Christmas bling for the home?

I do not have a rear bush. I'm not sure whether I should feel glad about that, or sad...

I'm reading these out to DH. He's in tears!!

My front bush, due to the off shore, salty breezes, is bald by the time December comes so, sadly, nowhere to drape twinkly accessories. However, my rear bush does not suffer quite so much from the elements as it is well protected and hidden so I may try a few novelty attachments this year...

At least outdoor bushes are not tinder-dry like indoor christmas trees, ready to go up with a whoosh at the touch of a flame.

Why not? People put Hopi candles in their ears.

Just don't be tempted to use real candles on your bushes - that could certainly give you a warm, fuzzy feeling...

Just wondering if any of you who are planning to illuminate your bushes this year were thinking of doing any flashing......(light bulbs that is!)

How lovely to hear of all the festive things you do, and it has given me a few ideas, I would never have thought about a sparkly bush for example, but am now coming around to the idea.We should all aim to do something different! So we must thank Agus for this Xmassy tip [it's also given us a laugh, which in these cold rainy days, we need.]
Has anyone noticed that it's so much fun putting out all the Christmas stuff and such a drag packing them away again [or is it just me?]
This year for the first time we are having 2 Christmas trees [not in the same room, that would be a bit weird] a green one [dressed in red green and gold] and a white one [dressed in pink white and silver.]I also like lots of candles, especially the Yankee Candles, and I go around sniffing them joyfully. There is a lovely one called Christmas Cookie. YUM.

I just put holly and ivy from the garden over the pictures and bring in the little Christmas tree which is in a pot. Don't like lights or sparkly tat.
Younger people seem to have given up cards and we never have given cards to people we will see at Christmas, so very few sent or received now.

We don't have many bought decorations but drag in loads of greenery from the garden, make wreaths and garlands etc., then it all goes on the bonfire when it's all over.

I do like pretty lights though so as well as the tree we have lights along the kitchen shelves (like Nigella) and this year, thanks to the advice on this thread, I'll light up my bush. The cat likes to sprawl on it so she might get a fuzzy warm feeling as well.

Gillybob isn't it awfully itchy?!

vegasmags I like that post. Gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

I used to "shin up" our pear tree with the Xmas lights, but I bought a special long stick thing and use that now!

We bling up our place for the 15th which is DS1s birthday we always have done,garlands with big ribbons and blingy cones across the curtain poles and lots of dried fragrant cones around the house,Christmas Wreaths on a couple of doors and Swedish Santa standing pride of place at the bottom of
the Xmas Tree,two very OTT sparkly balls hanging from the ceiling each end of the lounge and we are done.

Not blingy, but I do have greenery from the garden and ribbon everywhere. Our house is long and thin with the long wall to the road. It has three windows and a bay facing the road and I do have a Christmas tree in the bay and one of those ^ shaped candelabras in each window.

I know exactly what you mean *kittylester. I am conscious of making sure my bush gets plenty of sunshine. It encourages growth, and boy do I need growth.

I like the sound of your sparkly stags.

Just remembered our "dog dog". When DD was around 7-8, she and DH went to B&Q for some "man thing" (totally mundane) and came back with this huge dog dressed as Santa. Not my cup of tea at all. If you pressed it's paw it sang "rockin' around the Christmas tree......." and jiggled its head from side to side whilst the paws went up and down.

Sadly dog-dog had his neck broken by DGS a year or two back who dragged it around by its ear and whilst he still sings his heart out his neck kind of droops down to his chest. The DGC won't hear of him being sent to the great Christmas dump in the sky and they insist he still has pride of place under the tree.

This year, I am coveting a couple of really sparkly stags!

Last year I put solar lights in my bush but they didn't seem to get enough daylight!

Completely over the top here at Vegas Towers. I don't do anything until about 10 days before Christmas, then I shin up the huge Christmas tree in my back garden and festoon it with lights. Inside a real tree, decorated with the tat of ages, and over the mantelpiece, a silvery branch with more tat. We have the singing Santa in the hall and more tat in the dining room. I haven't bought anything new for years - I don't need to. When decorating time rolls around, I heave a deep sigh of dread, knowing that I will be knackered by the time I'm finished, but when it's all done, I look round and think how lovely it all looks - wouldn't win any prizes at Homes and Gardens, though. When the DC and their offspring arrive they are always delighted to see their childhood home done out as they remember it. That makes it all worth while.

I am a ..

gillybob
fan of "tat and old memories" on my tree. No colour coordinated baubles for me. Most of the baubles are pretty traditional style some felt, a chubby angel or santa or two.
A lovely set of small wooden toys from Woolworths, and three plastic teddy bears DS spotted on a tree in the Co-op 35 yrs ago.

I have have an engaging "Snowman" toy which sings Frosty the snowman. It was a great hit with DGS last year who kept turning it on so he could dance to it.

Now he is two he may feel he is too old to do that now.

gillybob

I have a rather straggly bush at the front which blows about in the wind, so not suitable for decorating.

I have a tiny tree on a log, and a garland on the fireplace with red berries and small red apples and pine cones.
Any cards are used to decorate my open stairs.

No point in me taking part Grumpa mine has been pruned far too harshly to make a decent display.

Although I suppose I could be granny April (when most pruning happens anyway) could put some trimming tips on the reverse in the style of ........ to achieve this look take a pair of nail scissors shears and your husbands beard trimmer and a pair of secateurs..........

a glorious hotchpotch of tat and old memories that describes our tree perfectly kitty

We have the tree and a garland with lights on the mantle piece plus couple of ornaments.

Just the Xmas in the bay window tree and lots of little father Xmas's on the mantlepiece for me (the ones with the wobbly legs and point hats) . I have tried to get DH to decorate my front bush but he is rather a puritan about this and not keen to have the neighbours looking at it. I have a lit holly wreath (NEXT) for the door and a single string of white lights across the porch and front of the house.

Whilst I must point out that the rule in OUR house is that we don't think about C********s until after the fair has gone and that's not till next week, I like ornaments rather than tinsel and tinsely stuff. We have quite a few tin and wooden ornaments lit by candles. The tree is most red, silver and gold ornaments until, that is, the children come and ask where various bits have gone and it becomes a glorious hotch potch of tat and old memories.

Until a couple of years ago we always had a real tree but the mess when dismantling it really made me cross so we invested in a JL artificial one - still not sure whether I like it but it cost about 5 years worth of real ones so I've got time to decide!!

How about a Gransnet Christmas calendar of illuminated bushes?