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A WHITE CHRISTMAS IN SUNNY AUSTRALIA

Make A Change

Have you ever had a Christmas season that just sucks? Everyone else around you seems to be full of joy, and you are just dragging yourself around, waiting for it all to be over with. That was how my Christmas felt last year! It was so unpleasant that I determined I was not going to have a Christmas that bad again! My poor kids, we didn’t take the Christmas tree out of storage until two days before Christmas. I also realised that I needed to make a change or my kids would grow up with no fun memories of Christmas at all! I cannot change my family circumstances, but I can focus on what makes the Christmas season enjoyable and meaningful for me. That includes, getting a REAL Christmas tree and one that is decorated in white Christmas decorations.

One of my favourite childhood memories of Christmas, is going out into the pine plantations near our home and finding a small, straggly pine tree to take back with us. I simply thought of it as exciting! If I was lucky I would find pine nuts to eat from the pine cones we would collect. It”s only now that I realise it was the experience that was special and that having memories like that is rare among my generation.

Why A Real Christmas Tree?

I want to create memories like that for my kids! I want to teach them that Christmas has a fragrance, of fresh pine leaves and cinnamon cookies, and how to enjoy trees that aren’t perfect!

And also because I find having a bit of nature in my home more beautiful and relaxing. Loads of bright tinsel and baubles on a plastic tree just isn’t the same!

Why A White Christmas?

Maybe it’s a longing for cooler weather, seeing the summer heat is upon us already here in Perth, Western Australia. I have never actually experienced a “white” Christmas. Heck seeing snow for the first time is still on my bucket list!

Only decorating the house with white Christmas decorations does make decisions a lot easier!

But mainly, it’s because I am choosing to do things this Christmas that I enjoy and find beautiful! After our recent living room makeover, a dark green tree with white Christmas decorations is right at home!

1. White Christmas Decorations Online

While some of our white Christmas decorations we made at home, a few I bought.

Click here to order your Snowflake White Christmas Decorations.

I love these beautiful crocheted snowflake tree decorations by Anita Mary Designs which can be hung individually from your Christmas tree. Brilliant for decorating a real Christmas tree as they not very heavy!

Etsy Seller, Bark and Bite also have these gorgeous personalised timber and white Christmas decorations. They come in a bell, bauble and Christmas tree shape. Plus, right now they offer FREE SHIPPING.

Click here to get your personalised timber tree decorations.

I also got a few of my white Christmas decorations from Ikea’s 2017 Vinter collection. I especially appreciated these white paper stars because I didn’t realise how little weight the branches of a REAL Christmas tree can take. Thankfully, these are as light as a feather!

2. White Clay Ornaments

This started out as an epic fail for me as I couldn’t work out why my beautifully white cornflour and bicarb mix was not turning into a dough consistency. Instead it was more like some sort of strange thick, white paint. Oh, then I re-read what I needed to. I had missed a crucial step – cook the ingredients on the stove until it thickens! It took me over a day to work it out!!

What You Need To Make These White Christmas Decorations:

1 cup bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 cup corn flour (corn starch)
3/4 cup of warm water

Add the bicarb, then corn flour into a saucepan. Next add the warm water – tap temperature is fine. Then stir over a medium heat until bubbles form and the mixture starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Allow the dough to cool for a couple of minutes and then lightly knead it.

Yes, it does make a lovely soft and liable dough, similar to play dough.

After cutting out your shapes, make a small hole in each one with the end of a straw. Then dry in a low oven or air dry. I was impatient to get them finished after my first mishap. So I baked them at a higher temperature. However they did go quite brown. A bit of white furniture paint and no one could tell the difference!

3. Cinnamon Dough Decorations

OK these are technically not white! In fact depending on your age or humour, you could describe the colour of these decorations as chocolate brown or something else. But whatever the description, they do smell deliciously of cinnamon cookies. Only you don’t want to be eating them!

This is really similar to a no-cook play dough. Very easy to make!

All You Need Is:

1 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup cinnamon powder
3/4 cup hot water

Add the hot water to the dry ingredients and mix well. Knead into a ball. Add a little bit more flour if the dough feels sticky. Roll out dough and cut shapes. Leave to air dry or cook in a medium oven for about 20 minutes.

The shapes can be painted or decorated with a white royal icing. That’s where the white comes in, hey!

My kids had a lot of fun making rolling out and making their white cinnamon Christmas decorations. But please don’t do what I did and accidentally roll the dough in cumin powder instead of cinnamon powder. While a similar colour, they definitely do not smell the same! Fortunately, the dough was rescued by adding additional cinnamon to hide the smell of cumin.

4. A Wool Garland

I love having items made from natural materials in my home. So this Christmas I chose to decorate with more of those things! Like this white felt pom pom garland! It turned out to be such a good idea because it was so easy (and light) to string across the Christmas tree.