Lars Jon is a Danish florist and has written a book called ‘Floristens jul’ (in English: The florist’s Christmas), which I am sure is very much welcome, now it is Christmas soon. Although for Lars Jon, Christmas is not limited to only December – it is all year round. On his many walks in the woods or in gardens, he is foraging, just like a squirrel gathers nuts to save for the winter. Every year Lars Jon visits busy families and decorates their home, which he enjoys very much. But even though decorating is his profession, he is not afraid to give away some tips. You get to experience a lot of nature, and if it is a family with young children the gathered materials for the Christmas decorations get a new meaning. Today many people also collect things from the nature with friends. Even us with neighbours, we collect materials and then make the decorations together in the greenhouse.

The first decoration – a Danish tradition

In Denmark it is a Christmas tradition to light a candle with 24 days printed on the side. Each day the candle is lit until the 24^th December.

In the preface, I came across a particular passage in the book that stuck out.

- Many people may still remember their silly Christmas candle decoration with spruce and a tilted candle, which they made in school, Lars Jon writes. But is he right? In my case it makes me think of when I went to preschool. Back then the class went to the woods with the teacher to collect spruce and pine cones in November. We shaped a round ball of clay just big enough to fit a candle and a lump of spruce. Every morning we were allowed to light the candles a few minutes. Me and my classmates were so proud of our creations. I do not recall it being ‘silly’ at all. For me it was quite extraordinary, so no, I do not see it as silly in any way. It is more our busy schedules I find silly. We are so busy today that we end up leaving everything to the professionals because we do not have the time or we are prioritising differently.

But that is a different story. What Lars Jon may be referring to is that everything must be perfect nowadays, and that we are afraid to try at all. Even a lump of clay and a spruce twig is art. And should you want to add some colour, you can take a walk in the forest or in the garden to go exploring. Many of Lars Jon’s creations are fun for children and also the adults can take part. There are many books about decorations, but only a few have thought of the children when writing the book. Luckily, this book has done just that.