All that glitters…

…or does it?  Has the glitzy glam of recent years been retired?

Like many of you, I’ve been unpacking Christmas decor and ornaments and getting the house ready for the holidays.  After most of my decorating was done (should have done this first), I checked online to see what designers and buyers were predicting for 2025 Christmas trends.  This is what I found.

Some of the trends from market buyers:

• #1 colour worldwide is blue
• pink is still popular
• quiet elegance, luxurious
• velvet and plaid
• ribbon, ribbon and more ribbon
• reindeers still on trend, as well as, bells, crowns and nutcrackers
• green trees…airy, pokey trees that allow ornaments to shine
• felt/velvet balls, solid colours, matte frosted balls
• old money, quiet luxury, traditional

From designers perspective:

• Ralph Lauren aesthetic (elegant) with polished brass, plaid, wool, satin and velvet
• red/burgundy, forest green, navy/black (i.e. black watch tartan), jewel tones
• simple monochromatic gift wrap with matching ribbons (no gift bags), to compliment Christmas tree and decor
• ribbons tied on EVERYTHING
• full length tablecloths

I don’t envy market buyers.  When I had the store I spent hours and hours walking hall after hall at multiple gift markets looking for our holiday inventory. The first few days were always overwhelming.  But before starting my buying for what was our “make it or break season“, I had to be disciplined.  Buying a bit of this and and a bit that from each trend wasn’t an option.  Although finding a starting point wasn’t always easy, it was imperative and necessary to plan how I would put our Christmas displays together.  It was risky…would my vision be in line with what my customers were looking for?

The truth is, trends don’t always fit into a average life style.  Often they are over the top and fickle.  And who has the storage or funds to change their holiday decor every year…and do you really want to do?  I’ve become quite attached to the ornaments I’ve collected over time and look forward to bringing them out every year.  I’m sure many of you have the same attachment to your ornaments.

Initially I wasn’t going to put up a tree again this year.  Although Charlie may not be quite as mischievous, her tail is long and always wagging. Not the best for fragile glass ornaments especially those on lower branches.  But as I was bringing up a couple of small trees to put into outdoor containers, I changed my mind and decided to set them on top of tables. Unfortunately the trees are not pre-lit and even though I’ve wrapped many strands around the each tree, they don’t have the sparkle pre-lit trees do. The trees are also really dense making it difficult to hang the ornaments.  I stuck branches in the top to add some height and also on the side so that some of the ornaments would be more visible.

*** A side note on tabletop trees…I liked that I didn’t have to rearrange the rooms or move out furniture and existing decor pieces.   The trees just tucked in.  I may have to invest in more realistic, vintage smaller trees (to make hanging ornaments easier) for next year.

The tree in the living room has a Paris theme with mostly aqua coloured ornaments.

The tree in the dining room is more eclectic in theme, however, as I look at the photos there appears to be an abundance of pink!  A few tiny zinc houses and bottle brush trees add to a vintage vibe.

The tree top this year is a wooden dove I’ve had for years.

November and December may be dreary and dark on the outside, but with the sparkle of mini lights, flickering candlelight, sweet and savoury scents from the kitchen, and most importantly time spent with loved-ones, these months have a special kind of magic that no other time of the year has.  Enjoy it…before long we’ll be packing it all up again for another year.  xox  Judy❤️