My mom died at 96 and I inherited all her Christmas decorations that she had collected over her many years. Even the artificial tree from 1954 which is still in good shape. Remember when things were made to last? I cherish her ornaments, many that I gave her. My favorites are the glass bubble lights . There's no cohesive color story or style just a tree full of happy memories in all it's eclectic glory. I love it. Just wish Mom was here to decorate with me. ❤
Wait -- do you mean the long-ish lights that looked like they were bubbling inside? I ADORED those as a kid, and it broke my heart when I went to do Christmas as an adult for the first time and learned they weren't available anymore. Not ones that looked like my memories, anyhow.
We had old bubble lights growing up in the 90s. My dad was born in 1941, and the bubble lights we had were probably from the 50s or 60s because he told is that he’d had them since he was young. They were mine and my dad’s favorite Christmas decoration. He died the day before my 11th birthday and, while my birthday seems to pass without much thought, Christmas always gets me because I have very distinct memories of decorating for Christmas with him. We had all his childhood ornaments, old glass ornaments from the 40s and 50s. We ended up moving to another state and I don’t know what happened to our decorations after that. (It’s honestly one of the things I can never forgive my mother for. She left the Christmas decorations behind, which was especially heinous since all of mine and my sister’s childhood ornaments were there as well. Like custom gold plated ornaments my dad commissioned with our names and dates of birth on them, for example. It was like she wanted to destroy every memory of my dad, which is ironic because now she can’t stop talking about how much she misses him and how she doesn’t have any pictures of him.)
Ah Nick, you deliver once again. Not even one minute in, "I'm not here to ruin your Christmas. Like, if you love it, if you love your little holiday ugly crap, then you just keep that in your own home. You just go nuts." SLAY, Nick, SLEIGH 🎅
I love it . I watched a guy this week on homeworthy talk about “trashy “ outside Christmas lights and immediately changed the channel. He is not for me. If I want to be classy great. If I want to be cheesy and trashy that’s also great. I am not a fan of pretentious.
As kids in the 1960s our job was to remove the tinsel from our live Christmas tree, to be reused the next year. Then one year we saw a discarded tree on the curb covered in tinsel. We were amazed at the extravagance!
My mom didn't make us do that. But she was psychotic about how trees needed to be decorated. Her mother taught her that tinsel had to be added one piece at a time, each strand to be laid just so. It took all day just to put the tinsel on. She tried that with me and my siblings, we would never comply to that level of perfectionism so she gave up on it. When she got older she hated Christmas. She quit celebrating it for years because of this perfectionism that he mom drilled into her. She only got over it when she had grandkids. She'd still come over and rearrange my ornaments because they weren't perfectly placed. That was fine with me, I was never offended by it and I just was glad she came to be with my kids. Was my grandmother OCD to instill this in my mom? I don't know.
My husband and my first Christmas as a married couple many years ago (many) we put the music on, decorated the tree with second hand and home made ornaments, covered the whole tree with tons of tinsel. Then cuuddled with our eggnog happily talking about our first Christmas together. So romantic. Then my cat walked over played and ate and choked on the tinsel. Had to reach in her mouth and pull out the beautiful glittering tinsel from deep down her throat while she (and us) gagged. We spent the rest of the night pulling off every bit of tinsel from the tree and have never used it again. Don't miss it. And neither did the cat
😂😂 I realize it's been many years since then, but for anyone reading this, it can potentially be very dangerous to remove anything from your cat's mouth yourself. Particularly if you don't know exactly how much they've swallowed and how far down it goes, pulling any long strands out of their mouth could fatally injure them by getting stuck or wrapped around something internal. If it's possible, it's best to take them to an emergency vet.
One of my favorite things about being in my 30s is understanding ornaments. When I was a kid I HATED that our ornaments were so mismatched and our tree didn't look like the ones in the stores. I really wanted a tree that felt like a store display (my grandma had a cardinal-themed tree). Now, I unpack my ornaments and I see the memories from my own life and marriage and all of the affection that ornaments were gifted to us with over the years from a variety of people. It's really pretty magical.
My daughter and I have a tradition where we buy a new ornament each year, so ALL our ornaments are mismatched, with the exception of a set of simple round colorful ornaments that look like the old fashioned glass ones. I love the memories each year as we trim the tree. 🎄
As someone who has had to chase a dog around the house because it was dragging a poop garland of tinsel out its rear end, I hate tinsel! Love your channel.
Totally get the humor :) My previous neighbor had a mass of HUGE tacky yard inflatables & moved away this year ~ Hallelujah!! 🎶 Unfortunately, he left them all behind for the new resident to use... 😂🙄 (Actually, I could care less - it's Christmas & only for a few weeks. And the stuff makes me smile. Mostly because I don't have to deal with setting it up or storing it! 😉)
Also my tip…AFTER Christmas when stores are trying to get rid of all the rest of the decor items, you can get some amazing deals and then next year when you unpack your decor you’ll have a bunch of brand new stuff and it’ll feel like you don’t have to go out and buy new stuff!
One year either right before or after Christmas I went on the Macy's website and was amazed at the infinitie variety of trees on there--all marked down. There were probably 200 different trees on their website. I bought some beautiful pre-lit garland that I still use.
So many memories were triggered by this very fun video. As a kid in the very early 60s, we had a real tree and covered it in tinsel. I sound like a cranky old woman saying this, but back then tinsel was made of lead. It hung beautifully because it had weight and didn’t get full of static. Plus you could roll it into balls to throw at your siblings or lay it on the electric train tracks to make sparks. Good times.
Yes! We used to roll it up in balls, I had forgotten that. I thought it was some type of aluminum, not lead, but we were disappointed when it became all plastic.
When I inherited some of my grandmother's Christmas decorations there was a Garland of tensil, it wasn't lead but it was more like tinfoil definitely metal not plastic. The string which was cotton to reinforce the core is starting to break down but the actual metal tensile still in beautiful shape I used it outside for years.
Our tree ornaments date back to my childhood, and I'm 77. I've built the collection over the years. I told my daughter one day she'll asked why her mother saved all this crap. She said, "Oh Mom. This is the good stuff." Nothing could have made me happier!
Our first Christmas. We bought a real tree for the kids, but didn't have money for the decorations. So i bought white cotton yarn in Walmart and crocheted leaves, flowers and stars. They looked beautiful against the dark green needles. Very quaint minimal look. :)
My father took charge of decorating the tree. He laid tinsel strands across each branch evenly and then trimmed the tinsel with scissors into even waves so it was in perfect harmony. A bit neurotic, but it was quite beautiful.
I work in a history museum and one of our volunteers, who used to run the art museum, decorates our tree. She uses tinsel but lays every strand with intention and basically works with our old 70s decorations to create a light spiral that is something to behold. Takes hours tho. My own tree is purely sentimental, it's all family memory ornaments & just a string of lights added lol...
I think you got to the root of most tinsel issues---being cautious with how much and where vs, 'last thing on the tree, let's toss it on and be done with it'. I actually like a light tinsel appliation with the lights in terms of reflection and glow. To each his/her own.
@@montananerd8244 I have not put up a Christmas tree for a few years. A wreath, table decorations, and my fireplace mantle are more than enough for me!
You're so kind in describing your father. A "little bit neurotic"?? Oh my! Taking away the fun of decorating the tree from the children is one thing. As I read I realized it's obvious that he was completely OCD about the tinsel...but, to then "trim the tinsel with scissors"??! I'm sure he loved you all very much, but I can't imagine what life with him was like! He obviously couldn't bear a single thing out of place, at the "wrong" angle, anything not done "correctly". He must've have been extremely stressed out in the messy and haphazard world. Seriously, he had a mental health disorder called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. You probably know that by now, but it can be extremely debilitating to the person and everyone in their family. I'm sorry. PS I'm sure it was beautiful though. So often when my kids were small they'd decorate the tree and it'd be a mess! I'd wait until later and move some ornaments up where they could 't reach or move the tinsel a bit. ;-)
I don’t have a problem with tinsel garland. I roll them around empty rapping paper tubes when I put them away. I’ve been using the same tinsel garland for years and years.
The only non-gross thing to do with tinsel: Drape/wrap the trunk of the tree with a tinsel garland before you put the lights on. It reflects the lights back from deep inside the tree and it's really beautiful. Doesn't matter how patchy it gets because you don't see it, you just see this reflecting soft sparkle behind all the other decorations. If the garland is gold, it also helps to warm up the light from not-warm-enough LEDs.
I have been collecting Hallmark ornaments for almost 50 years. Each year, the day after Christmas, I would get up at the crack of dawn of dawn to go to the after Christmas sales. I was a college student and very poor. Now, every year when I open up my tubs of Christmas decorations, it is like visiting with old friends. I love it. (This year, my first since retiring from teaching, I was able to decorate my house before Thanksgiving and get to enjoy the festive look much longer. ) Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
I must admit that when I started to decorate for Christmas this year I put some candles in cylinder vases etc up the stairs. It looked beautiful. I imagined people walking into the house with the stairs looking lovely and welcoming….and then I pictured all of those people trying to walk past them with their bags and gifts and dogs 😜. I immediately took it all away.
The trick to tinsel on the tree is "less is more". I have re-used my tinsel for the last 15 years. That's right. And before vacuuming, I make sure to pick up any pieces off the carpet -- it's easy to spot. And my tree is gorgeous!! Thank you.
We have christmas tree decorations that are over 100 year to maybe 70 years old. We inherited most of them, and if we see some old ones, we buy them, but very carefully and not a lot. We use them every year, it's a beautiful collection of multicoloured decorations, baskets and baubles and pearls and birds etc. Every year the tree looks the same and still so different. I watch it with the eyes of a child. 😊
Agree with Christmas decor being a journey. I’ve been collecting decorations for years and I try to buy elegant things that last. It’s like pulling old friends out of the box.
Oh interesting! I didn't know that tinsel was different in Canada. In the UK tinsel is long strands of sparkly plastic stuff (the tinsel garlands you show next) - the stuff you show we called lametta. My parents loved both and covered the tree and every surface with it, it was such a pain to take all the strands of lametta off everything every year to re-use. I haven't seen lametta for years, but tinsel is still popular. I don't have lametta or tinsel, I guess it put me off for life! Even funnier, auto-correct changed lametta to laments throughout this comment!
I got some lametta from Ryman's a year or two ago. I can remember when it was made of foil. It was textured and very thin, so draped much better than the plastic stuff. The textured pattern made it sparkle!
I LOVE beaded garland! We have a couple different colors of it. One of my favorite Christmas gifts was from a few years ago. I was given (handmade with love) beaded crocheted garland. It doesn't tangle (it literally CAN'T) and because it's white, it looks like someone drizzled frosting on the tree. I can't wait until I have enough ornaments to do a gingerbread tree, a peppermint tree, and a sweets tree. (I do a different theme every year...see my other comment lol)
I got twinkling lights for my tree this year from watching her videos. Wow what a difference it made. I look forward to watching them and I notice she uses alot of her same stuff year to year but changes how she uses it and maybe adding a new color so it always looks different.
I usually don’t love these “what not to do” videos, but I agreed with all of these ideas. They were more practical and not about pissing in somebody’s cornflakes. I agree that less can be more. I’m a reformed over-doer and love how my home looks now with a lighter, fairly traditional look.
Suggestion for another video - Teach people how to properly "fluff" their artificial christmas tree. Years ago, as a merchandiser, fluffing the display trees at Home Depot and Walmart was my job. It's not as easy as just taking the tree out of the box and standing it up.
My mother trained me from a young age to make sure the tree was properly fluffed. I absolutely hated how scratchy it was to have to bend and spread all those branches, but it really makes a difference 😄
We are trying out “Victorian Christmas Tree Tinsel” from Lee Valley this year. It is made out of metal just hooks onto the branches. Should be easy to put on and easy to remove. I picked up some of their stars a few years ago and love the old fashioned look they add to the tree. I’m not fond of the look of the plastic tinsel, and with a pup roaming around it feels like an expensive vet bill waiting to happen.
THANK YOU for recommending these!! I've been trying to recreate an 80's/90's style Christmas tree, but without tinsel strands it didn't feel right (and it was out of the question due to pets). After reading this comment, I rushed out to our nearest Lee Valley store this morning and grabbed two bottles! The tree looks like it blasted out of my childhood and I'm obsessed! Thank you again and Merry Christmas!
@@skulker1983 I had a couple elves come over and help put up the tree this afternoon and the tinsel worked out beautifully. Ours is mostly wood and felt ornaments, with the tin stars and tinsel for sparkle. Every year it gets better. You’re welcome and Merry Christmas to you too!
As a vet I can tell you that it's mostly cats that get into trouble with tinsel. They just love to chew it. Mostly it passes through (so they do festive poop for days!), but it can get caught around the base of the tongue while the rest passes to the intestine, causing the intestine to bunch up and become necrotic. Not good and yes, a very expensive surgery, often made more expensive because it's happened on the holidays.
We only have tinsel garlands in Australia and I also hate them on the outside of a tree, but recently a friend recommended that if you have an artificial tree you should wrap the middle of the tree in the tinsel to reflect light and give it fullness. And you know what, she was right. It definitely adds to a cheap or dodgy tree. But never on the outside where you can see it!!
I’m 65. I have been collecting Christmas ornaments since junior high school. One for occasions, one on vacations, one for each year, each pet, book club annual ornament exchange, etc. I love bringing out decorations we’ve collected over the years, even if they’re not as nice as things we would buy now.
We have a tradition that on the box with ornaments the kids (now 18 and 17) write a message to themselves to read the following year 😄 It could be questions like ”did I get the grade I wanted?”, telling themselves to spend less money on stuff they don’t really need 😄or just hopes for the year to come. It’s always fun to read the writings from long ago while decorating the tree 😊
I’m so glad you gave a shout out to crazy town Rebecca! She’s completely over the top and somehow it all just works beautifully. I have to admit my heart skips a beat when I see her first Christmas videos come into my RU-vid feed 🎄❤️💫
I second the plea to not use scented candles and essential oils. So many of us react to scented things (they're triggers for migraines, asthma attacks, etc). The pot on the stove or something in the oven are also good. Hanging up oranages studded with whole cloves are also delightful.
1000% support the anti-candles segment. Light unscented candles for the ambiance and leave the scent of the fresh Christmas tree, food and all othe cologne/perfume the attendees will be wearing. Don't even have unlit smelly candles in the common areas because some of them (looking at you Scentsy brand) are so obnoxiously strong that it's impossible to avoid getting a headache.
Most of the popular brand candles do this!, they smell extremely strong while unlit, and then you light them and the scent is just underwhelming and off. Like they just create the fragrance and approve it without testing how it will behave with heat/wax/smoke. A couple of years ago, i found a small brand that makes the most amazing soy candles, no obnoxious scents, and smell beautiful while lit. I suggest checking local stores, farmers markets, etsy and stuff like that, if you really want candles.
And candles are sooooo often involved in very traumatizing holiday fires...just not worth the risk when there's so much extra ephemera around. Except for unscented table candles, candlelight meals are a favorite of mine in December, I grew up observing religious Advent.
@@alepolait8951totally agree, esp with scented products, local producers are so much better and often less expensive or much higher value at the same price point. They def tend to use higher quality fragrance!
I was so mad at Target, they had a lovely smaller, less dense greenery wreath then stuck a big spray of cheap faux pale green new growth. Why 🎯? You could have made it perfectly classy ! I had to buy it, it was the only one that fit a particular door at work, but it drives me crazy how cheap tacky ickkkk it looks up close
I cannot do most brands of scented candles. I can barely do scented candles as it is. I own 3 scented candles out of the (probably) 4 dozen candles in my house. Two of said scented candles have lids, while the third is a predominantly sandalwood scent, but very mild, which stays on a shelf far away from everyone. I totally agree about scented candles giving people headaches. I have an animal nose, like my sense of smell is very hyperactive. So I have to be very very careful about scented candles or I’ll be angry and in pain constantly. 😂
Thank you for addressing the candles!!! I love making a pot of mulling spices. Natural, no toxins floating around in the air, and smells both amazing and REAL (because it is!)! Also love that you addressed building on your decor over the years. Much more sentimental and economical!
My aunt had a tree like that. They'd get a yearly Hallmark ornament with the year on it. Each kid would get an ornament each year. My uncle would buy one for my aunt each year from my cousins. It was quite something. They'd get ornaments representing the special interest of the child that year. If a kid did ballet they'd get a ballet ornament. If my cousin did football that year they'd get a football ornament. So each year they were adding to the story of their family, like an ornamental history. Really quite personal
I love ya Nick ! Your humor tickles me . The shout out to Rebecca should make her proud….. I’m a senior, my decor is sentimental! Old crap to my grandkids I’m sure but they seem to like the stories attached. Thank you for being you ❗️ & your great content too ! Happy Holidays
Ok. Yes. I distinctly remember decorating our tree back in the day with some sort of metal tinsel. You had to be careful or it would break. That must have been what it was.
Nick, for a retro-loving girl like me, your tinsel talk stung a little! That being said, I keep a box of it in my decorations, but I don't ever use it! 😂 It's all about the nostalgia for me, as we would use it now and then when we were growing up. I take one look at the box and it makes my heart happy, but I don't have to deal with the mess, haha!
years ago my cat ate some tinsel and was walking around with half a string hanging out of her booty so as she walked by I held on to it and she ran off… I will never forget how she howled and I still feel bad about it. That was the end of tinsel for me!
That happened to our cat too in the 1970s. We brought her to the vet and he told us to just trim it off as it came out of her butt! Which we did. No tinsel for me.
I never experienced this myself, but when I was a kid we had an old box of tinsel icicles in the bottom of the Christmas decoration box and when I asked my mother why we never used them, she told me a story just like this.
That's actually a really dangerous thing to do. The tinsel can be caught up the other end around the base of the cat's tongue. Pull on that bit coming out the butt and you risk bunching up the intestine and the tinsel cutting through the folds.
You truly make me laugh! We used to throw literally throw the tinsel on the tree in the 70’s …I think there is Kids Christmas and adult Christmas…I appreciate you!
💯 agree about the overpowering candles. If the fumes are making you high, and making your head hurt, you’re doing it wrong. It’s something that I have gotten careful about because my husband and son struggle with sensory processing disorder, and too much smell, even if it’s nice, is VERY triggering for them. Plus there are people who are allergic to certain smells and perfumes. Understated truly is underrated.
I just have a more sensitive smell and I cannot even walk through the cande section at Ikea without holding my breath. I stepped into LUSH once with a friend, and just step back out again letting them shop alone because I just can’t handle the smell. Oddly I’m fine with burning insense and walking around in a bulk spice store, so I think it’s just the artificial fragrances that get me. Even if it’s just one candle, it’s just not pleasant at all.
“Squid Game Holiday Edition” made me howl laughing and as I was sitting in a waiting room at the Emergency Vet at the time, I wouldn’t have thought that possible. Thank you, Nick! (P.S. She’s going to be okay.)
The thing I've found that looks beautiful and gives sparkle in lieu of tinsel is clear plastic icicles. They're easy to find inexpensively at the Target bargain bin or even the dollar store, you get a whole bunch for like $3. They just make my tree twinkle in the light while not making a mess or being a hazard to pets like mylar tinsel strands are.
Maybe not the best tree ever, but there was a certain army base hospital unit that put a tree up in their Medical Inspection Room and decorated it with samples of every known body fluid all in their own little kind of glass sample bottles. Cheerful - in a 'Dr Adams' family sort of a way.
When I was in chemistry grad school we had a tree that was decorated with little vials of chemicals, including also a the skeleton of a goldfish that had accidentally been brominated during a lab accident. Weird stuff, 0/10 do not recommend
We neatly layered a strand at a time, and then removed it the same way. We used the same tinsel through my entire childhood. One trick to using it is to have an old fashioned tree with open branches so it can be layered without laying on the branch below. I prefer that kind of tree even though I don't bother with tinsel anymore. I love love love the ability to hang ornaments inside the tree and not just laying them on the outside.
my mom is a xmass freak. she has a collection of ornaments build over 25 years, since I started to gift her a coulpe of ornaments every year. she has glass, wooden, textile rich decorative things for her xmass extravaganza. this year she will get a black peacock made of velour with silver stiching and pearls :D
I love your videos, so much common sense and straight talk. Antidote to everything being hyped everywhere, thanks for your work on behalf of good design and less trash.
We have quite an old little artificial Christmas tree that is literally made out of silvery tinsel. So it's shiny enough, to say the least. But my 6-year-old son decorated it with other colorful strings of tinsel. I thought it was going to look awful, but it looks surprisingly cute😁
I love tinsel, the antique german tinsel, it is so lovely, especially tinsel garland. It was not plastic (way back when) and I have some that is about 100 years old. Originally, tinsel was made of extruded silver. It was a super high-end item!
Great video! So agree about the tinsel. My grandma put up tinsel every year. She actually saved it from year to year by taking it off the tree and laying it flat in folded newspaper.
Great video! 100% agree with all of these, especially the yucky cheap xmas candles. -oof. The other stinky XMAS decor I loathe are those wretched fake-cinnamon scented pine cones. OMG whenever I walk in a store selling them it's an instant migraine. Also prefer trees featuring ornaments collected over time, ornaments with sentimental value, etc. Trees that are too "new" or matchy-matchy make one's living room look like the restroom lounge area at a Macy's.
Nick, you are such a hoot. I love watching your videos. i was laughing so hard when you showed the clip of that lady with the Christmas room in February. I never even heard of her
Nick, I liked your comment that Christmas decor is a journey. We don't do much decor other than our tree. Our tree doesn't have a theme or a color scheme, but is an encapsulation of our family over many decades. It includes handmade (unbreakable) ornaments made by my mom when my kids, now in their forties, were toddlers. Many of our cats and dogs are there. You will find our hobbies like sailing and Lego. Also, of course, ornaments brought back from our travels. There are some normal balls and things to add texture, but the result is a bit of a hodge-podge. But decorating the tree is really fun as it brings back memories that we all share.
I remember being in a very posh friends house back in the 1970's in Ireland and seeing that kind of droppy-down tinsel for the first time and thinking it was so faaancy! Our family only had the regular stuff that was years old and that was the swathe type. When I finally had my own tree in the 1990's and found the tinsel for sale I bought it in bulk to re-create the 'posh' look I had always envied - OMG, what a disaster. I'm with you Nick - hate tinsel now. Thanks for the video and for a great year. Have a very happy Christmas and hope 2024 is a better and brighter year for you all round Nick
I'd like to add something about what to do if you have a small space. I have a two-room condo, and I bought a fake green tree that was tall but very skinny, that was used in the store to display ornaments (I convinced them to sell it to me). Best investment ever; It's tall enough to display all my folk art ornaments, but so narrow it takes up very little space.
My favorite tree decorations are ones my Mom made long ago, small delicate white paper snow flakes, and long red construction paper chains. So elegant and natural. They both look great on a real Christmas tree.
I’m over 70, I had a store that sold Eastern European glass ornaments that were works of art. Bought lots for me and inherited my mom’s old baubles too,but everything was destroyed in the Calgary flood of 2013. So now it’s all about a natural tree from our place, no baubles minimal. Last year I decorated with real, non glitzy tartan ribbon and tiny white lights. One year, several all white owls. I’m actually loving the freedom to be simple, but different each year.
I still feel rather nostalgic about tinsel. We always had a very tall tree and finished it off with tinsel (the metalic kind). It certainly doesn't work on today's artifical trees. Also, we carefuly removed it and kept it to reuse. So, I really don't mind it if it is used on the right kind of tree. Plus....(sorry)...you got the "pleasure" of pulling it out of the dog's butt after they ate some!
Fun video Nick! My husband and I have had 42 Christmases together. We ditched the tinsel several years ago, although we still have a couple boxes, but we can't seem to give up the tinsel garland. We have the same string we bought for our 1st Christmas and yes it's patchy but it's just tradition. I hate it but I live it too❤️ Our tree is a collection of family decorations collected or inherited over the years and every year the tree looks the same, with maybe a new piece or 2. Our kids would kill us if we changed anything😆
Nick, our neighborhood has gone bonkers with inflatables up and down the street! We have a lighted wreath and white lights with lighted garland around out front door. Simple and elegant.
Love this! I beg to differ with tinsel, but I get it. I don’t use it on my tree because we have four cats and would rather not have Santa bring an expensive vet bill. I think the biggest problem with tinsel is that most people weren’t taught by my mom how to use it properly. 😂
Yes! Or my Dad. He took tinsel very seriously. I used to hate it as a kid but now that he isn't around I love it and I teach my kids how to properly put it on the tree 😂
Rebecca Robson is a celebration of inspiration for me - as an apartment dweller I have no storage for Christmas stuff and therefore I invest in one or two pieces and reinvent them each year because my ideas change. When I do dress the house for Christmas I choose natural foliage and denude the neighbourhood of its greenery to make garlands and front door wreaths - Why? it keeps nimble fingers busy, the house smells great in spite of foliage shedding and dying every which where, and when the season ends everything is biodegradable - out it goes, compostable. And so, as "not to burn the house down" (love that quip Nick) I invest in battery operated lights, candles etc. never need to reach for the fire extinguisher which is conveniently located (should it ever be needed) in a cupboard on the landing outside my front door. Lovely overview Nick, as always your videos leave me with a smile supporting all the wrinkles on my face.
This video is hilarious! I'm sending it out, as a Christmas card, to everybody on my list for 2023!! Especially "There is such a thing as too much." May I quote you forever?!!
Love your sense of humor and yet common sense. I especially liked what you said about adding a bit each year. Too many people just toss stuff because it wasn't trendy this year. I still use the old ornaments my parents had that date back to the 30s and 40s. Truly as you said, Christmas means so much more than having the over the top in decor. Thank you Nick and Happy Holidays to you. Look forward to all of your videos!
Oh, the _scent_ thing. I didn't realized how important it was until I got into the spirit last year, put up a Christmas tree (okay, two, I couldn't decide which vibe to go for, so I put what I thought of as the classy one in the front room and one with all the bright colours in my office), and it fell flat. FInally I thought to dig out some fire/smoke scented candles I'd forgotten I had and combined with a subtly pine scented one. Add some some classic seasonal music ... and there it was. Nostalgia for childhood Christmases with real trees and a wood-burning fireplace achieved. Instant Christmas spirit! 🙂
I love the advice about building your collection/decor. When I haven't had money and just wanted a "thing" i settled for something that would do. Now over time, I have donated those items and replaced them once I have been able to spend a bit more - or find that perfect vintage piece. it's so fun to build the decor over time and then get to see it again each year!
During the past few years, I have become convinced that tinsel was going to stop being produced at any moment (btw, growing up our family called tinsel "icicles"). So I've hoarded a bit of it and probably never need to buy any ever again. I even have some gold tinsel icicles--v 80s! Weirdly, I often don't even use it. I just have it. But when you look at old photos and watch Christmas movies from the 1940s...I mean, that super drippy tacky 1940s tinsel tree holds a soft spot in my heart. And those pictures you showed? Gorgeous. Wonderful.
According to my parents, tinsel looked beautiful when it was made of lead. According to my cousin, hanging icicle ornaments look phallic. Thought I'd share.
Your parents were right. I was a child in the 40’s and 50’s (I was born in 1940. ) The lead tinsel did look great. It had to be spaced out just so on every branch. Be sure not to miss the inner branches and the backside. Our tree wasn’t against the wall until decorating was done. Always ONE strand at a time. It was gorgeous’
So true about the stairway clutter. I'm a homecare nurse, and have to remind some of my senior clients that what they are doing (overdoing!) is actually a serious hazard. Even public spaces go too far - old museums and libraries love to use wrap-around garland on their railings, but they forget people need to actually use these railings for support.
Loved the Rebecca Robeson featurette. lol Her smash a mirror and make an amazing Christmas tree wall art out of the pieces is a true classic and probably the main reason I love her but to be honest she just is fun Christmas decorating.
I've bought an ornament for each of my kids every year since they were born. When they move out and have their first tree, it will have some meaningful decorations.
As a kid in the 70s, we used the same fake tree year after year. Every year, it was the same thing--we'd put it up and marvel at how hideous it was: "Has it always been this ugly? I mean, it looks really bad!" Then, we'd decorate it and stand basking in its pure beauty--"That's more like it!" It was a fond memory, our own Christmas miracle, lol. I do own some ugly greenery, but the ugly stuff is thrifted and used outside--so if a bird craps on it, fine. When you drive past in your car, it looks fine. The nice stuff goes indoors.
Thats a great point about bannisters! Garlands and stuff do look gorgeous wrapped around them, but think of accessibility: my father is disabled and NEEDS to hold onto the railing when going up stairs to be safe. Make sure people can hold onto it for support!
I’m definitely someone who likes to curate Christmas decorations over the years, but last year someone broke into my storage locker and only stole my Christmas decor! All my ornaments that I’d collected for the better part of the last decade, gone. So I’ve been hitting up lots of vintage and thrift stores trying to find things that feel like I’ve had them for a while. It’s hard starting over, especially since the sentimentality isn’t there but I’m looking at it as an opportunity to find new pieces I love.
My mom always told me, don't have fake greenery in your house unless you think it's real the first time you see it. And if you have some that doesn't look great, just use it on a high shelf!
If you have tinsel and then put the tree out later the strands will kill the birds who will be attracted to it. Also, putting a garland around your stair rails will make them useless for anyone who actually needs to use them, like your grandma.
Great video! Growing up in the 50s and 60s, tinsel was a very time-consuming family activity -- putting it on and taking it off one strand at a time. Raising my kids in the 80s, no tinsel at all. And I totally agree that Christmas decorations should have meaning and be memory-filled. Personally, I don't like the beautiful but sterile decorations unless they are in store windows.
I just started putting up some decorations yesterday. Talk about nostalgia! The macrame wreath I made in the late 1970's still looks as good as the day I made it. It now has battery powered led mini-lights and a newer red bow, but the rest is original.
I agree with most of these things, especially tinsel. However, I don’t decorate every room in my house, just the rooms we use - as I say that I have never have decorated the laundry room😂
Thank you, Nick! I grew up with regular plastic tinsel in the 60s/70s, but now I have tinsel made from tin scraps that I got at a historic colonial village -- I think Williamsburg in Virginia. I get the lovely sparkle and don't need to worry about the cat eating it, plus, history! Much easier to save and store from year to year. I agree with having the holiday decor be a journey rather than a sprint. Every year I pick up and ornament or two during travels or just something I love that is weird and vintage looking. Thank you so much for a great channel with lots of inspiration!
Love this!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️Love your little snow man! Yes, Queen of Christmas Rebecca’s Christmas decor is over the top, for me. I’m still holding strong to wrapping gifts in the same colors as my Christmas decor. Gold and white. Luxury fabrics to wrap gifts is a game changer. The fabrics fold up in a very small bin for next year. I bought a boat load of gold bay leaf wreaths from Darby Creek last year. Simple and elegant. Making a plan and as you said, and build on it slowly. Christmas doesn’t have to be gaudy!!
We do a different theme every year (not nearly as expensive as most people assume...see my main comment) and I always manage to coordinate my wrapping paper to match. My husband worked at Walgreens for a while so the vast majority of it was less than a dollar per roll (down to 9 or 13 cents!!!) thanks to his employee discount and clearance pricing. We still have probably 80 or so rolls left. I don't forsee needing to go buy more in my lifetime hahaha
