At the front of Tracy Soward-Amalfi’s home in Moranbah, Queensland, an old dog kennel up-cycled into a candy cane house sits by lollipops, peppermint candies and north pole lights.
“I’ve been in love with Christmas my whole life,” she says. “I’m already starting to plan Christmas 2022”.
Tracy is one of thousands of self-described “Christmas addicts” who gather on social media groups to share tips, tricks and pictures of their increasingly elaborate, merry displays.
This year, Tracy renovated an old carriage prop into a festive, fairy-light-covered Christmas suite, complete with a nutcracker soldier and glittering reindeers.
“My parents made it a special family time … to share and create memories,” Tracy says.
“To some it is a dark time, but by being caring and joyous you can really impact people in profound ways. I love doing the Christmas lights because it brings joy and happiness, not just to our own kids, but to everyone in our town.”
Tracy isn’t alone. Christmas Mums Australia – a group she frequents – has grown to over 49,000 members since it was established in 2017. It received more than 5,000 posts in the month of November alone.
In the lead-up to Christmas, the group receives hundreds of posts a day, as members update each other on how they’re faring in their merry march towards 25 December. Many spend hours constructing their displays from cut-outs or up-cycled furniture items, fairly lights woven across their extravagant decorations.
One woman has had her Christmas decorations up since July this year because it “gave [her] something to do”. “Pandemic decorating”, she calls it. “Most of us live and breathe Christmas all year,” another explains.
Since its humble beginnings, Christmas Mums has evolved to become a hub for lively discussion and debate: whether people still hang candy canes on their Christmas tree; where to get gold sequin Santa hats in Perth; or what to buy a 74-year-old mum who “has everything”.
The group is one of many pages that have bobbed up in the past few years. Many festive fanatics join a string of them to maximise ideas and inspiration.
Chrisy Nut created Outdoor Christmas Decorating Down Under two years ago. The group now has more than two thousand members and three rules: be kind and courteous, no hate speech or bullying, and no spam.
Chrisy has 17 Christmas trees on display throughout her house this year – some bare branch, others decorated.
“I don’t care if you’ve got a bare tree or a stick for a Christmas tree … it’s beautiful,” she says. “You can have the most elaborate displays and that’s beautiful too … everyone’s Christmas is different.”
A sufferer of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, Chrisy says Christmas is her “coping mechanism” that, unfortunately, only comes once a year.
“My house sparkles, but not from cleaning products, from the glitter,” she says.
Her entire Summerland Point home is a hive of baubles, angels and tinsel come December. Virtually every corner is filled with Christmas items – from winking Santas to life-size snowmen.
“I have life-size polar bears, penguins … musical elves. It gives me peace. It’s my go to – my one true escape,” Chrisy says.
“I’m waiting for a huge candy nutcracker that I’ve been paying off all year and I’m already thinking about next Christmas. I’ll do full-on candy theme and give the polar bears and penguins a rest.”
Two rooms in her four-bedroom house are devoted to Christmas items, while a solarium holds her more commercial pieces. “You can just squeeze past the car in the garage,” Chrisy laughs.
“But if my house brings joy, that’s fabulous … we need some happiness.”
Astrid Hocking is a regular in the group, and several others. She’s been decorating her Lake Macquarie home inside and out since October. It’s now complete with a Santa letter box out the front for local children to send mail to.
“My husband has great delight personally taking a lot of time writing and posting them a response,” she says.
For the past 25 years, Astrid’s Christmas tradition has been to place all her ornaments at the base of her tree at the start of November. Each time family and friends come to visit, they’re offered to pick an ornament, and the tree is slowly filled.
“I’ve been celebrating Christmas since I was married. It wasn’t big for my family growing up, maybe that’s why I made a conscious effort to make it special,” she says.
“People say ‘when is the tree coming up,’ and parents and grandparents gather from other suburbs to see our decorations … everyone wants to come to our house.”
While nobody else on her street decorates as she does, Astrid doesn’t mind.
“I think in a way people stop and smell the roses for a moment,” she says. “People speak to their neighbours … most Christmases people tend to be kinder and I love that as well.
“At Christmas, everything seems more special.”
