With Christmas just around the corner, the preparations are in full swing! Being a tropical nation, species of Christmas trees are not so easily available.

The most important thing for Christmas decor is the Christmas tree. Now, let’s get real for a minute, we are not cutting down and hauling the firs, pines, spruces, cypress’ or the cedars from the far reaches of the country where we do find them. Neither would we want to use the faux Christmas trees that are more tinsel and less tree.

Well, there is an ingenious solution.

Use what you have. Anything, you have!

Don’t believe us?

Look around, look what you have in abundance around you, books, post-it notes, rope, twigs on the road, a dead shrub, newspapers, pillows; just about anything you have aplenty.

Find your ‘thing’ and get inventive. Here are a few pictures of an assortment of items to use.

Find an old book which has been gathering dust at home; the vintage pages yellowing and smelling like heaven. If you’re not going to read the book again, tear the pages out (extremely lovingly for the book addicts out there). Arrange them to form a triangle and adhere them to the wall. This rustic tree setting would do well with rice lights, hemp rope and light ornaments that can be adhered to the wall. Bring in a beautiful rustic element. Tip: place this against a boldly coloured background and not neutral shades.

If you can’t bring yourself to tear the book for the Christmas decor, not to worry, just use the book whole! Stack your books, spine side away for a uniform look, and clamp lights, ornaments, and ropes between two.

What we do have in abundance in nature around Christmas, are branches and twigs that have been shed from the trees. Collect them and put them in a jar or a bottle or even a terracotta pot. Hang Christmas decor ornaments, pompoms, lights, glitter, pretty much anything you’d like! and since they are small, you can have as many as you’d like!

Post-its are a never-ending resource! Doodle on post-its to form your tree. if you’re hosting a party, get family and friends to write notes to each other. Or you can write notes to them and ask them to hunt and take it away at the end of the party as a souvenir.

Get a giant cardboard disk and cut a spiral into it centre outwards. Thread a rope through the centre to hang it from the ceiling. You can then use fishing line or thread to hang it as well as the ornaments from it. Tip: keep the colour contrast in mind. For a more finished look, you can cover the cardboard with newspaper and a mixture of water and glue. Then paint on a couple of coats of acrylic paint of your choice.

If you find an entire branch, don’t break it to put them into the jars and bottles. Use the whole thing instead. Paint it white for a white Christmas decor!

And hey, why not flip the tree concept on its head? Make multiple cones with paper (you know those ice-cream cones we get) and hang them upside down on a string! Quite like this picture below.

Our Christmas tree this year is going to be a dead shrub an intern found outside her house. Look for the treasure in the trash!

With the jugadu smarts of us Indians, bring in a Christmas tree and a conversation starter all in one.

Miloni Mehta
CUBS Editorial Team