It’s official, at least in our house. Thanksgiving has passed, and the Christmas music marathon has begun.
Among other things, we’re debating what sort of Christmas tree to have this year. Yes, we usually have a tree.
When we lived in Ohio, we nearly always did the traditional pilgrimage through the bitter cold and snow at the local Christmas tree farm, with a borrowed bowsaw in hand and all the little ones frolicking around. We would cut down the biggest, fattest, heaviest tree in the farthest corner of the tree farm, then drag it 1/2 mile back to the car while the cold wet whimpering kids lagged behind. Then we would dig the car out of the snow, drive home at 15 mph, and try in vain to cram the tree through the front door without breaking or cutting off half the branches.
Ah, memories.
While there is some sort of Christmas tree farm near us now, I’m not sure what we would find there besides much nicer weather. I’ve seen the trees that grow around here, and it’s not pretty – although we’d probably have absolutely NO trouble fitting them through the door. We could fit most of the trees here through the door in the little plastic playhouse on the front deck.
A part of us cries out for the real tree. That part is mostly the part under the age of 18, but I have to admit that I love the smell of a real tree, and anything else feels just a little bit like a cop-out. There’s something nostalgic about real trees – even more so when you cut your own. I don’t think less of others who opt for artificial trees, but I do think less of the phony trees themselves. I have spent so many years loudly proclaiming my disdain for artificial trees that it’s humbling to even admit I’m tempted.
But tempted, I am. We are. Artificial trees have come a long way, and they don’t look nearly as bad as the ones I always made faces about. I could almost tolerate a nice one with lights built in. Just think how easy it would be. Just a trip to the shed, and a quick easy setup. No staring at 500 trees trying to figure out which bare spots will work with our furnishings and ornaments. No long, slow drive home, hoping it’s still on top of the van when we get there. No struggle up the steps, no searching for a saw to cut an inch off the bottom, no search for the tree stand that always ends up being too small or missing a piece anyway. No worries about watering, and dropped needles, and fire hazards, and disposal. Instead of an all day affair, The Tree would be 30 minutes of happy family time followed by snacks.
See how happy we would be?
The initial investment for a nicer artificial tree is much higher than the price of a nice big cut tree, but it would pay off over time – if we didn’t change our minds and decide we hated it after the first year. We could buy a cheaper one as a trial the first year, then upgrade next year, but what if the cheap one convinces us that we hate artificial trees when we might have actually liked a more expensive one?
See how difficult this decision is?
More than one year, we have skipped the tree altogether. This made me very happy, but it also made me feel like Scrooge every time I chuckled with glee at the absence of pine needles on my floor. My joy came at the expense of others. Never mind.
I’ve always wanted a live, potted tree that would spend most of December out on the deck. Then it would join us indoors for a few days right around Christmas, and we would plant it somewhere in the yard where it could spend years growing into a real tree with deep meaning for our family. Its brothers would join it year by year, and someday we would have an entire row of majestic trees in varying sizes from Christmases past, each reminding us of the joys of being a family.
Isn’t it beautiful?
The only problem with this scenario is that we would never remember to water the newly planted trees, and they would each die a long, slow death before being joined by a brother. Our row of memories would be death row.
Not such a pretty thought after all.
When we were first building our house and the walls were just bare drywall, we used floor enamel to paint a big shiny green tree on the wall. We used pushpins to hang all of our regular ornaments right on the wall. Even garland was strung from side to side. It was fun and quirky, and we thought it was very pretty, though the old cellphone snapshot didn’t do it justice.
This year, in addition to the options already mentioned, we’re considering another fun and quirky alternative. Let’s keep it a surprise until we decide whether to use the idea.
If you do Christmas trees, what sort do you usually do? Why?
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Only real trees for us! My link up there goes to our *why* for having a Christmas tree. My dad is a small tree farmer–well, the farms are small. The trees are normal-sized, and so is my father–so I’d feel weird buying a Chinese-made thing. Buy a real tree this year. A struggling farmer will thank you. It’s been a rough year. :0)
As a child I loved the real tree. We had them on our property so all year long we would deliberate which was the right size for the coming year. In the spring we would burn the past year’s tree and roast marshmallows. Now, this is no longer an option, and I find the real thing to be too much upkeep especially on carpet. For several years we made tree shapes on the windows with the lights or just skipped that. One year we had someone turn in an artificial tree to the church yard sale with a bunch of sad ornaments. We brought it home and called it our Charlie Brown tree. It pleased the girls who were all under 6. It made me wish for a pretty and artificial tree. Three years ago we bought a $60 artificial tree and have loved it every year. We are careful to pack it away by groups of colors for easy put up the next year. I love it. We can put it up as early as we want and leave it up as long as we want. You do need a good storage place and I wish the box lasted as well as the tree has! I look forward to a picture of whatever you decide!
I had to get an artificial tree the first year of our marriage because my husband is allergic to the real trees. I thought it would be horrible, but I love it now. The artificial ones hardly lose any needles, you can take it down whenever you want (not as much of an issue if you don’t live in the city and have to have it at the curb on a certain day), and they’re never lop-sided. Now we’ve upgraded to one with lights in it, and I’ll certainly never go back. It’s too wonderful for words.
We’ve been where you are. I grew up with only real trees, and my husband (who was born and raised in Maine) always had artificial. He was gracious enough to go along with the real trees at Christmastime.
But several years ago, things changed. Physically it was more of a difficulty to do the real tree, and the artificial tree made sense. We splurged on a decent one at Target, and we’ve never looked back.
I’m not a big fan of the pre-lit trees, but that’s because I prefer the C7 lights and I like to be able to put them where I want to. We can also put up the tree Thanksgiving weekend and leave it up until New Year’s Day with no needles dropping (I don’t miss getting tree needles in the sock; I also don’t miss watering the tree and trying to keep it moist.)
With our artificial tree, we have the individual branches to insert (maybe most of them are this way, I don’t know; I know some just fold down) so I play around with the sizes and insert different ones here and there so that it looks less like a perfectly symmetrical tree. One member of my family has difficulty with that every year:) because I dare to mix pink and green but that’s how we individualize our tree (and I can hear that member saying, “You got THAT right!”LOL).
Only thirty minutes of family time around an aritificial tree? Allow a little more first time around:)!
Have fun choosing!
Krista
Cute idea! I get our Christmas decorations up about every other year (since I seem to be pregnant about every other year and can’t manage it). We did a fake tree a few years, but with the living room being the main play space, and three under four, I just can’t manage it anymore. (We’ve never done a real tree because I have serious allergies–embrace the fake. They are pretty nice. You can get a pine spray to simulate the smell). Fake trees do shed, by the way.
Last year I hung (fake) garland across our 14′ of built-in book cases in the living room and hung all the ornaments on it. I put some electric votives throughout the garland and it looked quite nice. Not sure if I’m going to get it all out this year given the demands of the children right now (nursing cranky colicky 3 month old, needy cranky slightly naughty 18 month old, and SPD issues all over the place almost-four year old).
I was staunchly ‘real-tree only’ until I was married and we had to buy our own. I almost immediately switched gears and we got an artificial tree. I have never regretted it! Artificial trees can be re-used year after year, come perfectly symmetrical and straight, don’t shed needles, don’t need to be watered, don’t dry out…the advantages have far outweighed the things I miss about real trees. The only thing lacking is the evergreen smell, and getting several nice evergreen-scented candles is a satisfactory solution
real trees are a huge fire hazard….just sayin’…and I am married to a firefighter who has put out many a fire started by a real tree….but you are right, they do smell wonderful, try the pine scented plug in air freshener
We only use fake Christmas trees in this house. I’m allergic to the real ones. We used to have an old color coded tree with all of the pieces and had to string the lights. Now we have a tree that is in three separate pieces and it already has the lights. It’s super easy, just snap them together, fluff the branches and decorate. I have to admit though I do love the idea of a real tree.
Personally I prefer artificial. Thankfully (for our budget, for one) right now my husband is letting me having my artificial tree. ALL growing up, we used ONE tree. I remember putting it up with my parents and, at the end of my at-home years, my sister and I were able to put the tree up ALL BY OURSELVES. Fabulous! Lots of great memories there
Once in our married life we have bought a tree. It was quite expensive, heavy, a lot of work. And then even MORE work to figure out how to dispose of at the end of the season!
Growing up we never had a Christmas tree. Instead, we had a Christmas forest. We’d gather all the houseplants together and put lights and mini ornaments on them. It was beautiful, and unique, and cheap!
BTW, what toys do you have for your little ones? (especially as infants)? I’m trying to figure out the perfect mix without the toys overwhelming our house and I know you guys have to minimize space/maximize use.
Artificial. No mess, no dead fire hazard, and no poor tree killed in it’s youth. BUT more importantly, no more being sick on Christmas morning due to an apparent allergy to the drying and dying tree in my living room (took me a few years to catch on). Artificial trees have come a long way even from when we bought ours. Be cautious of how they are assembled, some are easier than others. Look at the samples in a store, inside the branches if you can. I’d like one that stays together in 2 pieces and all the branches are hinged, kind of like an umbrella, now that would be spectacular. As for the aroma…since that’s what was harming me, I am okay without it, however, you can always have a wreath or a few boughs for that.
Three cheers for real trees!! It’s not just about the scent….they look more beautiful! Of course, I understand individual limitations due to allergies and such, but for me, a fresh pine is one of my favorite parts of Christmas decorating. I do love your unique painted tree! Great idea. Merry Christmas!
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I used to love real trees until I had toddlers who pulled off the decorations and half the pine needles with it! So we went artificial and haven’t looked back. Ours is a bit shimmery so it looks frosty. I decided that I didn’t want it pretending to be real so it does look a bit fake but still very pretty. It has also helped with the fact that we only put up decorations the Sunday before Christmas so the only trees left in the shops where the half bare ones! Now we get it out of the loft whenever we are ready for it!
I could have written the first half of your post! For as many of my 34 years as I can remember, I was passionate about real Christmas tress, for all the reasons you mentioned. Last year we hauled our tree out after New Years and stood it up in the back yard where we planned to burn it. We gathered the children around and thought it would become the newest family tradition
From the time the lighter touched the bottom branches to the time the smoke was blowing away, three and a half minutes had passed. The intensity of the fire was overwhelming and my husband and I were shocked. We had no idea that a dead tree could burn so quickly and with flames so hot and very little smoke. I could go on … that night my husband stopped the store on the way to church and snagged a tree on clearance for 70% off. I’m so sad we didn’t make the switch years before! We put up our tree the week before Thanksgiving this year and it was just like you described … 30 minutes of family fun followed by snacks, accompanied by Christmas music and a crackling fire (that my husband had time to build because he wasn’t trying to tie the tree down to the walls to keep it from falling over in the night and breaking half the ornaments).
If you’re looking for family memories … you’ll never regret it!
We’ve always had an artifical tree because I’m allergic to real ones. Honestly, I’m not that disappointed, because picking up pine needles all month doesn’t sound very fun to me. I am tempted though to buy one of those pine scented freshners to hang on the tree.
BTW my parents now decorate a tree placed outside their front window. (so outside the house)
I grew up in Minnesota, and REAL trees were readily available – gorgeous, fragrant, mmm…
Since I’ve been married, we got a real tree maybe twice (in 17 yrs.), as we were able to find a beautiful artificial tree at Walmart AFTER Christmas one year. I think we paid $20, and we’ve had more than one person ask if it’s a real tree. You’re right, fake trees have come a long way. If I were you, put up a Charlie Brown style tree this year (not the aluminum one), and shop the sales after Christmas. You might be surprised what you’ll find. And, Febreez makes a pine-scented spray that’s pretty close to the real scent! Just spray every so often, hee hee.
Oh, and my children, ages almost 14 on down, assemble the tree every year now, without assistance. No hastle for Ma and Pa, and they have a lot of fun!
We had a real tree the first year of our marriage, and moved to artificial after that. I agree with everything the “fake tree” people are saying — easy to install, probably safer, no pine needles dropping, etc. I DO love real trees but it is just too much work right now; I seriously doubt we’ll ever get another real one but I enjoy real ones in other people’s houses!
No choice for us – I am deathly allergic to the real trees, so we can only go with the artificial!
Loved real trees when I was younger but then I got my own flat and realised it was my carpet and my furniture all the stupid needles were going on so I decided to go for artificial. Also unless you can replant your tree I think it is very environmentally unfriendly. There are some brilliant artificial ones on the market these days that look just as good as the real thing but dont make such a mess! Good luck in whatever you decide!x
My husband and I had this debate last year — it was our first time putting up a tree together (first time we’d had a place large enough to put up a tree of any real size), and we debated endlessly between real and artificial. In the end, we went with a beautiful, artificial, pre-lit 7.5 foot tree for around $200. I highly recommend this route — it should last us several years and it IS nice not to have pine needles everywhere.
If you get an artificial tree, two things to keep in mind: 1. Have a place to store the thing. We keep it in the attic, and it fits fine, but it’s a pain in the you-know-what to get it up and down. Make sure you put the tree in something with handles to make it easier. Which brings me to: 2. Buy a tree bag to store it in, as opposed to keeping the box. Trust me. My husband didn’t want to buy a tree bag last year, insisting instead that we could just put it back in the box and it’d be fine. It got in there okay, but we discovered last weekend that the box completely deteriorated over the last year, resulting in the tree catapulting onto my husband’s head on the attic stairs. I need not tell you what he said when that happened, but the end result is that we now have a nice red tree bag all ready for the end of the season.
Go artificial! I think it’s easier and cheaper over the long-haul, and they can look just as pretty as real trees.
I am pro-real tree, but the decision is entirely your own. I did want to speak up to clear up a misconception. Real trees are more environmentally friendly than fake trees. These are the facts as I know it:
Fake trees have an average “life span” of five or six years then it just sits in a landfill as it is not biodegradable, they are energy-intensive to produce, energy-intensive to ship as most are manufactured in Asia, and most are manufactured using polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs).
Real trees are renewable, biodegradable, farm crops that are produced in the U.S (typically very locally), is a $1 billion industry that provides 100,000 jobs at more than 12,000 tree farms nationwide, and provide major environmental benefits, including capturing global-warming emissions and preventing erosion while growing.
I have always been the “But I have to have a REAL tree!” kind of girl…but our neighbor gave us a 9 ft fake tree this year that was too big for her house, and since it was FREE, I was having a hard time talking my husband into buying a real tree
but now that it is up and decorated I must admit it is beautiful… and it was nice beiing able to put it up Thanksgiving weekend and not have to worry if it will “last” till Christmas! I am not sure if I will ever be able to talk hubby into purchasing another real one or not…so for now I am on the hunt for a real pine smelling spray or candle or something, because I am definately missing that Christmas smell!
Wanted to add that fake trees catch on fire as well. The National Fire Protection Association reports that 28% of home fires involving a Christmas Tree were a fake one. And I would assume the tree releases all those nasty chemicals it is made of when if it catches on fire.
(I swear I don’t own a tree farm, just want to stick up for the real thing!)
We have a “fake” that was a given to us for free. We enjoy it and think it looks pretty. To make up for the missing pine smell we just burn pine scented candles. We have friends that have purchased a live tree with the rootball every Christmas. In the spring they plant the tree. After ten years of marriage they created a beautiful wind block on the north side of the house. I like that idea because you don’t just chuck out a tree when all is said and done. Also, they don’t get a huge tree but just average to small so they don’t have to deal with all the struggle you mentioned. Besides the tree will be a growing tree!
I like the idea of a real tree that you can plant after Christmas.
We have mostly had artificial trees in our 16 years of marriage. A couple of times we tried a real pine, but they were small and painfully prickly when trying to decorate and I couldn’t smell it after one day. Not impressive at all. HOWEVER, last year I had my heart set on a real, natural imperfect tree- the older I get (38) the more I long to recreate a Little House on the Praire kind of Christmas where it’s all about yummy things to eat, warmth, family, and more practical, thoughtful gifts that don’t neccesarily cost alot… oh and an air of gratitude, not “I want this” and “if I don’t get what’s on my list does that mean we’re poor?” Ughhh.
Back to the tree… so my husband went to a friend’s house out in the country and chopped down a big cedar. The friend drug it home for us in his truck and wha-la I had the most beautiful, delightfully smelling tree that ever was. Cedar trees are the way to go if you’re going real. They have so much character, they are dreamy, lofty, whimsical and very 1800′s. We strung cranberries and popcorn and only put up the lightest most simple of ornaments and white lights. It was by far the best looking tree I have ever seen. I know this is alot of drama for a free tree snatched out of the woods, but I have this idea of what Christmas should really look like and feel like and it is so different from what the American/ commercial/glitz and glamour/high profile/brain-washed kids watching Christmas specials about Santa type of Christmas. A simple Christmas sounds so refreshing, thoughtful gifts, and the joy of praise and worship of Christ the Savior. Ahh. Thanks for your first holiday post this year- what does Christmas time look like at your house? What perspective do your children have about it?
Personally, I find the idea of a plastic monstrosity in the living room utterly depressing. Sorry. If I had to decide between the real and the fake thing (which I don’t have to since here in Austria we don’t have fake trees) I’d go for the former. Or maybe not have a tree altogether? One can still have lovely seasonal decorations after all. It’s just such a sad thing – don’t you think? I mean, just imagine someone giving you a bunch of plastic flowers. Ugh!
Needless to say, this is only one – ever so subjective – viewpoint comming from a very biased and opinionated person.
Bee
If I have an artificial tree, I try my best to make it as wacky and tacky and silly as possible–think vintage aluminum with the felt elves, or (last year) a black plastic tree with hot pink, silver, and white ornaments). I’ve always wanted a real tree, but my husband wasn’t so into them, and I didn’t really care enough about it to go it alone and purchase, transport, and set up the thing by myself…however, it just came out that our roommate’s family OWNS a tree lot, so it sounds like we will be getting a :GASP, SQUEAL!: real tree this year!
Goodness! We just laughed hysterically through this one. We had just has this same discussion as a family before I pulled up your blog to read. Hilarious that we are having the same dilemma. We just can’t decide. We ALWAYS get a real tree. But this year we have less space in the living room than usual, due to making room in our library for our 24 year old daughter to move back home for a while, and you can buy “slim” artificial trees. Also my asthma is worse than it has been in 20 years, for no reason we can come up with. And since a real tree always makes me slightly asthmatic…sigh. Such a hard decision. Good luck with yours.
I have loved reading all the comments! I love the look and softness of a Douglas Fir, but we have a beautiful fake one that we bought at Hobby Lobby in 1996 in one of their great sales. They almost always have them 50% off. It is still going strong, no broken branches. I now have asthma and so does our youngest, so living with a real one would not work. But for those that can put one up, I love seeing it at their house!
I had a real one each year (harvested from Home Depot usually) growing up, and love the smell, as well as vacuuming the dry needles (because of the fun, productive sound they make being sucked up the tube). My hubby is from Spain, however, where if even 1/2 of the families cut down a tree in December – there’d hardly be any left for the next year! So our first Christmas together we played your grinch role and didn’t get one at all, since we couldn’t come to an agreement. By the next year, I had given in to artificial IF 1) it didn’t look like paper wrapped on sticks, 2) it was pre-lit to save hassle, 3) with LED lights that would use less electricity, and 4) was on sale. We were fully planning to wait until the after-Christmas sales as someone else suggested, but ended up finding a pretty good sale with a coupon a week or so before. This will be the 4th year we’ve used it, and I think I decided 5 was payoff time – but we still like it, so I suspect it will stick around for many more.
Oh, and in college one year, my dorm room had a green door, so my roomie and I did something similar to your wall-tree – we outlined a tree with garland, bought a cheap tree skirt, a few small ornaments, and some small boxes to tape to it. It was wonderful
Thanks, Sarah, for clearing about the misconceptions about the relative environmentally friendliness of fake versus real. Dear people, please think for yourselves and don’t just succumb to the brainwashing of the “greenies”! Help out your local Christmas tree farmer if you can.
That said, economics played a part in our purchasing an artificial tree post-Christmas several years ago, but I’m working on hubby for a real one this year. I have a love affair with trees, and gazing on one up close in my living room is very appealing, no matter what the inconveniences are.
Oops, “clearing up”, not “clearing about”.
Artificial. For many reasons already listed here – fire hazard (yes, fake trees burn, too, but not nearly as fast or viciously as dried, dead, real trees), less work (not so many pine needles on the ground), and for us, definitely cost. I would STRONGLY ENCOURAGE buying it in January. We upgraded from our puny 3ft artificial to a nice 7 ft one. Bought in January for dirt cheap, put up for the first time this year. Cost us less than a real, but will last us for years. (My parents have one that they’ve had for at least 15 years, so I’d say they could last a long time!) I wouldn’t say I’m against real trees – if you can afford it and don’t mind the clean up, then if you want to, why not? But artificial works for us!
I had this same dilemma several Christmases ago. I despised fake trees. After much agonizing, I finally succumbed to the practical side and bought a fake one. However, when I got it home I thought it looked fake and smelled like plastic. I couldn’t stand it! I ended up returning it, much to the store manager’s chagrin and to my own embarrassment–I didn’t make eye contact as I waited for my refund! However, I later found a tree that had more realistic-looking branches and succumbed once again to the Made In China tree. It looks great, although I did buy an unlighted tree, bc I like my lights to twinkle! Love the idea of supporting the farmers though!
This is what you do–make your own tree using dead branches. Yes, that’s what I said. Then you spray paint it white and you actually have a very elegant creation. Strung with white lights (or colored) it’s beautiful. And could be used for many years to come.