The Laboratory

I was lucky enough to be on a "wellbeing and shopping day" off school yesterday, just as the RMT started their month-long strike, so I just had to go up to London and see all the big Christmas decorations! Every year Tate Britain commissions an artist to do a big winter thing, and this year Anne Hardy has turned the facade into a ghostly ruin. It's called "Depth Of Darkness, The Return Of The Light" and has a soundtrack of rain, thunder, birds and insects. It turns out Anne was born in 1970, just like me, which means (hint hint) we'll both be 50 next year. Also spotted from the 1970 vintage was this great Greek restaurant in Fitzrovia, near the Post Office Tower. And the other Christmassy thing I saw was a genuine gingerbread house - well, almost! Balthazar in Covent Garden have turned their restaurant into a child's dream come true.

Christmas treats! We made a final (slightly drizzly) trip to London to see some art (at the slug-laden Tate) and visit Scandinavian Kitchen for special saffron Semlor buns. Adam also spotted Marzipan that makes him want to take a special trick to Lubeck, the home of marzipan in Germany. Sarah trated herself to a melty snowman cookie in Pret.

Our neighbours seem to be getting caught up in one of those "Deck The Halls" competitions starring Matthew Broderick and Danny de Vito, trying to out-do each other with garish Christmas lights covering their houses. They pale into obscurity, however next to Tate Britain. The art gallery in London is embellishing its façade with a garish display of Christmas lights,  including a selection of LED Santas, reindeer, snowmen and Christmas trees, along with ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Santa Stop Here’ signs. The artist Alan Kane calls it "Home for Christmas" and it is instead of the Tate's usual Christmas tree. The neo-classical frontage of the building was designed by the architect Sidney RJ Smith 120 years ago, and has never looked better!

So it appears a lot of you have been doing Christmas decorating this weekend. While we've got our wreath up, there hasn't been time for the tree. But maybe you've decided to go a bit arty with your tree this year, perhaps like Tate Britain has done... Hanging upside down from the glass ceiling in the Millbank entrance, Shirazeh Houshiary’s Christmas Tree can be appreciated from different perspectives at three levels of the gallery. The tip of the tree from the lower floor, the floating body from the ground, and the glittering roots covered in gold leaf open into an abstract star formation when viewed from the upper floor.

This year's Tate Tree has been a bit of a shock. After recent years with fighter planes, upside down trees and a tree in a skip, the one on display at Tate Britain is terrifyingly traditional. "Weihnachtsbaum" by Tacita Dean is covered with yellow candles, in holders with spherical weights hanging beneath. These, Dean points out, were the origin of the now ubiquitous Christmas baubles. At the top is a century-old German decoration Dean found in the flea market of Berlin, where she lives and which features in many of her recent artworks. The Telegraph has thoughtfully provided a slideshow of previous years - do enjoy!

This year's tree at Tate Britain has been launched and it's even wackier than ever. Artist Bob and Roberta Smith (real name Martin Brill) is encouraging people to make their own art, and join in on the exercise bikes at the base of the tree. Let us know what you think of it, especially if you get to have a go!