When I was growing up, Christmas seemed to invade every corner of my parents’ house on that final weekend before Christmas. The decorations never went up early because my sister’s birthday is on the 14th and my parents always wanted the two events to be separate. But once the birthday celebrations were out of the way, it was time to get dressed up warm and head off to Bolton Abbey in search of the perfect tree.
We always chose the biggest one we could find, sometimes so tall the top branch was bent sideways by the living room ceiling. My dad would put the tree up and then me and my sister would haphazardly cover it with decorations. At the same time, my mum would be covering the hallway in fresh sprigs of holly from the tree outside, decorating the banister with garlands and cardboard reindeer and hanging up Christmas cards. My dad was always charged with fixing up fairy lights in the hallway. We had a small artificial tree for the playroom too, so no matter where you were in the house, it always felt like Christmas.
Last year, I felt that Christmas was contained to our living room. We had a real tree in there, but the Christmas cheer was mostly confined to our front room, so this year I wanted to try and spread the Christmas joy a little further. We use our conservatory as a dining room and that’s where we’ll be eating Christmas dinner this year so I have been thinking of ways to decorate that room.
When the lovely people at Icon Wall Stickers got in touch to see if I wanted to try out one of their wall stickers, I decided to choose something from their Christmas selection. I chose this one because it reminds me of the cardboard reindeer my mum hung from the banister at home all those years ago. I thought it would fit perfectly on the wall in the conservatory, making the room feel that little bit more special for Christmas dinner.
I chose the large design which is 164 cm long, and I have to say it was probably a two person job to put it up. I did it alone and, combined with the cold of the conservatory wall, it wasn’t the easier thing I’ve ever done. Luckily I had an adorable assistant there to pass my scissors and masking tape when needed, so it wasn’t too bad. It took about twenty minutes to put up but would probably have been a lot easier if I hadn’t chosen the coldest room in the house (it’s a conservatory and we recently removed the radiator in there, so it’s not exactly toasty).
The wall sticker looks perfect and Ebony is really pleased with it. She thinks Santa is probably on his way to deliver our presents, apparently she’s asking for gifts for the entire family this year. She has requested a Santa torch and a yoghurt, she’s told him I want make up and that Laurie would love a box of tea bags.
The lovely folk over at Icon Wall Stickers sent an extra copy of the wall sticker so that I could give one away to a lucky reader. All you need to do to enter is fill in the rafflecopter below, good luck!
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