Real Christmas tree or artificial?

[Choseph]

Just curious as to what most people do when it comes to Christmas trees. Do you get a real (live) one or go artificial? The kids want a real one but it seems to me a fake one would be more cost effective. The wife wants a real one too since her parents never let her have a Christmas tree so I think I know how this is going to turn out....

[Wingnut]

Fake probably is more cost effective in the long run. I've always been a real tree girl myself, but I grew up in Southern California. Now I live in Northeast Ohio, and I have a little one, and it's just too cold to spend an hour or two outdoors in the cold and wind (oh, the wind off of Lake Erie! <shudder>) looking for the tree. Last year we bought a fake one. I also bought a small candle from Yankee Candle that smells like a Christmas tree. I keep it in the tree box with the tree, and I don't burn it, I warm it on a candle warmer, so I never (or not for a long time anyway) have to replace it. That way I still get the "smells like Christmas" atmosphere.

[Misshalfway]

I love how the vacuum cleaner smells good after it gets the pine needles all up inside. :)

Fake is definitely the economic choice, but it just isn't the same. Of course if you buy your tree too early and its all dry by Christmas, that isn't the greatest either.

[bytor2112]

We have a real fake tree.

[Wingnut]

Is that like a pretty ugly dog?

[ADoyle90815]

I have a fake, pre-lit tree because I like to go on a short vacation right before Christmas. I have some pine scented oil that can be used with an oil burner that produces the smell of a real tree.

[john doe]

I have a pre-lit tree I bought at Kmart on an after-Christmans sale for $25 a few years ago. It looks and works fine and is cost-effective. No one cares what the tree looks like, it's what's under it that everyone is interested in. I get it out, the wife and kids decorate it, then after Christmas I take it down again. No needles scattered all over, no water spilling, no worries about where to dispose of it. Works for me.

[Guest]

Ah, tradition.

My husband grew up with a real tree. I didn't. I don't care what kind of tree we have or even if we have one at all. So, we had a real tree for the first few years of our marriage until my husband got tired of picking up needle pines and the yearly head-ache of finding the "balanced" tree and another head-ache of trying to keep it upright on the stand. He finally got a fake tree and it is very pretty. Now, it has become a tradition and we have more time to ohhh and ahhh over the ornaments we've collected over the years.

[Vort]

I have a real aluminum pole for Festivus.

[pam]

I used to do real trees until I moved to Hawaii. We bought a real one there the first year. Two weeks before Christmas it was so dried out we were worried about the safety factor. We did learn that in order for them to ship to Hawaii they have to cut and ship them about the 2nd week of November to get them to Hawaii in time.

That's when we bought an artificial and we've used one ever since.

[Bini]

I grew up without the traditional Christmas trees when I lived in Asia. But we did have a tree. It was made out of wood and was painted white like snow. It had no leaves. Just twigs that stuck out. So I didn't really know what I was missing until moving here to the US. Now, I would prefer a real Christmas tree but we have bullies and last year those dogs tore up the tree! This year we got a lovely slim 6ft faux Christmas tree, that has no odor to lure their sniffers and tempt them to eat the tree.

[Dravin]

Up in Alaska my Uncle's family would just cut down a small black spruce (talk about a sad tree). My family has mostly done artificial as far as I can recall.

[Churchmouse]

A real tree is cost effective for us since we have about 500 out in our fields. Most are White Pine. My daughter comes and cuts one every year also. So, unless I live over 200 more years I should be OK.

[miztrniceguy]

we have a fake one. i prefer real, but the person who does the decorating gets to pick. i don't want to decorate so......

[talisyn]

Changed, the kids and tree are adorable.

I want a real tree this year soooo bad, but we already have a fake from last year, I think I'm gonna get outvoted

On the plus side it is a nice fake tree. Have you seen the purple ones at Walmart?

[Guest mormonmusic]

Are those real, or fake kids?

[bluedreams]

Real all the way. Once we did a fake tree when my mom got married in winter and had bought a number of fake trees as decoration....just seemed like the right thing to do. But to set it up was more work than the ugly plastic thing was worth and the real tree is tradition. We all go out, I pick the tree (I have a good eye for it), we all work to set the dang thing up then we all enjoy the lovely smell and mess that it brings. Later on we hack up what we can and use it as fire wood. It's genuine family bonding time. I would be sad to come home only to find out they've made the transition to fake. It'd just be a shame.

I assume I'll try and keep up the tradition, but who knows how that'll work out.

With luv,

BD

[annamaureen]

Growing up, I always had real ones... but my husband and I decided to get artificial. We have two very curious cats who would climb in it and chew it and make an awful mess!