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Mere baubles are so Christmas past. The trend for flaunting one’s foodcentric credentials and dressing the tree with food and drink-themed bling is gaining momentum with a far more diverse and creative selection this year. From bagels to coffee machines, pomegranates to caviar, these are the most inventive, amusing and beautiful foodcentric baubles to deck the halls, trees and wherever else this Christmas (and, make great last-minute guest gifts to be remembered by).
Start with paying homage to those important pieces of culinary kit that help get you make Christmas dinner, including a vintage stand mixer of impressive accuracy from Graham and Green. Surprisingly there are no Kitchenaid or Thermomix baubles to be had this year, but I predict more gadget decorations for Christmas 2023.
Food mixer bauble, photo courtesy of Graham and Green
Thinking of the all-important Christmas stocking, Nigella Lawson memorably wrote that she always received a pomegranate in her stocking as a child - partly to occupy her with picking out the seeds - whilst her parents got up in the morning. Go glam with Sous Chef’s pomegranate embellished with crystals, whose gems catch the lights on the tree. Tellingly, this graces the foodie tree of Nicola Lando, founder of Sous Chef, an extraordinary source of culinary equipment, tableware and ingredients for food lovers. Liberty’s have a covetable jewel-like hanging pomegranate bauble too. Add a very beautiful bar of gold-dusted chocolate from Fortnum & Mason.
Cooks rise early on Christmas Day to prepare the feast. A decent breakfast is a must, so Sous Chef’s sourdough starter and rashers of bacon together make a complete bacon sandwich on the tree. There’s be-jewelled avocado too for millennial wannabes, one of an idiosyncratic range from Choosing Keeping’s hand-blown glass decorations, all made in Europe, specifically in villages that have historically been involved in the production of Christmas ornaments. As each is handmade, it reflects the personality and eccentric humour of its maker.
Graham & Greene also have a glam avocado with a gold seed and lashings of glitter too. Plus, of course, a decent coffee is a must: either a cafetiere, or better still a proper barista machine that is probably on a lot of Christmas lists.
There’s a veritable drinks cabinet of boozy tree decorations from champagne and pink gin, to limoncello. Very much on trend is a set of four tequila-themed decorations, with everything from the bottle to the salt shaker.
For true decadence, start Christmas entertaining with caviar. Its origin is in a Persian word meaning ‘cake of strength’, and it was the Persians who first extracted caviar from sturgeon and enjoyed it in the 16th century. They thought caviar had healing properties. The Gisela Graham glass and striking blue hand-painted caviar tin is impressively realistic and a reminder, perhaps, to treat oneself to caviar in 2023. Seafood lovers could opt for a Vondel hand blown and hand decorated oyster shell with pearl. A more sustainable addition would be a handmade lobster crafted in Nepal by artisans using traditional techniques and natural and biodegradable materials and dyes from Felt So Good, founded by Adele Zara Collinson in 2009.
Even the meal itself is celebrated with a bauble. There is great attention to detail on a splendid glass turkey from Gisela Graham with all the accompaniments. Brussels sprout baubles have been around for a while, and complement the tree even for sprout deniers. Gisela Graham, clearly a brussels believer, makes beautiful decorations in glass, metal and resin, decorated with colourful glitter.
Photo courtesy of Graham & Green
Hand-felted and hand crocheted pigs in blanket may appeal for a more folky look. Etsy have a selection. And for those who can’t live without hot sauce, there’s Sriracha for the tree, in the form of a mini hot sauce bottle.
Festive desserts that aren’t traditional Christmas pudding are more popular than ever this year, as more people fess up to simply not enjoying plum pudding. For traditionalists, Sass & Belle have a holly-topped felt pudding decoration that is handmade and intricately embroidered with beads to sparkle under the Christmas lights.
Even those post Christmas food rituals of sushi to refresh the palate can now adorn the tree. Sushi decorations have been a bauble bestseller and now hard to come by though there’s a super ramen bowl complete with chopsticks, plus plenty of pizza, tacos, and brilliant foil-wrapped burritos, all available in miniature for the tree too. Happy seasons feasting.
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