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What does our tree say about us?
“For me, Christmas is a time to stop, reflect and enjoy what you’ve got,” says Gilly. “We like making popcorn tinsel together – it’s an American thing.”
What the tree really says
Forget subtly coloured Instagram spruces, ignore Kirsty Allsop’s crocheted baubles, turn your nose up at anything secured with coloured twine… This, right here, is a proper Christmas tree. You can tell because not a single item that hangs from its branches matches anything else on there. There’s a too-big sparkly parrot; a bauble that looks like a Christmas pud; one that appears to be a rubber duck. A monkey. A teddy. Possibly a bath bomb. Nothing that would get more than 5p in a jumble sale. Good.
The best Christmas trees are completely tasteless, meaning taste just isn’t a factor. The decorations are gathered over years and consist of the odd spendy bauble (witness the huge purple orb towards the top of the tree) as well as some awful tat that one of the kids made when they were seven. This is one of those Christmas trees. It is made of memories.
There are two unusual aspects about this tree. The first is the tinsel: there is none. Instead Gilly, Lola and Ellison have chosen popcorn tinsel, an American invention consisting of bits of popcorn strung on to thread. I would usually reject this, because it’s a bit Kirsty-ly homemade, but the fact that it’s not harking back to a Hallmark past, plus it looks a bit rubbish, means that the popcorn tinsel happily mingles with the rest of the decorations.
The other odd thing about this tree is that there is no angel at the top. No star or fairy, not even Santa. This is because this family has sussed out what Christmas is about if you’re not a churchgoer. It’s about revelling in your own traditions, enjoying what you have, realising that a half-finished pompom can look just as fab as £15 Conran Shop effort when it’s in the right environment – an environment full of love. Like I said, a proper Christmas tree. Happy Christmas.
[Source:-the gurdian]