A Huge Range of Christmas Baubles ● Mail Order Delivery ● Great Deals on Christmas Tree Baubles and Xmas Baubles

Christmas Baubles UK are an authorise eBay affliliate and are delighted to bring together for you an extensive range of Christmas baubles along with some unbeatable savings!  Click on the links to the left to browse our ranges of xmas baubles or use the search facility at the top of the page.  We will not be beaten on price and what better way to beat the Christmas crush than by shopping from the comfort and convenience of your own home and having the perfect Christmas decorations for you delivered to your door.

A well decorated Christmas tree, complete with twinkling lights and gleaming Christmas baubles, conjures fond memories of Christmases past. Whether natural or artificial, the Christmas tree will grace most homes this festive season, and is one of the most beloved and recognised symbols of Christmas. We are delighted to offer a great Christmas bauble range to grace your Christmas trees. Our stocklist features an unbelievable range of Christmas decorations to make your tree just perfect.

Christmas tree baubles come in such a wide variety to suit all tastes and budgets.  Some of the vintage and antique Christmas baubles are simply sublime, or, if you're looking for a more modern look, black xmas baubles are very much en vogue - they look fantastic on a white tree for a chic, contemporary look.

The Origins of Christmas Trees

It's a little known fact that the tradition of decorating trees in December actually pre-dates Christmas. The fir symbolised Spring to the Vikings, and after the cruel winter brought hope for easier times. The fir was also worshipped by Druids as a manifestation of the gods. Because the fir kept it's colour when the other plants and trees had dropped their leaves, to the Druids, it represented eternal life. The first to decorate their trees were the Pagans, who brought their trees indoors as an invitation to the fairies to enter their homes and partake in the celebrations!

Christmas trees originated in Germany. German settlers brought them over to the US and the craze began from there. Baubles were made from very fine glass and often hand painted with wonderful design. They were obviously very delicate and for that reason, an antique bauble makes a rare and wonderful find today. had The first Christmas tree in England is believed was brought by Prince Albert for his wife in the 1840s. A photograph of the Queen Victoria and the Royal Family standing in front of the splendid Christmas tree, decorated with candles gingerbread, was printed in London Illustrated News. Despite being printed in just black and white, the photo impressed, and the Christmas tree took the country by storm. The tree and Christmas decorations were not in those times put up until Christmas Eve, and taken down on 6th January (known as Twelfth Night). These days many Christmas trees go up as early as the second or third week of December.

Decorating Your Christmas Tree

Whether it's the trusty, old set from Woolies or one of the new LCD versions, you'll want to test your Christmas lights before putting them on the tree. There is nothing worse than discovering they aren't working when you've just added the finishing touches, and having to start all over again. Begin at the bottom and be sure to leave enough slack lead to reach the plug socket. When purchasing Christmas lights, remember the longer they are the better the display. A 3 metre set of lights disappears suprisingly quickly and, on a big tree, will leave you with a sorry looking tree. The longer the string of lights you purchase, the more impressive your tree will look. Naturally, a pre-lit tree is the ideal solution, taking all the hard work out of dressing your Christmas tree. If your fairy lights do come separately, wrap them around the tree starting from the bottom and working your way up to the top. Keep in mind that the Christmas tree narrows as you get higher up so you will need to use more lights towards the base, at the same time making sure you have enough slack left to get the last light to the top of the tree and illuminate your star or angel.

If you want to use beads or tinsel, now is the time to hang it. Just as you did the lights, work your way around the Christmas tree starting from bottom to top. Tinsel is handy for hiding the wires from the lights if you don't have a pre-lit tree.

When hanging your baubles, it's better to distribute those of the same design evenly distributed across the Christmas tree. Smaller baubles are placed at the top, large at the bottom, with medium worked through in between.

The best dressed trees share one thing in common: colour co-ordination. Whether it's purple and gold, white and blue, or traditional primary colours, colour co-ordination is vital.

Whether you prefer angels or stars it doesn't matter. Either is the icing on the cake. And that's it. All done!

The Origins of Baubles

It is generally accepted that the Christmas tree as we know it today originated from Germany. The earliest example of Christmas tree decorations dates back several centuries, when the fashion began for German Christmas trees to be decorated with simple white candles. Though extremely attractive, this mode of decoration and obviously had inherent fire safety risks.

Over the years baubles have evolved in a huge range of styles and materials. The bauble holds an irreplaceable place in Christmas tree decoration, from the handmade star crafted by the children to expensive collector baubles, though the Christmas tree can do without lights, tinsel and beads, to have a Christmas tree without baubles is simply inconceivable.

The Latvians upstaged the Germans' craze for white candles, instead decorating their Christmas trees with beautiful blooming roses. The French developed this trend, fashioning wonderful silk and paper flowers and decorating their trees with candy, nuts and candles (very beautiful, but again, something of a fire risk!). The fashion for Christmas tree decorations exploded in the 1600s where families tried to outdo each other by creating all kinds of ornaments to bedeck their trees. The public began to use ornately painted egg shells to decorate their Christmas tree, and it could be said that the bauble as we know it arose from here, this somewhat rudimentary but beautifully delicate forerunner.

In England, the fashion took a new turn as households began draping beautiful glass beads around their trees, and finishing them with wonderful, intricately handsewn snowflakes. Since then, Christmas tree decoration has seen the use of nuts, cookies, candy canes, and even edible fruit. Gingerbread was popular in Germany where it was fashioned into various shapes such as angels, bells and stars. The Americans often used strings of berries such as the cranberry. Ribbons of metal foil are a popular Christmas tree decoration up to this day as is, of course, tinsel. Small gifts would be hung from the boughs of the tree, sometimes in little hand fashioned baskets.

It was not until the late 19th century that the bauble as we see it today came on to the market. This christmas tree decoration originates in Germany and was handcrafted from lead or glass. The original baubles were not the mass produced, inexpensive items we often imagine today but were produced with a great deal of care by highly skilled craftsmen and highly prized by their owners. A few examples occasionally creep onto the market today from this era and can fetch amazing prices.

Mass production of baubles spread across the world with the advent of industry and the factory line. More affordable versions saturated the market - the chance for everyone to add a touch of sparkle to their tree, not just the privileged few. Sadly, the huge handmade bauble industry in the German cities of Dresden and Lauscha began to fade as cheaper versions came on to the market. What had been a community of Artisans and craftsmen began to fall into decline.

In the early 20th century, Japan join the market manufacturing mass produced pieces on a phenomenal scale. The Czech Republic also began to produce baubles, these being higher end pieces and, Czech glass being prized the world over, these pieces make a great find today. World Wars I and II obviously saw Christmas bauble production dwindle as materials were poured into the war effort. Post-World War II, the Americans took up the gauntlet of mass production, and never looked back.

baubles are today made from a huge variety of materials and come in an amazing array of shapes, sizes and colours. From budget shatterproof baubles, to collector's baubles; mirror ball baubles to antique, there is a spectacular variety of baubles on the market to compliment all decors and dress up your tree to perfecton. Scroll down to view our showcase of items available on eBay today and take advantage of some fantastic savings.

Winnie the Pooh Set of 4 Christmas Tree Baubles 12971    $11.86

10 X VINTAGE CHRISTMAS BAUBLES 4 x LARGE BAUBLES & 6 SMALLER    $7.89

Mickey Mouse Set of 4 Christmas Tree Baubles NEW Ref: 15086    $11.86

Manchester Utd FC 2 Shirt baubles Christmas Decoration    $6.31

Bombki Fortnum & Mason Christmas tree baubles    $79.04

8 OLD VINTAGE RETRO 1960S ? bronze gold CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATIONS BAUBLES    $7.89

Merry Christmas Set of 4 Christmas Tree Baubles 14057    $7.82

Tottenham Spurs Shirt baubles Xmas Christmas Decoration    $6.31

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