There’s some dubious maths going on around festive shopping! I’ve been trying to search for how many baubles UK homeowners buy every Christmas, which isn’t a widely known statistic. What I did stumble across instead is that we buy enough wrapping paper to either (take your pick) wrap the entire island of Guernsey*  or encase the Shard more than 4,500 times.  

Back to Christmas baubles. What we do know is that over 80% of the 29 million UK households put a tree up each Christmas. And Marks and Spencer have a handy online calculator to help you buy - sorry, count - the number of baubles you'll need depending on the size of your Christmas tree (and whether you like to hang baubles elegantly or vomit everything you own onto the branches - which is me). Based on all of this, I've  calculated that we’re hanging up one billion, one hundred and sixty million baubles a year (at a rate of 50 baubles per tree). 

1,160,000,000 Christmas baubles are going up. You’re going to want a couple that stand out.  And perhaps we all need to think before buying too many new baubles. 

I hear from a lot of people who buy one or two baubles each year: from places they've visited, or for new additions to a growing family, or to add a talking point to a brilliantly eclectic Christmas tree. 

I love the idea of keeping the same Christmas tree decorations from year to year, and gradually building a really personal collection of baubles over time. It's far more sustainable and much more affordable. I wrote something recently about the mass influx of plastic tat we import for the festive season (vs the joy of handmade Christmas gifts and tree decorations of course!) and a more thrifty approach really appeals to me.

The difference of a handmade Christmas bauble: it has meaning

Opening a box of baubles from Next or John Lewis is... nice. They're shiny. You get a new thing. It's ok. 

Seeing a personalised Christmas bauble that's been made for you is next level. It makes you feel something. Especially if it's been written and decorated by hand.

The people who buy my baubles are grandparents, aunties and uncles, dads and mums. They're not really looking for tree decorations - and I know that sounds weird, but what they know they'll get is an experience, a memory and a little family heirloom they'll enjoy year after year. For some - the grandparents - it's a gift they'll be remembered by, each year when the Christmas stuff comes out of the attic ready to decorate the tree. 

Special Christmas baubles are kinder to the planet

I remember my folks being surprised when I told them my personalised baubles are ceramic, not plastic. For calligraphy reasons, to be honest, they absolutely have to be (you try writing on plastic! It's nightmarish!) - but my reasons are rooted in sustainability. 

In the next week or two I'll write more about how I decorate my calligraphy baubles. The ceramic makes them lovely to hold (like having a little bird in your hand) as I paint, write and varnish each bauble. 

And with the mildest respect to Next and John Lewis, you just don't get that from factory-made mass produced baubles rolling out from a machine - no matter how shiny they might be.

You can buy personalised Christmas baubles for 2026 here.