Mother offers Christmas tree decoration service for £35-a-tree to help pay home bills

A creative mum from Bristol looking for some extra cash to fund Christmas started a side hustle - as a professional tree decorator. Janine Ralph, 29, opted to turn her love for interior design into a side hustle to get some extra cash for the festive season.

After seeing her gas bills tripled and electric bills doubled amidst the cost of living crisis, the mum-of-two put an ad on Facebook offering to decorate people’s trees for them.

Janine, from Withywood, said she had over 30 responses in just one day from people expressing interest in her services. She now charges upwards of £35 per tree and has clients queueing out the door despite only launching the service a fortnight ago.

Janine, a full-time mum, said: “I’ve always really enjoy decorating trees. All my friends said I should do it as a service - so I put an advert on Facebook Marketplace. I thought if people pay me to do it, that would help out with the cost of Christmas this year.

“As soon as I posted the ad, my phone was blowing up. I actually enjoy it as well. I’ve always loved interior design and decorating my own house. And I get to have a cup of tea and a natter with the clients while I do it.”

Janine first considered the idea after suggestions from friends - and she knew her bills were rising. She said in the past two months her gas prices have tripled and her electric bills have doubled too.

In order to get a little more cash together to give a good Christmas to Amber, three, and Harvey, six, she opted to give the side hustle a go. She created ‘Christmas Decor Service’ and within a matter of hours of posting it on Facebook, she was being flooded with inquiries from potential clients.

She charges £35-£40 for decoration services only, or more if Janine has to put up the tree and add the lights herself. Janine has had no formal training but thanks to online inspiration and a creative eye, she always makes them look spectacular.

She either uses clients’ own decorations or charges an extra fee to buy some to bring with her to use - including more unique items such as mesh and ribbon. In the first two weeks she made £180, and this week her bookings will earn her another £70 to help cover the cost of gifts for family.

She pops out to clients on weekends or while her children go to nursery, and sees roughly three clients per week.

Janine said: “One day when my children are both in school full time I’d love to go and study interior design - so this is at least a step in the right direction. I’ll definitely do it again next year.

“I’ve started making wreaths and garlands next year so maybe I’ll start selling those too.”