up the next year!
Looking gorge!
We store our lights in a similar way to the ladies up there ☝️ although I pick out a couple of the biggest/sturdiest Christmas cards on the day the decs go away and wrap around them. Same for strings of bells and spangly things.
As far as our deccies go, I’ve literally just moved the snuggle seat to the other side of the living room and packed approx 1 million toys up into the spare room. We’re off out this afternoon to buy our tree! Xx
I bet it’s always a bit nostalgic to pull out last years card with the lights wrapped around!
Have a gorgeous time decorating the tree x
Looks lush Lauren! I too am fully festive – everything came out last saturday as i had friends coming to stay that night – and first mince pie of the season has been eaten 🙂 – i do feel very festive!
I’m yet to have a mince pie Janey. Then Christmas really starts!
Another one for the cereal box! We took our decorations down and I saw my husband had wound the lights round a bit of card from a cereal box, ever the practical one, and it worked a treat – no tangles at all! Your house looks beautifully festive Lauren.
I would love to see a post about how people typically spend their Christmas day and their traditions. A group of us recently had a discussion about this and its so interesting finding out about how others spend Christmas and the quirky things people do that seem so normal to them x
I need to get eating some cereal Sarah!
We have a lovely post in our archives with heaps of comments on traditions. It’s a bit of a heart warmer 🙂 – http://rockmystyle.co.uk/are-you-driving-home-for-christmas/ x
Beautiful! I’m getting the Christmas tree and decorations out tomorrow. A couple of years ago I bought new decorations and went for a more natural look with green, copper and wooden decorations. I also found a couple of garlands in TK Maxx that have acorns and berries on them. My house feels more woodlandly and a bit more grown up now at Christmas and I love it.
Satsuma boxes from Aldi with lids for storing baubles. Nice and sturdy, not too big and they stack well. Added bonus you can eat loads of oranges first.