Christmas Tree poll!

ManiacMcGee

Ok, so due to a scheduling issue with my step kids and bio-mom and because Christmas falls on a Saturday this year, the kids are coming to us for the week after Christmas! YAY!

This means I get to decorate for the first time in my adult life! My husband refused to help me decorate if we weren't going to be in town for x-mas, and lets face it...I never wanted to do it by myself.

So now the big question is....real or artificial?

 

[Poll]

Scout05

I have artifical for a few reasons - fire hazard, allergies and my idiot dog who eats anything and everything. I don't need to spend Christmas in the pet ER because she injested half a tree, you know?

Also, I hate the idea of cutting down a live tree for a few weeks of decoration, when artificial ones are great. And they come pre-strung for lights - so much easier.

rkenyon89

I am 100% for real trees. And having the kids help decorate! Fake trees are so.. impersonal! And the smell of the fresh pine is just (ahhhh) Christmasy!

My mom would always do themes each yr too. Blue and Silver, Gold and Red, Snowmen, all White, etc.. etc. (with the matching wrapping paper!)

Time to go listen to a few Christmas songs.

jayme88

As much as I HATE the pine needles, I can not bring myself to get an artificial tree.  The kids love to go pick one out. And I do love the smell of the them..  

Yay, to getting having a the step-kids for x-mas..  I love my years that I have my daughter for x-mas morning. Her dad and I switch years for x-mas eve.. I am very lucky that he is only 15 mins from our house..

armandos_girl

ambrandau2:

I have artifical for a few reasons - fire hazard, allergies and my idiot dog who eats anything and everything. I don't need to spend Christmas in the pet ER because she injested half a tree, you know?

Rofl.  This but exchange "idiot dog" for "idiot cat".  It's also because of her that we don't put ribbons on Christmas presents under the tree anymore.  She chews them.  And chews them and chews them.  And if you've ever experienced cat saliva you know it never goes away.  Weeks later you could go to open the package and get slimed.

ailidespain

I have had an artificial the past few years but this year I am going for a real one. We have alot more space since we moved and I know just where I am going to put it!

ManiacMcGee

jayme88:

As much as I HATE the pine needles, I can not bring myself to get an artificial tree.  The kids love to go pick one out. And I do love the smell of the them..  

Yay, to getting having a the step-kids for x-mas..  I love my years that I have my daughter for x-mas morning. Her dad and I switch years for x-mas eve.. I am very lucky that he is only 15 mins from our house..

 We aren't actually getting them until the evening of the 26th. But we get to keep them until the 2nd!!  We're doing a 2nd Christmas on the 27th so we can get the Christmas morning experience too.

We've only had them on Christmas morning once in the 5 years I've been with my husband and that was because they came down with chicken pox on Christmas eve and their bio-mom was hosting a family with a new baby.  Score! 

Hotomale

I voted for fake because that's what I want, however DH and I always get a real one.  He says that as soon as we move we can get a fake one, but he doesn't want to store it now.

Maybe you can invest in a nice fake tree at an after christmas sale??!!

ams8099

We have an artificial. This will be the 3rd year we haven't had a real tree. We got an artificial two years ago because I was so sick and there was no way I could tromp around a Christmas Tree farm to pick out a tree.

I grew up with real trees and always loved the smell of pine, but now I just burn candles.

 

jayme88

ManiacMcGee:

jayme88:

As much as I HATE the pine needles, I can not bring myself to get an artificial tree.  The kids love to go pick one out. And I do love the smell of the them..  

Yay, to getting having a the step-kids for x-mas..  I love my years that I have my daughter for x-mas morning. Her dad and I switch years for x-mas eve.. I am very lucky that he is only 15 mins from our house..

 We aren't actually getting them until the evening of the 26th. But we get to keep them until the 2nd!!  We're doing a 2nd Christmas on the 27th so we can get the Christmas morning experience too.

We've only had them on Christmas morning once in the 5 years I've been with my husband and that was because they came down with chicken pox on Christmas eve and their bio-mom was hosting a family with a new baby.  Score! 

I see. I am sure they will love having the whole Christmas morning experience with you and their dad..     

Scout05

armandos_girl:

ambrandau2:

I have artifical for a few reasons - fire hazard, allergies and my idiot dog who eats anything and everything. I don't need to spend Christmas in the pet ER because she injested half a tree, you know?

Rofl.  This but exchange "idiot dog" for "idiot cat".  It's also because of her that we don't put ribbons on Christmas presents under the tree anymore.  She chews them.  And chews them and chews them.  And if you've ever experienced cat saliva you know it never goes away.  Weeks later you could go to open the package and get slimed.

I have visions of the tree getting knocked over because the Doodle was rooting around under it. The gifts might have to wait until the last minute - she's a nosey little thing.

It's her first Christmas, so we shall see.

JoJoGee

I love christmas.  They both have their advantages.  With a fake tree, you can decorate assoon as thanksgiving is over (don't have to worry about your tree dieing), which leads to more days of Christmas joy.  But, I love the ritual of picking out a real christmas tree.

HydrangeaSunset

I grew up going out to cut down a tree as a family, then decorating it in the theme my mom and I picked out for that year.  In the apartment we are in though I have been reduced to a mini artificial tree.    When we get into a bigger house hopefully I'll have convinced DH to go for real trees every year (he grew up with artificial).  I love the matching wrapping paper idea, I'll have to incorporate that this year!

virginiagirl11

I love the smell of real and the idea of getting some hot chocolate and picking one out, but I am 100% okay with our fake tree.  No piercing needles, no tree-watering and fire hazard, no PITA vacuuming afterward, no sap, no chopping down trees every year, and it's about as convenient as it gets.  I can put it up and take it down whenever I want to.  I also really like the eco factor of being able to reuse it every year.

I've had mine for five years and I love just being able to pull it out at 10pm on a Friday night in my cozy house with a glass of wine (hot chocolate this year), turning on some music, and putting it together.  Takes me about an hour, hour and a half to go from boxed tree to completely decorated.

I figure if I'm really feeling spirited, I can come up with other reasons to drag my ass out into the cold with a cup of hot chocolate to celebrate the holidays.  Ha.

ohiostategal

I voted special snowflake because I love real trees.  Grew up having a 20 ft one that my family cut down ourselves every year.  It was such a special tradition.  That being said we have a fake one.  Maybe that will change once our kids are old enough to tell the difference, but they are just so much easier, no water mess to worry about and honestly I think my dogs would try to pee on it!  I just get the yankee candle in the christmas tree scent to light.

angie244

I put my vote in for artificial because my 2 cats would climb, eat and claw a real tree...buggers!  For years I have been buying a large real evergreen wreath and hanging it in the livingroom with decorations to match my tree to get the real pine smell.

MissLadyTay

It is a longstanding family tradition to go out and cut our own on a Christmas tree farm.  It makes me warm and fuzzy inside to remember all the years my parents and brother and dogs and I piled into the car and argued and laughed until we found the perfect one.  The prickles and smell of the real thing are so real, I can feel/smell it now.  I could never do artificial after so many happy memories. 

ManiacMcGee

Hotomale:

I voted for fake because that's what I want, however DH and I always get a real one.  He says that as soon as we move we can get a fake one, but he doesn't want to store it now.

Maybe you can invest in a nice fake tree at an after christmas sale??!!

That is an excellent idea.

ManiacMcGee

MissLadyTay:

It is a longstanding family tradition to go out and cut our own on a Christmas tree farm.  It makes me warm and fuzzy inside to remember all the years my parents and brother and dogs and I piled into the car and argued and laughed until we found the perfect one.  The prickles and smell of the real thing are so real, I can feel/smell it now.  I could never do artificial after so many happy memories. 

This is the same with our household growing up, however I now live in Atlanta so picking out a christmas tree is akin to going to the nearest large parking lot and wheeling and dealing with someone. 

GHBEA

We get a real one every year.  As long as I dont have allregies to it we are good (meaning mold in the tree).

I cant wait to bundle up Little Bean next year for his/her first family Xmas tree shopping. Its going to mean more to DH because he has a son that his ex took away when he was 13 months old and he never got to do mommy daddy things with his son. 

All he talks about is Little Bean having a mommy and daddy to do all these things with.  His biggest is LB hold our hands walking.  When this happens I am getting a photo taken.

HydrangeaSunset

GHBEA:

We get a real one every year.  As long as I dont have allregies to it we are good (meaning mold in the tree).

I cant wait to bundle up Little Bean next year for his/her first family Xmas tree shopping. Its going to mean more to DH because he has a son that his ex took away when he was 13 months old and he never got to do mommy daddy things with his son. 

All he talks about is Little Bean having a mommy and daddy to do all these things with.  His biggest is LB hold our hands walking.  When this happens I am getting a photo taken.

 

This is so sweet and I'm sorry that happened to him. 

MG7

I bought an artificial tree a few years ago after Christmas that was really cheap and quite nice. That last winter with the real tree I was so sick and tired of constantly cleaning the needles up that I got out my vacuum and made the mistake of trying to clean up the faster way. My vacuum broke   I hate the idea of chopping down a tree every year so that was a big part of my choice also. I however read somewhere that the fake trees which end up in landfills eventually are no friend to the environment - sort of a damned if you do damned if you don't type thing.

What about one of the trees that you can plant later on? Do they make those large enough for it to look like a real tree?

p1nklemonade

i grew up with artificial, dh grew up with real, but his parents converted to artificial about 6 years ago   real trees require upkeep, can be a fire hazard if not properly cared for, and make a huge mess. home depot carries some very nice artificial trees with lights prestrung.  this will be our third year in our apartment with our fake tree, and there's no way i would ever consider a real one. there's a whole range of fake ones, in every price point.  the more you spend, the fuller/nicer the tree usually is.

sbmp10

 We have an artificial tree.  Grew up with real trees and LOVE them!!  Miss going to the farm and picking it out etc.  BUT>>> Husband is crazy allergic sadly we can't even have pine scented candles

genaruthp

ambrandau2:

I have artifical for a few reasons - fire hazard, allergies and my idiot dog who eats anything and everything. I don't need to spend Christmas in the pet ER because she injested half a tree, you know?

Also, I hate the idea of cutting down a live tree for a few weeks of decoration, when artificial ones are great. And they come pre-strung for lights - so much easier.

lol I live in Oregon. And where I live and work is literally covered with Christmas tree farms. Cutest thing ever. I never realized till I lived down here that they really have acres and acres of trees they grow to cut. Its neat to drive by and see all the stages and types. My mom does artificial anyways.

luvdv8

I love going to the tree farm and picking out a tree, but the whole "dying tree in the front hall" thing started to wear thin on me. A few years ago DH and I started heading down to the local greenhouse and buying a large tree. Yes, it's a LOT of money, but we take it up to the family farm and store it for the winter and then plant it in the spring- at least this way we aren't killing a tree for our enjoyment and they don't have a lot of the problems that cut trees do (needles mostly) though the pot is huge and heavy and it's a lot of work making sure they don't die over the winter before you get to plant them.

jteneback

The Christmas tree is probably the least environmentally friendly thing I do, but I MUST have a real tree.

Carbaby411

We ALWAYS get a real tree.  But we always wait until the 23rd or the 24th to put it up.  Then we go to a place where they are selling them and get one that "wouldn't have a home" or "looked lonely" and bring it home.  The trees were already cut anyway so we helped it serve its purpose.  Plus, the trees are really cheap on the 24th

flamingos2010

Before kids, I'd say I would NEVER have a fake tree.  Now, there is no way I'd ever get a real one again.  I'm a clean freak and the real pine needles that drop on the floor drive me crazy.. and my first born son would put them in his mouth and I was afraid he'd choke and end up in the hospital or something..

I also worry about the fire hazzard of a real tree as well as having to keep the stupid thing watered!! (of course, kids again, digging under the tree, spilling the water)   no thank you!!  I will buy a pine scented candle and call it a day!

APrice4UT

Artificial and pre-lit...best invention ever!

normajeane6126

All this talk makes me want to break out the decorations. I said this to SO and he looked at me like I had 2 heads. Maybe I should wait until after Halloween to bring it up?

I've always had a real tree. A few years back, when I was living with my dad, he swore up and down he wasn't going to get a tree, so I bought a little 2 foot artificial tree. Well, he saw that and decided that maybe we needed a tree after all. I do still put up my little tree every year though, mostly just because it's cute. 

xmasbabymama

We do both.

We always do a fake tree in our formal living room. (Except the year DD was born - she was due on Christmas and I didn't want to have to take it down).

For years we are in town, we do a smaller real tree in our family room.

ButterBean13

angie244:

I put my vote in for artificial because my 2 cats would climb, eat and claw a real tree...buggers!  For years I have been buying a large real evergreen wreath and hanging it in the livingroom with decorations to match my tree to get the real pine smell.

I LOVE real trees, but with all the animals, we can't do it anymore.  Plus they are such a fire hazard.  Wreaths are great for that real christmas tree smell, and they are way easier to take care of and clean up after.

Lyssa_sissa

I'd say artificial because of my allergies and the fact that they already come with the lights on them!  Having the lights on them is a total plus!

ManiacMcGee

xmasbabymama:

We do both.

We always do a fake tree in our formal living room. (Except the year DD was born - she was due on Christmas and I didn't want to have to take it down).

For years we are in town, we do a smaller real tree in our family room.

Thats a cute idea. hmmmmm

alwaysfare

I love having real trees, and I love going to pick them out! 

We are in a small place now, so we have had a fake tabletop tree for the past few years. Once kids are in the picture (so definitely next year, maybe even this year!) we will start doing the real trees again. I can't wait!

andreao

Real, but I live in Christmas tree country and am surrounded by tree farms and mountains where you can go in and cut your own.  I also don't like the toxins in most of the artificial trees.  I have animals and I would prefer they eat the real tree instead of the one with chemicals.  I might feel differently if I lived somewhere that it had to be hauled in and traveled long distances to get to me, but I'd have to find a non-toxic one, if they exist.