...Or perhaps even a NON-Xmas tree family?

Pros? / Cons?

Or so it seems to me...

We're a no-tree family.
We treat the day in question as a fun holiday from work/school, not anything religious.
And there's no need to add old Norse pagan rituals to make it fun. :)

Once we made wreaths out of old IBM punched cards.

Sometimes don't bother with any of it. Might up up the tiny artificial tree. Might not.

We had real trees for years. Even got permits and went to the mountains to cut our own. Hated the mess. Got into artificial trees about 30 years ago. Still have 2. Started to use an instant pre-lit tree about 10 years ago that I bought online. No more arguments about decorating it (I really dislike putting the lights on). I still haven't figured out what to do with a 4 huge bins of ornaments, etc. in the Christmas Closet. Since my wife passed away I only do Christmas for the grandkids. I'm really not that interested anymore.

After my divorce in 1993, I took my then 12 year old son to our normal Christmas tree lot and picked out a tree. We somehow got it home on the top of our car. He helped me get it in the house and set up. It was such an exhausting effort! My ex had always taken care of that part of the decorating. Some time after that, I saw a killer deal on one of the QVC type stations for a wonderful artificial tree that was pre-lit. I had never ordered ANYTHING from any of those shows and I haven't ordered anything since from that medium. But now in 2018, I still have that tree.

To get the pine smell, I usually buy a live Christmas wreath and hang it in the house.

We're that house...with 4 color-lighted real Christmas trees in front of our hose. Every year they get bigger, and we have to add more lights, and it's getting out of hand! Our indoor tree is set up in the window, with more colored lights. We have a garland with clear clear lights on the railing, and on a giant wreath under the front window, 2 wreaths on the front door, and lighted wreaths in all the other windows. The kids have added a lighted Rudolph, crafted out of grapevine.

Our Christmas tree is artificial, because we want it to last from December 1 to January 3. We burn pine-scented candles.

Our next door neighbors try very hard to be sophisticated and stylized, and are constantly remodeling their house. It's gray and stark, with metal bar railings and fake driftwood garage doors--very minimalist--looks like an institution. They have a single row of white lights around their roof. It's hilarious, to see our two houses next to each other. We have one tree near the property boundary, and our half is blazing with lights, and their half is dark. I'm sure they think we are dorks. The neighbors across the street from both of us are also ex-Mormon, and are as Christmas-crazy as we are. The gray neighbors are Mormons. There are no other lighted houses on the street--all Mormons. They don't decorate their churches, so why decorate their houses.

There's a neighborhood in, er, San Diego County maybe, that goes full bore St. Nick, and you walked around instead of inching along in your car.

It's nice to have someone else do the work. :)

Artificial tree which we have had since the late 1970's. It's a family joke that the tree is now an heirloom.

It was made in Canada, bought in Britain and is now in Australia and it seems to be indestructible. Plus it looks great when decorated.

Artificial since 2010. Just gave away a $900 Pre lit 15’ tree when we downsized homes. Also gave away 18 storage boxes of ornaments and 4 6’ pre lit wreaths.

Don’t miss any of it, but DW is miserable.

We bought a 8’ LED pre lit tree this year that should last the rest of our lives.

It’s beautiful.

Artificial, kinda like Christmas. The spirit is great but all the trimmings and trappings are distracting. I like the Whos whose stuff was stolen and they still had natural love in their hearts.

My father-in-law grew his own trees, but some years when the trees weren't ready had to buy them from nearby tree farms. Last year, after my father-in-law died, my brother-in-law bought his mother an artificial tree, since the trees they're still growing won't be ready for few more years at least.

My own father and mother vacillated between artificial and real trees. My mother currently has a small decorative tree I bought last year for her after my father died. It's not very attractive, but it was the best I could do at the time.

My husband and I have a 4' tree and one for our mantle.

Tyson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 11:55AM by Tyson Dunn.

Artificial for the last 35 years.

I used to cut down a tree myself every year. I‘ve put up a fake, pre lit tree for several years. I’ll never go back.

I have a small artificial tree. As a single person with limited space, it's more practical for me. I do like real trees, however. I usually go to my brother's house for Christmas, and he and my sister-in-law have a real tree and real greenery and wreaths. I love the smell and the look of them.

***Edit: I'm sorry for the duplicate posts below. I hit "Post Message," and boy, did it ever!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 02:34PM by summer.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 02:33PM by summer.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 02:32PM by summer.