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Our Different Christmas Tree

Our Different Christmas Tree

This year will be our 8th Christmas spent together as a blended family, and while it certainly isn’t all smooth sailing, Christmas has always been a time that brings us all together. The very first Christmas we spent as a family, we made the decision to create our own Christmas Tree. It is unique, very different in fact I’ve not seen one like it yet, but we love it. We love the tradition we have made around creating our Christmas tree each year.

When asking our kids that first year we were together, how they felt about our first Christmas, words like weird and different were used. We had a drive to create a tree that reflected our new family, without trying to replicate what each family had always done previously. That said, we needed also to have at least some familiarity to bring us together, this we did with the decorations.

Our tree is created each year, using the same timber base, from there we spend an afternoon together gathering sticks and twigs from local bush land, before heading home to create our tree. Once the shape is made, we work as a team, with Christmas carols playing to decorate our wonderful tree.

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The decorations are where the magic really begins. These decorations have the power to bring a smile to the face of any surly teenager, as we laugh at the craft we have created in years gone by.

 

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There are always many memories to reflect over. We have special decorations to represent those who are no longer with us and the children take turns to pop these on the tree. This year we were able to add 3 new very special decorations that gave us all the opportunity to reflect on how very privileged we are, and just how easy it is to help others in need.

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Oxfam Australia sent* us these new decorations, and when placing them on our unique tree, we wereable to take a few moments to explain to our children how simple it can be to shop ethically even during the festive season and what they meant to other families in less fortunate situations than our own.

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Christmas in our family has and continues to be about sharing kindness, gratitude and love. Our crazy, apparently embarrassing to teenage boys, family tree is a great reflection of that.

Do you have an unconventional Christmas Tree? Do you use hand made Christmas decorations? Are you a Christmas crafter?

Nicole xxx

*Oxfam kindly sent us these decorations for editorial consideration as per my disclosure policy.

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7 Comments  

  1. We gave had the same Christmas tree since we were married 35 years ago. Most of our decorations are family decs as in a few from my parents, now passed away, a dec in memory of friends or family no longer with us, our pets that have grown wings and so many things the kids made at school. Each year from birth we have bought each child a dec and dated it with the plan that when they leave home they will have a good start to their own tree. Well our kids are 27, 25 and 21. Unfortunately because I struggle with our kids no longer being at home I still have all their decorations. I just can’t pass them on, not just yet. As each one have partners they also have a decoration. Our tree is not perfect with paper chains , and anyone with OCD would hare it but it is our family tree and we love it just the way it is. I do love your tree, looks gorgeous.

  2. I love your Christmas tree, it’s stunning but I especially the story of why it is like that. What a gorgeous way to make new family memories. My Mums tree is full of decorations we have collected from around the world but we haven’t really any special significance to our own tree. We should start something though as what you do is lovely. Xx

  3. I love the look of your tree but especially the story behind it. I’m not a crafter but we do collect Christmas decorations on our travels so it’s full of magic memories. Our tree is white, and we’ve had it since the first Christmas we lived together. It’s also travelled the world with us circumnavigating the globe from our old home in London to our (not so new) home in Sydney!

  4. What a beautiful tree and tradition you have created to blend your families together.
    xoxo

  5. I like the tree design & lighting and reason behind creating this wonderful tree. Great work by kids keep going.

  6. I love your tradition and it’s totally unique, but also makes fabulous Christmas memories for your family. xx

  7. […] you may have seen in previous years, our tree has no theme at all, in fact it’s just a mix up of our kids home made decorations and a few […]

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