As my boyfriend’s family are such big Christmas obsessives fans I was expecting their house to be garishly decorated.
Thankfully this was not the case. Instead there were subtle, stylish festive touches all around the house.
I particularly liked this wine bucket with baubles in it.
Everywhere I went in the Palatinate region of Germany there were stylish, subtle Christmas decorations.
Despite all of this loveliness, I also found quite a scary looking decoration in a shop window.
This is the only frightening festive decoration that I have ever found to date.
A touch of the family’s Decoration OCD stepped in when it was time to decorate the Christmas tree.The baubles went on easily, there was no plan about how to put them on. The lights went on in any way you wanted , that was fine. Then it was time for us to hang the thin,silver strips of tinsel. My boyfriend and his dad laboriously picked up each minute shimmering decoration and nestled them between the needles of the tree. Thinking that they had missed a trick I picked up four of the trimmings and placed them each between a needle. My silver strips looked exactly like theirs, plus I was doing it quicker. My boyfriend’s dad was not impressed with my innovation. I was told to ‘Do them one at a time or do not do it please’. Deciding that these silver strips weren’t worth that level of thought or effort I sat down as the rest of the family painstakingly put the strips on the tree separately. Although my contribution did not quite meet the family’s exacting,quality control standards, the tree did look great at the end.
© Cultural Magpie
It’s something I noticed a lot of times, how garish the decorations in some countries are. Being German, I am kind of a purist, too. No colourful lights in the tree, they have to look like candles. Most of the decoration has to be selfmade. We don’t even use tinsel, only stuff which can be reused every year. I know some people are decorating their house more american style by now, but I admit, I like a simple candle in the window much better. It should be cozy, not loud.
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Yes-there were definite rules. Yet it was refreshing to see so many thoughtful yet simple decorations. I saw some really cool decorations made out of mistletoe too. Next year I’ll definitely be making stylish yet simple decorations inspired by Germany.
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