Christmas decoration world records broken by two Brits, including 'Nana Baubles'

Sylvia Pope has made the Guinness Book of Records for her stunning bauble collection

Sylvia Pope, known as "Nana Baubles"
Author: Polly Oliver and Ellis Maddison Published 15th Dec 2021
Last updated 15th Dec 2021

For those of us who think our neighbours go a little overboard on the decorations at Christmas, imagine your living room being covered in around 1,800 Christmas baubles.

That's the festive reality for Swansea grandmother Sylvia Pope, who starts putting up her record-breaking 1,760 baubles in September and takes them down in March.

The 79-year-old, known locally as 'Nana Baubles', has just bagged the Guinness World Records title for the largest collection of festive bauble ornaments.

Sylvia Pope in her Swansea home with her record-breaking bauble collection

She's been collecting since 1999 and says she intends to keep growing her collection:

"I suppose it's quite an achievement really. It's taken me a lot of years to get this collection mind, I've been doing it since 1999 so it's quite a long time to build up a collection. And I keep adding to it every year anyway so it will increase every year."

The baubles are an eclectic and classic selection of ornaments from all over the world, lovingly collected on her travels, memorable trips to Harrods and Macy’s in New York and from her local Swansea shops.

The collection has lobster, hamburger and Big Ben shaped baubles, as well as sentimental ones made by her grandkids

Sylvia’s favourite is a Royal Doulton Royal Jubilee celebration bauble, and said: “I do love the Queen, I think she is wonderful, and that bauble is very special.”

Born on Boxing Day, Christmas has always been special for Sylvia, and she has always tried to make it even more magical for her children and grandchildren.

Describing her bauble collection, Sylvia said: “They are an enjoyment. They are so beautiful and bright. It is exciting to see all the different types you can buy.”

See some of the other Christmas-themed Guinness World Records:

Largest collection of Santa Claus memorabilia

Jean-Guy Laquerre (Canada) has 25,104 different items of Santa Claus memorabilia, as of 30 November 2010, that he has been collecting since 1988.

Largest gingerbread house

The largest gingerbread house had an internal volume of 1,110.1 m³ (39,201.8 ft³) and was created by Traditions Club (USA) at Traditions Club, Bryan, Texas, USA on 30 November 2013.

Heaviest sleigh pulled

The heaviest sleigh pulled is 16,500 kg (36,376.273 lbs), and was achieved by Kevin Fast (Canada) in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada, on 23 November 2020.

Largest Santa

The largest Santa is 21.08 m (69.16 ft) tall, 9.18 m (30.12 ft) wide and 12.62 m (41.4 ft) deep, achieved by Municipality of Águeda (Portugal), in Águeda, Portugal, on 12 December 2016.

Largest gathering of Santa Claus

The largest gathering of Santa Claus was achieved by 18,112 people during an event organised by Thrissur Citizenry & Thrissur Archdiocese (India) for Buon Natale Programme 2014 at Nagar Saktan Thampuran Ground, Thrissur, Kerala, India, on 27 December 2014.

Find more festive world records

For the best source to find out more about records this Christmas, check out the Guinness Book of Records 2022.

A record-breaking £350,000 worth of festive brooches

Adam Wade and his immense Christmas brooch collection

Adam Wade, who lives in Berlin but is originally from the UK, has also broken a world record for the largest collection of Christmas brooches.

All 7,929 items are carefully catalogued and lovingly stored, and are now collectively worth a massive £350,000.

His most valuable piece is a plique a jour brooch made of platinum, diamonds, and rubies - but Wade also has rare brooches from distinguished designers, such as Stuart Freeman and the real 'king of bling' Stanley Hadley.

“As soon as I started collecting, I was obsessed – it is fascinating”, Adam said.

“One of the great things about collecting brooches is that it is accessible to everyone. You can start off as I did, buying just a small brooch in Copenhagen and before you know it you have over 8000!”

Craig Glenday, Editor in Chief at Guinness World Records said: "We all need a bit of yuletide cheer right now, and records like these really put a smile on your face.

"Adam and Nana Baubles clearly have an infectious passion for Christmas and have created their own record-breaking winter wonderlands at home. It's wonderful to be able to share their joy of the festive season with the rest of the world."

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