A lot of people will be putting up their trees soon if they haven't already. So that got me thinking about preferences. Let's get to it.
Real or fake?
If real- tree lot or cut your own?
Shape- Skinny or fat?
Branches- Full and luscious, in the middle or Charlie Brown-ish?
When do you take it down?
(If you celebrate another holiday, tell us about the first decorations you put out and your preferences!)
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I like our tree. Artificial but made in usa back in the 90's, so I guess it's considered "vintage" now but that is fine. It's a medium width which is perfect in my book and you decorate it so well every year that it just isn't Christmas until that tree is up!
ReplyDeleteWe have always had artificial - allergies and asthma (me).
ReplyDeleteWe actually gave the (big) tree we had for many years to a friend. It was gorgeous. But big. Space commitment, storage commitment, time commitment. It got to the point where it was beautiful, but I just did not want to deal.
The tree we have now is 6’. And very very skinny. And I have it on top of a 12’ wooden box wrapped in upholstery fabric. I have tulle wrapped loosely around the stand (in place of a tree skirt). And I have coordinated ribbon, floral picks, ball ornaments, white lights. Very pretty.
We leave the lights on it for storage. All the decorations fit in one box. I can decorate it by myself in a short time. I can Un-decorate it and have it all reboxed very quickly.
I have three small trees in a corner of the kitchen, white lights only, that I leave on all year. Lights on a timer.
My daughter and I went thru all the boxes of decorations in the attic this summer. Got rid of the things that we no longer/liked used. My husband and I have been together for 36 years, accumulate a lot.
I prefer artificial trees to real ones.
ReplyDeleteWe've had everything from super tiny (still have our first tree which came with one strand of like 25 lights and I think a tree skirt), to huge and monsterous (that one has since been given away...along with our beautiful personalized tree skirt that I've never been able to replicate...I won't mention names of who packed it with the tree and then forgot they did that...hmphf). We have one in the basement that we need to give away that is your standard 6 footer of medium width that I really like and someone will get great use out of that. Now we have a 4 footer we put in the bay window and it's perfect for us. We have a beautiful tablecloth that was given to us years ago that is all Christmasy and the hubs uses that as the tree skirt and base for the whole window, which looks really pretty. And the past couple of years we've just done lights and no ornaments. I've enjoyed that because it's very simple and calming to look at, and then I'm able to put some presents in the branches which looks pretty cute.
We'll take it down sometime in January. I agree with the hubs that white lights should be allowed to stay up all winter to help brighten up the gloomy day and nights. We used to do the deck in white lights and keep those up and boy did that always feel welcoming coming home.
We have a fake tree as I'm allergic to some real trees. It's about 7 feet tall and on the skinny side of medium so it doesn't take too much floor space in our modest-sized house. I prefer fuller branches and fill the gaps with ribbon and other fake foliage. It is pre-lit. I know there are risks to that if the lights go out but having to string lights makes it less likely it goes up at all. I have a small tree that sits next the fire place in the family room. I make the living room one pretty and the family room one whimsical. I try to take them down around New Year's Day but don't always hit the mark.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid we had fresh trees but I lived in a smaller town instead of big city suburb and it was easier and cheaper to find real trees. I have fond memories of the smell and futzing with the base to make sure the tree is in the water and the dog couldn't get to it to drink.
We have a real tree - the smell cannot be beat! Our family room stays fairly cold, so it lasts a long time. We put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving and it usually comes down January 6th (little Christmas). My husband is very particular about our trees - they have to be very full and no shorter than 6 feet. We get ornaments wherever we travel, so we have a pretty special tree full of memories we've made over the years. Also still have the ornament I made in Girl Scouts in 1968 - made with a tuna can! It's too heavy to hang, so I just nestle it in the branches. I love Christmas decorating!!
ReplyDeleteI live in a very rural area in SE Minnesota, where we are fortunate to have tree farms outside of cities/towns. We went to one of these farms and cut down our own fir. We were able to get a fresh cut, 9 foot fir, for $50, which I thought was a good price, plus we are supporting a local farm. We bought a tall, full tree, since we have 10 foot ceilings in our home. We cut it down a couple of days after Thanksgiving, and we will take it out of our house a couple of days after Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little late coming to the poll, but always a real tree. I live in the balsam fir Christmas tree capital of the world and have friends that are Christmas tree farmers. One of my favourite activities to do around the holidays is to help them sell trees to the general public in their lot. I love being able to help others find their perfect tree.
ReplyDeleteI always get my tree from my friends, so they do the cutting for me. But I have gone to a u-cut and hiked into the woods on my parents land to cut my own in the past.
I try to look for the perfect tree every year, so that means I have to look at everything first, before I make my decision. My perfect tree is about 8' and very full, but with a taper to it so that it is about 6' in diameter at the bottom. It should take up a good portion of the living room.
The tree goes up at least a week before Christmas, usually two, and comes down some time after New Year's Day. The tree tends to dictate how long it is up for. I leave it as long as possible, but once it starts to dry out, it is time for the tree to go. And the municipality picks them up for composting about the third week in January.