A Co Antrim mum and dad made a toddler-proof Christmas tree that is NAILED to their wall after their mischievous son pulled apart his grandma's fir.
Michelle and Darren Montgomery had taken their son Tiernan to visit his grandma and the little toddler was immediately drawn to her beautifully decorated Christmas tree.
Despite his parents protests, cheeky Tiernan repeatedly tried to pull the tree down, sending baubles flying across the living room and leaving every decoration dented.
Fearing the worst for their own tree, his parents came up with a plan for a toddler-proof Christmas tree that would survive 18 month old Tiernan's grabbing hands.
Wrapping tinsel and lights around pieces of lath wood, joiner Darren, 39, NAILED their unique tree to the living room wall in their home in Larne, and the result is a work of festive genius.
Insurance administrator Michelle, 37, said: "After seeing how he stripped his granny and grandad's tree, there was no way we were putting one up in our house!
"Tiernan wanted to climb it and decided to have great fun playing football with the baubles.
"He kept taking all the baubles off and throwing and kicking them - every bauble on my mum's tree now has dents in them.
"He didn't pull the tree down but was constantly pulling at it so my husband and I decided we had to think of something Tiernan proof.
"My husband decided he would attach two pieces of lath to the wall with screws so Tiernan couldn't pull it off the wall.
"We then used cup hooks from top to bottom on each piece of lath to hold the tinsel and copper wire lights.
"We are quite a creative family and we love anything quirky and different from the normal.
"We are really pleased with how well it turned out, especially for only spending about £20!"
