Is tinsel old hat now?

And yes! Tinsel!

We didn’t have a Billy Bass, but a singing lobster. One year we made our usual Christmas Eve foray to my sister’s house, set it going on the doorstep, rang the bell and hid around the corner. She opened the door, saw this thing waving its claws and singing and collapsed in a giggling heap (I fancy she had started on the sherry without us!).
Our tree is a tasteless assemblage of mismatched ornaments with a thirty seven year old Father Christmas on top who must be getting mightily fed up of having the top branch rammed up the back of his jacket every year. We thought he had absconded this year!

Willow500 Your home looks lovely---I would love wallpaper like yours do you know where I could get it?

I do like a little tinsel to add some sparkle, but not on the tree, just on pictures etc. I love our Christmas tree, it is full of nostalgia, it seems to have 'soul' rather than a themed one, ours has numerous different style decorations collected over all the years and lots of home made ones that the children and grandchildren have made and come out every year, with lovely coloured lights and a star on the top, there is just something magical about it.

Love tinsel, my home is festooned with it for two weeks over Christmas and New Year and I've had it for years.

I think tinsel is now considered to be like plastic ie it cannot be recycled that is why some people are not using it. But if you’ve already got it why not use it. Personally I hate it, but surely it would be worse for the environment to all throw it away now.

I never liked tinsel and used to have a battle with my daughter when she lived at home, who smothered every thing in it, in all colours.
Now her own tree is unbelievably tasteful, not a strand of tinsel in sight.

I have a Billy Bass fish in the hall! The GC love it! My mum bought it for me years ago. I hadn’t the heart to get rid of it!

paddyann
You mentioning the talking Santa reminded me of the Big Mouth Billy Bass fish I bought for one of my AC for their first Christmas in their new house. I read that a family member bought one as a joke present for HM the Queen.

Willow500
A feast for the eyes...er...7/10 for the white one (too naice) and 10/10 for the colour crash tree. Just like mother used to make.

Well done Witzend, it looks HUGE and puffy with plenty of balls baubles 9/10

olliebeak
8/10. Too pale.

I looked twice before reading your claim about the tree skirt being crochet. Oh dear! I'd get lynched if I did anything remotely like that, tinsel n all.

I really like the turquoise, green and very dark pink baubles being sold at John Lewis this year. Sadly cant justify a change so back to gold and red as per the last 4 decades.

My girls like to choose a theme for Christmas each year. This year apparently is vintage woodland creatures. I'm achieving that by getting out all the usual baubles and then adding in a few tacky plastic, from pound shops woodland creatures.

My Dh saw some decorations recently and commented how he liked them. I told him that we had very similar ones, and had had them for well over ten years and they'd beennused frequently. He claims he's never set eyes on them!!

I'm a 'Gold and Cream' kinda gal!

My tree is 'pre-lit (warm white) with snow-effect' - once it's branches are all opened out, there is only space for one length of tinsel. However, I DO have some 'gold patterned, stiffened ribbon' that I twist inbetween the branches.

Also rather fond of my Christmas Ornaments and Candle Holders. The Grandkids also love the musical figures and that moved/dance. I don't put anything on the ceiling

Sorry meant lametta (predictive text changed it).

I have lots of decorations that I have accumulated over the years some with very happy memories from when my children were small. Not colour coordinated at all. No tinsel but I do have some laments which looks pretty.

Isn't tinsel supposed to be like glitter and bad for the environment? There's yards of tinsel in our Christmas decorations box but bah humbug, it's staying in the box this year. Just can't be bothered and the only visitors over Christmas will be our small, immediate family. The crib will come out as usual, though.

I remember them Urmstongran! And the paper strips that you had to lick the ends of to make chains that you had strewn across the ceilings! It all seemed so exciting when we all sat together to make those! Happy memories!

Collected over fifty years, last year I decided what did'nt go on the tree were getting offloaded. I'm glad I did,it only took me half an hour to dolly the tree up this year ,as so it will be evermore. Daughter nor grandchildren wanted the excess so I gave them to people who were decorating trees for charity. Never thought I would ever get rid of any really,I was so attached to them, but hey ho.

Who else remembers the concertina paper Chinese lanterns with silken tassels that used to go over the (always) coloured lights in the late 60’s? The style police would have a hissy fit nowadays!

Tinsel on tree, used to have beads & lametta as well when we had a big tree in a large Lounge. Now I have a tall, slim tree I can't go overboard as much, the tinsel goes on though. I like baubles that evoke happy memories.

Can't have lametta as I have a cat (it's tempting & they tend to eat it)

My tree has never been tasteful

Our tree not going to up until this weekend but will have plenty of tinsel on it. To me it completes the look with all the rest of the tree decorations we have collected over the years. Coloured lights as well, definately not the sophisticated look. Have some decorations that go on it which the children made at school and the fairy for the top, bought 50 years ago in Woolworths.

I usually have tinsel on my tree, but when DS went up into the loft to get the decorations down, he must have missed the bag of tinsel, and I didn't notice till I'd started to decorate the tree the next day. Didn't like to ask him to come down specially again, so went to the shops and instead of tinsel found strings of gold beads (3x50 ft, and 3 boxes for £2 in Poundland!). They look absolutely beautiful, don't think I'll bother with tinsel again.