The Perfect Decoration

It has to be said that the Christmas tree is a wondrous thing. It has the ability to transform you. Not in a molecular way but it makes you smile, your heart sing and your spirit tingle with the anticipation of Christmas.

The origins of the Christmas tree are interesting. Christmas trees are predominantly evergreen fir trees (not that readily available in an Australian summer mind you). No one really knows when they were first used but it probably began about 1,000 years ago in Northern Europe. The modern day Christmas tree originated from Latvia and Germany when people started to bring the trees into their homes and decorate them with whatever happened to be around at the time which was sometimes coloured paper flowers, ribbons, edible things like gingerbread and apples, candles and then as the custom became more popular, glass makers made special baubles and ornaments to decorate the trees.

These are not dissimilar to what we have today; we have an extensive array of Christmas tree decorations available in store anytime from mid-October onwards (depending on your view, this may be good or bad) I happen to love those first glimpses of the sparkling tree decorations that appear in the Christmas Hall, it seems like overnight the stores are transformed to a dreamlike fairy land with the promise of a new Christmas addition just perfect for your tree.

I could wander through these displays for hours, each glass bauble is so perfectly formed and the light bounces off it as it twirls on its string, it’s quite mesmerising. Each year I buy just one set of new Christmas tree decorations to add to my collection. It is a ritual now, one that I hope to continue for many years to come.