Tell me about your Christmas Trees!

[honorhappy]

  Do you have a real Christmas tree, a fake, do you have a mini treese, or do you opt not to have a Christmas tree at all?  Growing up, my family never had a live tree.  That doesn't bother me; I have my memories of mom trying to put things together (it was one of those older models with the colored coded limbs, now they have a two piece beauty with the lights already attached).  From what I've heard, live trees can be a pain.  I'm sure my parents had a fake for economic reasons; now that I live on my own I couldn't find the room in this place for a live tree if I tried (I have two minis).

  If you do keep a live tree, do you keep it yearlong or how do you dispose of it?  I was reading a vintage Christmas Craft book, and they give directions for keeping your Christmas tree yearlong.  I'd be happy to give out the directions they had!  I see Christmas trees out in the alleys after Christmas and it seems such a waste.

  As Christmas approaches, feel free to post pics of your trees and how you're going to decorate them as well!!

[Happychick]

we have a live tree every year (ooohh, it smells so good!) and we get it on the weekend nearest my birthday each year (17th, so about a week before christmas) and we decorate the tree together. My dad does the lights, and inevitably on of the bulbs will have blown and there will be no spare! Our decorations are totally random, and our tree isnt like, colour themed or anything. There are some normal, shop bought baubles, and stuff, and some gorgeous blown eggs that my parents got on their honeymoon, and then a lot that were made by my brothers and i, some of them extremely little-kiddish and overly glittery, and some more recent ones. We get rid of it each year on a bonfire on my mum's allotment.

[honorhappy]

Happychick, that's so cool that you make a bonfire with your tree!  I heard that you couldn't use the tree as firewood indoors because it burns so fast, but outside must be fine, huh?   I bet it does smell lovely and it sounds like you have a cool tradition.

[ncfcanna]

We always have a real one, every year. And decorate it roughly a couple of weeks before Christmas. We also have 3 fakes ones, one fibre optic and two that we decorate. We start putting out all our other decorations 3 weeks before Christmas.

I also decorate my room, with paper chains, lights etc.

The house looks fantastic. Every room has decorations apart from the upstairs hall and my parents bedroom, and the two bathrooms.

We also have 3 sets of outside lights, 1 of which is REALLY long. We also have flashing bells that we put on the front of the house.

[Ezri_B]

I've always had a real tree.  Well, one year we didn't and I cried and cried. I've never liked Christmas much, but the one thing I do like is the tree. I just need the smell I guess. Ours is decorated in Gold and white primarily. With white lights no blinking. And a simple white star on top. We have a fire with ours on my husband's family's farm around new years.

My kids have a small fake one in their room, because they always want to bring the ornaments that they make up to their room, so we finally gave in and got them a little fake one for their room. No lights or anything on this one.

We keep trying to have a fake tree (the real ones are a bit of maintenance). But I can't find a fake one I like. I don't think it would be able to be realistic looking at all. I was actually thinking of getting one of those metal outdoor trees with the white lights and painting the metal black and putting in purple lights and decorating it sort of Nightmare before Christmas style.
Maybe buy a little potted one for the smell and when it gets too big for in the house, plant it somewhere. I don't know.

[Littlejo]

We have always had a fake tree, i love putting it up in the first week of december, it fits together in three main parts and a stand. I don't miss having a real one because i've never had one and i like what we have. We have this gorgeous angel that goes on the top (we aren't religious about christmas or anything really but you still have the decor don'tcha) and a midge modge of silly little decorations that me and my brother made and different ones my mum buys every year! we don't have a colour code we just throw it on! (not literally!) oh yea and we have those little chocolates you hang on your tree too! Our lights on our christmas tree play music but it gets annoying....also i have a mini tree in my room which has gold decoratins cos they cam with it!
Yey for chirstmas!

[Darian]

My birthday is the day after Christmas, so I like to do up the whole season. I always have the biggest real tree that will fit in my apartment, decorated with white lights and a huge variety of carved wooden animals and mini disco balls (my party animal tree). Around the apartment I hang light garlands, stockings, window kissing balls, table top decorations with pine cones... Last year I made new matching wreaths in green and gold and red that I LOVE... I love decorating for Christmas!

[batgirl]

Growing up we had fake trees, so when I moved out I was a die-hard "real tree" fan. My best advice is that the stand they nail into the bottom of the tree is much easier to manage than the clamp on kind! Then I moved to the 3rd floor and got cats...now I have a vintage silver tree. I love it, and it's pretty enough (in a kitchy way) without ornaments, so if the cats knock it over I just set it back up. I'd like to get a vintage light wheel! My neighbors have a potted Norfolk Island Pine they use every year, it keeps getting bigger. She's a teacher and keeps it in her classroom during the year. I also used to have a "party pole" in my apartment, a long bamboo pole I hung horizontally from the ceiling and would decorate different ways. Sometimes it was my substitute Christmas Tree, I covered it in lights and tinsel and hung glittery snowflakes and icicles from it. It was pretty cool (I also decorated that pole for other parties and holidays, hence the name)

[classycrafter]

I just love decorating the Christmas Tree!! When I was growing up my mom had fake and my dad had real. I will only buy real trees. We go out to one of the local farms and take a tractor ride out to the Christmas Tree fields, pick out our tree and cut it down ourselves. Its so much fun! Except last year the tree we picked didnt look as big as it actually was and when we got in the house it was almost touching the ceiling. It was so huge! We usually do this about 3 weeks before christmas and we listen to christmas tunes and drink hot cocoa while we decorate. I look forward to it all year! 

[minouette]

My family always had a real tree when I was growing up. We too would go to the tree farm and cut it down. I loved it- selecting the tree, getting to saw it myself. We would always get the biggest tree which could fit through our door, and sometimes we over-estimated. Decorations were a mis-mash of different colours and home-made versus store bought. We would string popcorn, but gave up on cranberries and replaced them with red wooden beads. It is sad after Christmas that you have all those trees at the curb, but if no one bought fresh trees, there wouldn't be all those tree farms so it encourages the planting of trees, which is a good thing.

Last year was the first time I didn't go home for the holiday and we just had some little fake trees, because there isn't that much room here. My bf's family sent a tiny tree, lights and glass ball ornaments, which was sweet- like Christmas in a box.