Alternative Christmas Ideas

For many years I was very 'grr humbug' about Christmas. When I was a kid growing up in New Zealand we had these huge family christmases with a massive tree and piles of presents, fabulous gingerbread houses and all sorts of traditions that never changed, but then I moved to England away from the extended family and everything changed. I guess I resented the absence of continuity and I missed all the old traditions so I decided I hated Christmas and that pretty much went on for the next 20 years. And all the crazy last minute shopping, the plastic fakeness, the revolting consumerism... well, it all just reinforced my general mistrust and distaste for the Yuletide season. But that all changed when I had kids and our family started our own traditions. Now I am all about the hideous Christmas jumpers and wearing santa hats..I can't get enough!
Christmas is now on my terms, well, my families terms. We don't do last minute crazy shopping, the gifts are carefully chosen and few. Every year we hang the same silly ornaments on the tree, lots of them made by my kids and are charmingly rubbish.

Christmas is what you want it to be, you can customise it for your own pleasure and so I thought I would do a blog about alternative Christmas. Decorating in a seasonal way but with a twist...
So my first find are these amazing Christmas tree ornaments by Elizabeth Rosen Art.. They don't come cheap but they are just so gorgeous!

With the black and white trend in Scandi homes still going strong, here are a few lovely black and white inspirations...

Now what do we think of the upside down Christmas tree fad that was sweeping the world a few years ago??? I mean, I like alternative, don't get me wrong...but somehow I just feel 'no'.

I did like this idea though, putting fairy lights around hula hoops...

Well, my final words on the subject are 'don't be afraid to reinvent your Christmas & make it your own'.