Making an Aussie Bush Christmas Tree

A few days ago, we were planning my daughter Imogen’s latest music video.

“I’m singing a Christmas carol. Where do you think we should film the video?”

“We could put up our Christmas tree early and film it inside.”

“I bet most people would do that. We should do something different.”

“We could film the video at the nature reserve or in the bush.”

“But how would we make an outside location look like Christmas?”

“I could make an Aussie bush Christmas tree,” I offered. “Imogen, you could stand next to it.”

I made an Aussie bush tree last year. A few days before Christmas, I walked down the road to the bush and came home with an armful of branches that had fallen off the gum trees. I tied the branches together at one end and then pulled them out to form a wobbly cone shape. I threaded coloured lights in and out of the branches. I added a few salt dough decorations, felt birds, strings of buttons, and some leaves and flowers. I then shouted, “Hey, come and look at my Christmas tree!”

My family came to look.

“What do you think?”

“Well, Mum, we’ve never seen anything like it.”

I wonder if that meant they liked it.

My tree might have looked a bit unusual, but as the daylight faded and the fairy lights began to sparkle more strongly, my tree came alive. I thought it was very beautiful.

Yesterday afternoon, I headed once more into the bush in search of fallen tree branches. I found some very long ones along the sides of the tracks, and almost tripped myself up trying to haul them home. Once back at our house, I tossed them into a pile on the driveway before wiping the sweat from my brow. (It was rather a warm almost-summer afternoon.) I was just about to set off on another foraging trip when I noticed a number of branches under the gum tree outside our house. Did they come from last year’s Aussie Christmas tree? Perhaps they did. So I gathered them up and added them to my heap.

This morning we were up early, and by 6.15 am, we were at a local nature reserve. The mist was rising off the nearby river. The birds were calling. The air was a little bit chilly. We carted our equipment from the car and began setting up the cameras. But before Imogen could start singing ‘December Song’, we had to assemble the Aussie bush Christmas tree.

Once Imogen had tied the branches together and pulled all the ‘legs’ out into position, the tree was ready for its decorations. The girls added fairy lights, baubles, glittery cones, and beads. They topped the tree with a bright red star.

Next Wednesday, you’ll be able to see how the tree looked in Imogen’s video. Please watch out for her latest Christmas offering, ‘December Song‘, on her Youtube channel. We’re hoping this video will be extra-special because Imogen is entering it in Peter Hollens’ cover contest.

This morning, after we’d finished filming the video, we dismantled the bush tree. We tossed all the decorations into a basket and bundled the branches together. Then we brought everything home with us. The week before Christmas, I’m going to reassemble the tree and place it in the corner of our living room. When the daylight fades and the fairy lights begin to twinkle, I think it’s going to look even better than last year’s Aussie bush Christmas tree.

So what do you think? Do you like our tree? Have you ever made an unusual Christmas tree of your own?

PS: See those red wrapped Christmas parcels? Do you know what’s in the boxes? Exciting presents? No, they are empty!

PPS: I think my first tree was inspired by a post on the blog Natural Medley. Jazzy Jack is a very creative person and I remember feeling excited by some of her decorations which were made from whatever she had on hand. I did look for the original post but couldn’t find it. You could hop over and take a look of your own!