Christmas-mad thrifty mum has transformed the same artificial tree into a creative new design for the last five years
A CHRISTMAS-mad mum transforms the same artificial tree into an incredible new design each year – all for just £40.
Mum-of-three Tina Robinson spends three weeks in the run-up to Christmas turning their tree into a themed spectacle.
Tina, 40, has gone for a minion design, crafted a tree shaped like the Grinch and created decorations inspired by a family holiday to Florida.
She also made one in the shape of an angel in memory of their grandparents.
The stay-at-home mum bought the fake tree in 2015, and decided to give it a festive makeover every year after branding their old decorations “boring”.
Tina, from Preston, said: “I make all sorts of stuff. I’ve always been quite crafty and I love Christmas.
“I got the idea when I went to Florida, I came back and made a Minion tree. Nobody wants the same Christmas decorations every year.
“I usually spend £40 on the decorations, I always get new baubles to match the theme but it’s the same tree under the decorations.
“It’s good to be different – our old tree was just so ordinary, it came out of the loft every year and it was just boring.
“Now, it looks different each year.”
This year she made sure her 5ft tree is hanging from the ceiling so the family’s new adopted French bulldog, Caesar, can’t reach it.
Tina added: “Caesar can’t be trusted yet, so I’ve attached hooks in the ceiling and hung each branch up and put his kennel underneath so he can’t reach it.”
The mum goes shopping at garden centres and eBay to find a bargain, spending an hour a night perfecting her tree.
Some of her more memorable masterpieces included a snowman tree and an Elf-themed design – which had a pair of Santa’s legs sticking out the top.
She said her kids, Leah, 22, Dean, 21, and Jay, 11, can’t wait to see what she comes up with each year, but her partner, Craig Wardley, 40, thinks she’s ‘crazy’.
Tina said: “Jay loves it. He gets excited to see what I’m going to make and he helps me.
“I start planning about one month before, I’ll draw a picture and then start collecting the decorations.
“It gets me in the Christmas spirit.
“I love that Christmassy feeling, it’s brilliant.
“One year, we made our own minion baubles with yellow paint and stuck some googly eyes on them.
“It’s a nice thing for us to do together as well.
“But Craig does wonder where on earth I get all these crazy ideas from.”
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