Rustic this Christmas

I am normally a bit obsessive about my Christmas tree. I always have a colour scheme and buy a few new decorations every year.

I have been known on many occasions to let the children decorate it and then strip it when they have gone to bed and start again.

I know this is very um-christmassy and a bit horrid but it is the only thing in my entire life that I get like this about. I have no real clue why I am like this about my Christmas tree. I have been known to be standing in the midst of the messiest living room while I stand back and work out if the baubles are evenly spaced and the lights are in optimum position. I can live in the most cluttered of rooms but I don't care as long as the tree looks nice.

This year I am going to try and be a little more relaxed. We have made salt dough decorations. We did them on strike day as a bribe for not going to the park. I know I am such a shoddy mom.

Today we missed swimming (fist pumping the air on that one). DS1 is full of cold and dithers at the side of the pool every week due to his total lack of any body fat (I do feed him) so I thought it would be very bad for him.

Therefore we painted and glittered the salt dough creations. I did start of on the proviso that only gold and red glitter could be used but the minions rebelled.

I did shout a few times " come on, faster "
" you can have lunch when you have finished"
" I need more red, more red!!!"

No it was fun really and I did not have to use the stick to hasten the production line.

So here they are, those rustic decorations which are going to ruin, destroy, enhance my usual Christmas tree style.

The kids are excited and want to make more and I am already trying to work out how to make them realise that it would all look much better if the bigger ones are on the bottom branches etc etc .......