OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE December 11 2014

I just adore the sense of anticipation and all of the festive preparation in the lead up to Christmas. I’m delighted to say that my new Vintage Christmas greeting cards are selling like hot mince pies – the Christmas Tree design is one of six new designs which are available to buy through my online shop and current stockists.

While on the lovely topic of Christmas trees, when I’m designing new collections, I enjoy the research almost as much as I enjoy creating the paintings, so I thought I’d share this potted history of the Christmas tree in this blog:

The Christmas tree became popular in England in 1841 when Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert brought a tree over from Germany and displayed it in Windsor Castle. A National Newspaper illustrated the Royal couple standing around the Christmas tree with their children, and so the tradition of decorating a tree became fashionable.

During Victorian times, Christmas trees were decorated with candles to remind children of the stars in the sky at the time of the birth of Jesus. In 1880, Woolworths (still sadly missed!) first sold manufactured Christmas tree ornaments - the rest is history.

Perhaps the most famous of all Christmas trees in Britain has to be the one in Trafalgar Square. Each year, an enormous Norwegian spruce tree is gifted from the people of Norway as a way of expressing their thanks to the British people for the help they gave them during the Second World War.

While I can by no means compare our modest Sussex-grown Christmas tree to the one in Trafalgar Square, in our household, the traditional no-holds-barred approach to Christmas tree decor (courtesy of my two daughters, 9 and 11) is just one more festive traditional treat to relish.

That’s it for now, and best of luck with your own seasonal preparations!