Who says a Christmas tree can only be used to celebrate Christmas? Well… society, and hundreds of years of tradition.
But Emma Farmer doesn’t care about that. She loves the look of a decorated tree in her home so much that she keeps hers up throughout the entire year – to celebrate a whole range of different occasions.
The 45-year-old, from Essex, hasn’t taken her tree down since December 2018, all she does is change the decorations to make it fit to whatever she’s celebrating at the time.
Over the last year, Emma has decorated her tree in honour of Valentine’s Day, Shrove Tuesday, Mother’s Day, Halloween, Easter as well as birthdays and anniversaries. And, just to be clear, it is an artificial tree.
The quirky home decor decision started because of Emma’s lack of organisation. She didn’t get around to taking her tree down after Christmas 2018, and before she knew it, it was Valentine’s Day.
So she thought – why not just change the purpose of the tree? She swapped out the tinsel and festive baubles for love hearts, and voila, the Valentine’s tree was born.
‘I didn’t want to put it away because I love to decorate and I love a theme,’ said Emma. ‘So, I thought why not keep it up?
‘The tree wasn’t getting in anyone’s way and we all really liked it.’ We feel you Emma, putting away the twinkly lights and sparkly baubles in January can leave your home feeling rather bleak.
Next thing she knew, it was Pancake Day, and she swapped out the love hearts for lemons, sugar, golden syrup and even a frying pan.
Emma’s summer-themed tree featured colourful bunting, flowers, paper ice cream cones and balloons. Why has nobody ever thought of this before?
We love the twinkly lights of the Christmas tree and the colours just brighten up the day,” she said.
‘Whenever someone comes into the house it makes them smile and it’s a lovely talking point,’ she added.
‘When a plumber or an electrician has come into the house they have probably thought that I’m mad.
‘They’d say “do you realise your Christmas tree is still up?” and I’d have to explain it to them.’
For her mum’s birthday, Emma created a rock and roll tree, and there was a pirate tree for her children’s birthday party.
‘I think everyone has seen the fun in it,’ she said.
‘I didn’t spend loads on it, a lot of the decorations I had beforehand.
‘At the end of the day, it’s been a bit of fun that hasn’t been in anyone’s way.’
So if you’re a bit slow taking down your decorations this year, just think about Emma’s creativity and give it a go yourself.
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