Any holiday that affords the opportunity to spend time with family and friends, partaking in yummilicious food and copious amounts of wine and sorrel, I am all in. I love everything about Christmas: the Christmas breeze, the excitement of shopping, the good ole Grand Market nights, the over-the-top decorations, Christmas cake and the smell of fresh-cut pine trees. Oh, the nostalgia!

For years I only used real Christmas trees; you simply cannot beat that intoxicating smell of fresh pine. Unfortunately, I no longer have the time to go to the farm to hand-pick one, so I now order a 10-foot tree, which is delivered to my door by one Mr Edwards.

Having the smell of pine wafting through the house does, however, take commitment; not the green thumb type of commitment, but it will need to be in water throughout the season as trees dry up in a matter of days. I usually place the tree in a deep plastic bucket, pack some large stones around the trunk, then place the bucket in a more attractive container, which I then fill with dirt to anchor the tree. I then use whatever material in colours to complement my decorations to wrap that final container.

I am now ready to decorate:

Step 1: Make a party out of it and invite friends over. Return the favour by helping them out with their trees.

Step 2: A glass of wine in hand and a bottle nearby. It used to be eggnog until I realised the reason why it was so delicious — it’s chock-full of calories!

Step 3: Loud music!

Step 4: Get someone much younger than you are to do the heavy lifting and to climb the ladder to string lights at the top of the tree. Their bones heal much faster!

Step 5: Start the lights from the top of tree and work your way down in a circular motion until you get to the base of the tree. If you like a lot of lights, space rows closely. Always plug lights in to make sure they all work before putting on ornaments so you don’t have to redo.

Step 6: Once I am satisfied with the placement of the lights, I separate all my decorations in groups on the floor — this to allow me to determine which to use first. I then systematically place them on the tree, making sure they are spaced properly by stepping back from time to time to ensure symmetry or that the tree at least looks interesting.

Step 7: I then choose another ornament and repeat the process of placement, ensuring the pieces are evenly distributed. I usually work with one kind at a time and continue the same process until all the pieces are on.

Step 8: As a final touch I use a few special pieces which could be oversized flowers, something glittery, or something homemade — kind of how you’d close off an outfit.

Like most people, I save cherished pieces for reuse year after year depending on my colour scheme or theme or what’s trending. Usually, I have no idea what colours or theme I will use until I see what is available in the stores; I can be inspired by anything I see around me. Inspiration comes when I’m in selection mode or when I get home.

This year, however, I chose an entirely new colour palette and went for colours way outside of the Christmas box, using pinks, purples, greens with touches of gold. The response has been overwhelming with lots of offers to be flown all over to decorate trees.

Do they know I love to travel and will show up at their homes with large suitcases?

All lights and decorations were bought at Fontana Pharmacy and Mega Mart.