Art rather than kitsch on the Christmas tree?

And on which Christmas tree?

learned from the article “Disenchanted – The Myth of the White Christmas” “White Christmas” is indeed just a fairy tale, and if the articles “Are you missing the true Advent spirit? Art can bring you peace” , “Advent spirit – in and from the computer” , and “When the Christmas spirit is dark, light helps” have helped you to still create a little Advent and Christmas spirit (which we very much hope), then the next stress is already looming:

For everyone who enjoys Christmas – or wants to enjoy Christmas – there is a Christmas tree (also with a “good environmental conscience”, see below), and decorating this tree is a Christmas highlight.

This Christmas highlight becomes even more beautiful when it's also a creative one, and it brings more Christmas cheer as well. Here are a few ideas for "art on the Christmas tree" :

For all parents, children's art is the main focus, logically.

In kindergartens and schools, children are tirelessly crafting, sometimes fearlessly, when it comes to the motifs; if you don't want to decorate your cool living room with every idea from these sources, you'll need a few diplomatic detours.

For example, a homemade Christmas tree for the children's room, and a theme for the living room that just happens to be completely incompatible with the worst crafting mishaps... or some acting skills to beg for selected items for the family Christmas tree... or both..

It can be a lot of fun if slightly older children to choose their own theme – not entirely without risk, but you can reserve some options for them or make a list beforehand of what you definitely don't want to see.

With such preventative agreements, you can put a stop to the motto "the best horror scenes in film history as scenery on the Christmas tree," but accept the idea of ​​small watercolors of the world's craziest cupcakes on the Christmas tree..

Adults can truly turn their Christmas tree into a work of art , quite simply with the art postcards from the calendars of recent years, or more elaborately with figures cut out from photos collected throughout the year.

This could be a collection of the craziest bows devised for gift wrapping in the trade, or a variety of colorful candies, nice and close up and nice and big, or the most beautiful pieces of jewelry that you have discovered in jewelers' shop windows throughout the year – you can collect photos of many things, print them out on photo paper for Christmas, cut them out and use them as tree ornaments.

If you like the idea but haven't collected any photos: you can also compile a series of images on the internet, put them on a USB stick and have them printed on special paper at the nearest copy shop…

If you visit Christmas markets that offer handcrafted items in addition to the usual trinkets, you'll find plenty of "art for the Christmas tree" . At www.kunsthandwerker-markt.de you can find markets that exclusively offer the works of artists and craftspeople.

Two creative ideas for the Christmas tree

The ecologically correct Christmas tree

If the decorations aren't to be commercial trash, then of course the Christmas tree must also meet this lofty standard. A pesticide-laden, needle-shedding drying rack from the nearest (mixed forest-wiping) Christmas tree monoculture would likely elicit more ridicule than Christmas joy from environmentally conscious Christmas visitors…

Seriously, at a time when citizens are finally starting to fight against the fact that half of our food is thrown away, it is certainly no longer acceptable to buy an entire tree and throw it away a few days later – one per household, 40 million in all of Germany, if every household were to buy such a disposable Christmas tree.

Not everyone does it, but at least two-thirds of households do, which equates to 30 million discarded trees – and the numbers are not decreasing, but are even increasing slightly (Source: German Timber Industry Association, available at www.handelsdaten.de ) .

Theoretically, this madness has already been noticed by many people in our country, but Christmas comes very suddenly every year, and the ideas surrounding the “sustainable Christmas tree” are postponed to the next year every year.

There have long been alternatives, several in fact; here's a brief overview if you really don't want to commit any Christmas tree murders this year:

For all people with a garden, the Christmas tree is the solution, which spends its first Christmas in a pot in the living room and is then planted in the garden, preferably in a place visible from the house, so that it can give its Christmas performance from outside next year.

Also possible in residential complexes with green spaces in front of the building, even as a rather magnificent tree, if the residents can pool their resources and reach an agreement with the landlord (contrary to rumors, this actually happens – there are even supposedly new communities in Germany where all citizens have realized that they must pull together if their community is not to soon become history; they sometimes even plant a Christmas tree for everyone in the market square).

Those who don't have a garden or don't want to see coniferous trees in their garden (they could then use a larch), don't need to become large plant destroyers.

Around 15 years ago, the first tree nursery started renting out impeccably cultivated fir and spruce trees as Christmas trees . Okay, that nursery was/is in Luxembourg, but "Rent a Christmas Tree" is now possible in many regions of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

It's becoming increasingly popular, and you can get your tree "naked" or decorated, with prices ranging from 30 to 100 euros, including detailed instructions for non-gardeners, which also guarantees the tree a happy Christmas season. It's not dramatic; it's more about not roasting the tree on the radiator or in candle flames, nor flooding it with well-intentioned watering to the point where the roots rot.

The next places to look are event agencies (party services) and hardware stores, both of which sometimes rent out Christmas trees. However, this is sometimes just a marketing gimmick to attract customers, and the trees are destroyed after the holidays – so be careful and find out what happens to the tree after Christmas.

If no one in your hometown has yet adopted this business idea, you can even order your Christmas tree online from the company Weihnachtsbaum & More at www.weihnachtsbaum-and-more.de .

For moderate costs, Christmas trees are available from €18, and shipping costs for smaller Christmas trees start at €7.90; only for the 6-meter fir tree does shipping cost more than €100, but such a huge tree is probably ordered by companies/organizations that can deduct these costs from their taxes anyway.

Lina Sahne

Passionate author with a keen interest in art

www.kunstplaza.de