There are two types of Christmas tree.
The first is immaculate.
Every bauble coordinates.
The ribbon cascades perfectly.
There are precisely the correct number of decorations on every branch.
The colour palette has been carefully planned.
It looks as though it belongs in the window of a very expensive department store.
And then there's the second type.
There's a glittery pine cone from 2007.
A slightly wonky angel made at nursery.
A decoration from a holiday.
Something with the dog's name on it.
Three different Baby's First Christmas baubles.
An ornament inherited from Nan.
Something nobody remembers buying but apparently we're emotionally attached to now.
And one decoration that is objectively hideous but absolutely must go on the tree every year.
That's my kind of Christmas tree.
Because when you look closely, it isn't simply decorated.
It's telling a story.
Your Christmas tree can become a family scrapbook
We tend to think of photographs as the things that record our lives.
But Christmas decorations can do it too.
Every December, we bring out boxes filled with objects from previous years.
Some are new.
Some are decades old.
And many of them have memories attached.
That's actually quite unusual when you think about it.
There aren't many possessions we deliberately pack away, protect carefully and then rediscover at exactly the same time every year.
Christmas decorations are almost like a family scrapbook.
Except instead of turning pages...
we hang the memories on branches.
Start with the year your story began ❤️
If you're building a collection of meaningful Christmas decorations, start with the beginning.
Perhaps that's:
Our First Christmas Together
Maybe it's:
Our First Christmas Married
Or:
Our First Christmas in Our New Home
For somebody else, it might simply be the first Christmas they decided to start collecting special decorations.
Add your names and the year.
That's Chapter One.
You don't need to know what the next decoration will be yet.
Life will take care of that.
Then life starts adding decorations for you
This is what I love about collecting Christmas ornaments over time.
You don't need to plan the whole collection.
Things happen.
You get engaged.
Add a bauble.
You get married.
Add another.
You move house.
There's another.
A baby arrives.
Definitely another.
Then perhaps another baby.
A puppy.
A kitten.
A milestone anniversary.
A special holiday.
A new job.
A graduation.
Suddenly ten years have passed and your Christmas tree contains a surprisingly accurate history of your family.
Baby's First Christmas 👶
This is perhaps the most obvious family milestone to put on the tree.
And there's a reason we do it.
A baby's first Christmas feels enormous to the adults around them.
The baby themselves generally couldn't care less.
They'll probably sleep through half of it and spend the other half trying to eat wrapping paper.
But everybody else remembers.
A personalised Baby's First Christmas bauble becomes something that can grow up with them.
Every year it comes back out.
Eventually, they're old enough to hang it themselves.
And perhaps one day they take it with them when they leave home.
That's when you realise you didn't really buy it for the baby.
You bought it for their future.
Don't stop after the first Christmas
Here's something I think could become a wonderful family tradition.
Give children one decoration every Christmas.
It doesn't necessarily need their name on it.
Choose something representing their year.
Perhaps they:
Started school.
Learned ballet.
Became obsessed with dinosaurs.
Joined a football team.
Loved space.
Started reading Harry Potter.
Learned to bake.
Went on their first holiday abroad.
Got their first pet.
Choose a decoration that represents that particular version of them.
Imagine handing them a box when they're older containing twenty decorations from their childhood.
That's not simply a box of Christmas ornaments.
That's their story.
Include the completely ordinary things
Not every decoration needs to represent a huge milestone.
Actually, I think the ordinary things are sometimes even better.
Perhaps 2026 was the year Dad became obsessed with gardening.
Mum started knitting.
Your daughter couldn't put her books down.
Your son became football mad.
Grandad discovered photography.
Somebody started baking.
Someone became obsessed with trains.
These little things are part of who people were at that particular moment.
And years later, they can be wonderfully nostalgic.
“Remember when you were completely obsessed with dinosaurs?”
There'll probably be a decoration somewhere to prove it.
Bring your travels onto the tree ✈️
Holiday decorations are brilliant storytellers.
Every time you visit somewhere special, bring home a Christmas decoration.
It doesn't matter whether you're travelling in December.
Buy one in July.
Put it away.
Then when Christmas arrives, suddenly there's a little reminder of:
Lapland.
New York.
Japan.
Disney.
A cruise.
A seaside holiday.
A weekend away.
Or somewhere completely random where you had an unexpectedly wonderful time.
Eventually, your Christmas tree becomes a map of the places you've been.
Celebrate your home 🏡
Homes are a huge part of family history.
Think about all the Christmases that happen inside them.
Children grow up there.
Families gather.
Pets arrive.
Birthdays happen.
Ordinary Tuesdays happen.
And then every December, the Christmas tree appears in the corner again.
A personalised Our First Christmas in Our New Home decoration marks the beginning of that chapter.
You might include:
Your house number.
Your family name.
The year.
Or even the name of the house.
And if you eventually move?
Keep the decoration.
It doesn't stop being relevant.
It becomes a reminder of somewhere you once called home.
Don't forget the pets 🐾
Any family tree worth its salt should acknowledge the creatures who spend December attempting to interfere with it.
Dogs.
Cats.
Rabbits.
Whatever shares your home.
A pet's first Christmas decoration can be just as meaningful as any other family milestone.
And when they're no longer with you, those decorations often become incredibly precious.
One year it's simply:
Dexter – Christmas 2026
Years later, that little decoration can hold an enormous amount of memory.
That's what happens with Christmas ornaments.
Their meaning changes as time passes.
Include the people who aren't there anymore 🤍
A family story isn't only about the people who are physically in the room.
Over time, some Christmas decorations become memorials without ever being intended as such.
Perhaps Nan gave you an ornament years ago.
Dad always insisted on hanging one particular decoration.
Mum bought something on holiday.
When those people are gone, the decoration changes.
It becomes theirs.
You might also choose a personalised memorial bauble or ornament specifically to remember someone.
Either way, there's something comforting about giving the people we miss a place amongst the family Christmas decorations.
They're still part of the story.
So they can still be part of the tree.
Keep the children's handmade decorations
Yes.
Even that one.
You know the one.
The piece of card covered in glitter with three pipe cleaners attached and what appears to be an eye stuck somewhere around its left-hand side.
You have absolutely no idea what it is.
Your child confidently informs you:
“It's Santa.”
Obviously.
Keep it.
Please.
Because one day that child will be thirty.
And you'll pull that monstrosity out of the Christmas box.
And suddenly it'll be priceless.
Handmade children's decorations have a wonderful habit of becoming more beautiful as they get older.
Not because the decoration changes.
Because we do.
Write the year on things
This is such a simple tip.
If you've bought a special decoration and there isn't a date on it, write the year somewhere discreetly.
On the bottom.
On the back.
On a little tag.
Because right now you know exactly when you bought it.
Of course you do.
Ask yourself again in 2042.
You'll be standing there saying:
“Was this before we moved? No... because I think we had it when Sophie was little...”
Save future you the detective work.
Write:
2026.
Done.
Take a photograph of your tree every year 📷
This is another tradition that costs absolutely nothing.
Before you take the decorations down, photograph the whole tree.
Do it every year.
You'll start noticing things.
New decorations appear.
Others move.
The room changes.
Furniture changes.
The tree itself might change.
Perhaps a cot appears in the background.
Then children's toys.
Then teenagers.
Eventually those children aren't living at home anymore.
The Christmas tree becomes a quiet backdrop to your family's life.
Imagine having forty photographs of it.
One from every Christmas.
I'd absolutely love that.
Let everyone choose where their decoration goes
If children have their own personalised decorations, let them put them on the tree.
Yes, they will choose the wrong place.
There will be a perfectly good empty branch at eye level.
They'll ignore it.
Instead, they'll hang seventeen decorations from one branch approximately four inches from the floor.
Leave them.
Or at least take a photograph before you secretly rearrange everything later.
😂
Part of the story of a family Christmas tree is who decorated it.
It doesn't need to be perfect.
Add one family bauble every year
Here's a lovely tradition you could start in 2026.
Choose one family decoration every Christmas.
Put the family name and year on it.
Perhaps the design represents something significant that happened.
Then repeat it next year.
And the year after.
Imagine the collection after twenty Christmases.
2026
2027
2028
2029...
Each one marks another Christmas you spent together.
Some years will have been extraordinary.
Some will have been difficult.
Some will have been beautifully ordinary.
But you were there.
And the decorations prove it.
Your tree doesn't need to match Instagram
I think we need to talk about this.
Christmas on social media is beautiful.
Perfectly styled trees.
Enormous bows.
Coordinated ornaments.
Immaculate living rooms.
Not a cable in sight.
Apparently nobody on Instagram owns an extension lead.
It's lovely inspiration.
But your Christmas tree does not need to look like somebody else's.
You don't need to throw away old decorations because you've changed your colour scheme.
You don't need to replace memories because they aren't fashionable.
If something matters to you...
put it on the tree.
You can have both
And if you're sitting there thinking:
“But Georgina, I really LIKE a coordinated tree.”
So do I!
You don't have to choose between beautiful and meaningful.
Use your main colours throughout the tree.
Then add your special decorations amongst them.
The personalised baubles.
The children's decorations.
The travel ornaments.
The heirlooms.
The sentimental ones.
Those individual pieces actually make the beautifully styled parts more interesting.
A tree can be gorgeous and tell a story.
One day, someone else may decorate with them
This is the bit that gets me.
We tend to think of Christmas decorations as belonging to our home.
But the really special ones can outlive that.
Children take their decorations when they move out.
Family ornaments are passed down.
Something that belonged to a grandparent eventually hangs on a grandchild's tree.
A decoration bought in 2026 could still be hanging somewhere in 2066.
Maybe longer.
We can't know which objects will survive.
But Christmas decorations have a funny way of doing exactly that.
They're small.
They're carefully stored.
They're brought out once a year.
And because they're attached to memories, people don't want to throw them away.
Start your story with what you already have
You don't need to go out and buy twenty meaningful Christmas decorations after reading this.
In fact, please don't.
That's not really the point.
Start by looking at what you already own.
When the decorations come out this year, ask:
Where did this come from?
Who gave us this?
What year was this?
Why do we always put this one on the tree?
You may discover your tree is already telling far more of your family's story than you realised.
Then perhaps add one new chapter for 2026.
A new baby.
A wedding.
A new home.
A pet.
A holiday.
A family bauble.
Or simply something that makes you smile.
The perfect Christmas tree is yours 🎄
In twenty years, nobody is going to care whether every decoration on your 2026 Christmas tree perfectly coordinated.
But you might care that the little bauble with your baby's name survived.
Or the decoration from your first home.
Or the ornament Nan gave you.
Or the ridiculous thing your child made at school.
Those are the things that turn Christmas decorating into something more than making the house look festive.
They're why opening the Christmas boxes can feel so emotional.
Because tucked inside aren't simply decorations.
There are people.
Places.
Milestones.
Holidays.
Relationships.
Pets.
Childhoods.
And Christmases we've already lived.
So this year, don't worry too much about creating the perfect Christmas tree.
Create one that looks like your family.
Because trends will change.
Colour schemes will change.
Homes will change.
And families will change.
But every December, those little decorations will come back out and remind you of the Christmases that came before.
And perhaps that's what a Christmas tree was supposed to be all along.
Not perfectly decorated.
Perfectly yours.
Georgina x 🎄✨