Sisters Paid $26 An Hour To Decorate Other People's Christmas Trees

For some, buying a Christmas tree and decorating it is one of the most enjoyable and exciting traditions of the festive period. For others, it is yet another chore in the seemingly never ending annual celebration of commercialisation and faux cheer.

If you belong in the latter camp, then you may be interested in employing the services of sisters Veronika Gentile, 30, and her sister Giovanna Avati, 40, who will decorate your Christmas tree for you - for a price.

Instagram/Veronika Gentile

The business began for the Melbourne-based siblings after Mrs Gentile's elegant and striking Christmas tree caught the eye of her admiring friends.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, mum-of-two Mrs Gentile said: "Four years ago I told my husband I wanted to deck out the house for Christmas.

"I started getting a lot of attention from friends, they loved my ornaments, and one of them even asked if I would set up their tree for them."

Initially, she agreed to do it free of charge, but with demand increasing, she and her sister started charging $26 AUD (£13.40) per hour, with most trees taking about two hours to put together.

Instagram/Veronika Gentile

This year has been their biggest yet, with the pair completing eight trees and raking in $416 AUD (£215.16) before December had even started - though seriously, who are these people paying people to decorate Christmas trees for them in November?

Well, by and large, Mrs Gentile said it is people who just feel as though they don't have time and would rather leave the sisters with the decorations, to let them work their magic.

Going forwards, the siblings plan on expanding their business across Melbourne and hope to set up a Facebook page on which people will be able to place orders.

Of course, if you're not fortunate enough to live in the coastal Australian city, then they ain't gonna be able to help you. However, Mrs Gentile was kind enough to offer up some of her top decorating tips.

She said: 'It's all about positioning. For my own tree I place my ornament, stand back and figure out if it works in that space. I do the same thing for other people.

"Go with what you love. If you want to go out there with a bright orange tree with green ornaments, do it. You're the one that will have to look at it every day.

"We always take some string ribbon to help the ornaments sit nicely. When we put a star on a tree, we use a small wooden or metal bar to make it stay up on the top."

Merry tree decorating, one and all.

Topics: Christmas, Interesting, Community, Australia

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey