What kind of Christmas tree do you have?

[Disneefun]

I have three fake trees. One 7' and two 4.5'. Growing up we always did real trees, and we tried it when we first got married because I do love the smell, but the year we both got super, super sick near the end of Christmas and we didn't have the energy to take it down for a couple of weeks and it was dying and becoming a fire hazard cured that impulse.

We went fake after that and never looked back. If we get sick, or have to go out of town unexpectedly (or just want to go away without taking it down first), we can leave it up without worrying about it.

The 7' is getting a little hard to manage, so I think in a couple of years we'll downsize it to a 6', or maybe just get a couple more 4.5 footers and spread into some other rooms.

As for lights, they're all led with multiple functions, so I set the big tree to change from white to color (sometimes I make it blink), and one little tree is set to color and the other to white. So we have the best of all the worlds.

 

[soccerdad72]

My wife is not a fan of multi colored lights, so everything is soft white LEDs inside and outside of the house. I don't mind a little color, but it's not a fight worth having.

 

[kdonnel]

both

That is what we have on the tree this year. We found last year, no matter how many colored lights we added, the tree seemed dim so this year we added a mixture of colored and white.

I like how it looks.

 

[Suger Mag]

That is what we have on the tree this year. We found last year, no matter how many colored lights we added, the tree seemed dim so this year we added a mixture of colored and white.

I like how it looks.

me too. I love the combo of both, the colors and the bright bits from the white

now, next question....

little lights or the old fashioned larger bulbs?

I like the little lights, bought some of the faceted larger bulbs on clearance and put them on last year and had to replace them this year with the little lights. Just not bright enough for me.

 

[firefly_ris]

Artificial. Last year I did the multi-colored and warm white lights layered together, but this year I did white only when the multis I had in the bin died. I'll go back to it again next year because I do like that. We make up for the dimmer tree with the 40 billion outside lights my husband insists on putting up.

 

[spol]

Do you like your Balsam Hill? I misspelled it earlier. I spelled it Ball Some Hill, lol. I don't know anything about it or where to get it, but I see the ads on TV from time to time. We plugged our current one in this weekend, but several lights weren't working. So we're going to have to get a new one. And DW wants a Balsam Hill.

Just to point out that Balsam Hill trees are some of the most expensive artificial trees you can get - I think they start at over $400 and go up to $1000+. You might consider just adding some additional string lights to your current tree to be more cost-conscious. There are about a million other kinds of artificial trees you could get that would be less expensive than a Balsam Hill.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Just to point out that Balsam Hill trees are some of the most expensive artificial trees you can get - I think they start at over $400 and go up to $1000+. You might consider just adding some additional string lights to your current tree to be more cost-conscious. There are about a million other kinds of artificial trees you could get that would be less expensive than a
Balsam Hill.

Holy cow. That's nuts. For a tree that's up a couple of months out of the year (although, DW wants to keep it up all year and change it with the holidays, Valentimes, St. Patty's Day, Easter, etc). But still, $400 for a tree? That's nuts. Not sure we'll be getting that one this year. She may just have to settle for one from Hobby Lobby that's like $100 or so.

 

[spol]

Holy cow. That's nuts. For a tree that's up a couple of months out of the year (although, DW wants to keep it up all year and change it with the holidays, Valentimes, St. Patty's Day, Easter, etc). But still, $400 for a tree? That's nuts. Not sure we'll be getting that one this year. She may just have to settle for one from Hobby Lobby that's like $100 or so.

I know, I looked at them too and they're honestly insane! I mean, they're beautiful for sure, but I've also had a Target tree that lasted 10 years so I think you can absolutely find a more reasonable one and be happy with it! But I also think just zhuzhing up your current tree with more lights could be a good interim solution too - I've done that before and you can buy little twinkly lights that change colors and patterns to keep it fresh.

 

[focusondisney]

Holy cow. That's nuts. For a tree that's up a couple of months out of the year (although, DW wants to keep it up all year and change it with the holidays, Valentimes, St. Patty's Day, Easter, etc). But still, $400 for a tree? That's nuts. Not sure we'll be getting that one this year. She may just have to settle for one from Hobby Lobby that's like $100 or so.

Or maybe just get a $5 string of lights for the areas not working.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Or maybe just get a $5 string of lights for the areas not working.

DW doesn't want to do that. Wants to just get a whole new tree cause ours is old (we bought prior to Christmas 2022). I may just not doing anything with it this year and see what they have on sale the few days after Christmas.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Holy cow. That's nuts. For a tree that's up a couple of months out of the year (although, DW wants to keep it up all year and change it with the holidays, Valentimes, St. Patty's Day, Easter, etc). But still, $400 for a tree? That's nuts. Not sure we'll be getting that one this year. She may just have to settle for one from Hobby Lobby that's like $100 or so.

We bought our tree at Sam's Club. I don't recall how much we paid for it, but it seemed like a really good price.. When you price out how much a real tree costs annually, we made up that cost in about 3 years.

 

[HHMcG]

I am a crazy Christmas person.
ALWAYS real tree, ALWAYS colored lights, and always cut down at the same tree farm. Prices were outrageous last year but a little better this year. Must have been a better year for growing trees. We have low ceiling so can't be too tall.
Tree will sit in the living room with just lights until oldest gets hone from college then we will decorate all together.

 

[bettertheangel]

I have a 6.5' pre-lit artificial tree that I got from Home Depot last year for $49.99. It was actually nearly free to me because I had a $50 gift card - I just had to pay for the sales tax. It's a good tree.

I've always wanted a real tree but have never gotten one for various reasons. My boyfriend loves real Christmas trees though, so if we ever move in together, I'm sure I'll finally get the real tree experience.

 

[AppleDumpling]

I prefer real trees and have had them for most of my life. I like the way they look and smell. Though in the future I’d consider switching to artificial, as it’s easier. (Had one for a few years when we lived in a small apartment.)

For those who have issues with pets, you could try using a tree collar instead of a tree skirt to keep them from getting into the stand and/or climbing.

 

[spol]

DW doesn't want to do that. Wants to just get a whole new tree cause ours is old (we bought prior to Christmas 2022). I may just not doing anything with it this year and see what they have on sale the few days after Christmas.

I say this with kindness, having followed your saga over the past year or so on the other thread...if DW wants that, then maybe DW should figure out how to pay for it herself. Just because something is old doesn't mean it's no good. Especially when money is tight. And a 3 year old Christmas tree isn't old...

 

[Simba's Mom]

When we lived in MA and had Christmas tree farms around us, it was a tradition to cut one. I swore I'd never have an artificial tree. Then we moved to South Texas, where real trees are cut weeks before they get for sale, and they're sold under the intense sun-we tried a real tree the first year and it barely lasted until Christmas so we went artificial after that. The kids were still home, and they talked us in to a 9 foot tree. But now they're gone, and my 74 yo DH is not dragging a tree that big down from the attic and setting it up. So we're down to a 4 1/2 foot tree that we put on a table. It's pre-lit, colored lights. Over the years we've done both white and colored lights. Both are nice, so I don't have a preference.

 

[barkley]

My wife and I covered too many house fires caused by real Christmas trees to want a real tree in our house.

I love a real tree but the fire danger scares me too. we had family friends who were VERY cautious but one year after entirely undecorating the tree they decided to plug the lights they had removed back in to see which strand needed to be tossed due to a couple of burnt out lights. they used an outlet several feet from the tree but the bad strand caused some sparks and that tree went up like a torch destroying the entire front of their home.

when I yearn for a real tree I can just look out my window at the hundreds that surround our home (right now with a lovely snow decor).

And a 3 year old Christmas tree isn't old?

I would hope not. the artificial we replaced last year was over 30 years old and still looked awsome-it was just a major pain in the back to assemble it and then do all the lights (and readjust the lights a couple of times). we did'nt pay a fortune for it back then-i think we got it at the (then) newly opened target where we lived.

we replaced our tree with an oh so easy to assemble pre-lit from home depot last year for less than $150. when undecorated it looks much more like the real 'christmas' trees in our yard, decorated it looks like what most people think of when they think 'christmas tree'.

 

[Diznygrl]

Never had a real tree and no desire to have one. Don't want to deal with the mess and hassle, and can't justify paying that kind of money for something that is going to die and get thrown out in a couple of weeks. The only part of a real tree I long for is the smell, and I take care of that by hanging those Scentsicle things on my artificial tree.

I had a 7.5' pre-lit incandescent tree from Walmart that cost like $70, but after 10-11 years it finally gave up the ghost and I had to buy a new one last year. Walmart no longer sells incandescent trees so I decided to give in and get a 7' LED. I have a love-hate relationship with LED Christmas lights. They are great for longevity and power-saving, don't get hot, etc, but I continue to be disappointed over their inability to replicate the enchanting warmth of colored incandescent lights.

And yes, I prefer colored over white lights. I appreciate the elegance of all-white and they certainly are beautiful in most circumstances, but for my house it will always be colored. My current tree has the option of both and I tried it with all white just to see, and that lasted about 5 minutes, haha. Just didn't look right at all.

 

[barkley]

Never had a real tree and no desire to have one. Don't want to deal with the mess and hassle, and can't justify paying that kind of money for something that is going to die and get thrown out in a couple of weeks. The only part of a real tree I long for is the smell

a friend's mom wanted real but dad saw it as a waste of money and also did'nt like the idea of healthy trees being cut down and 'wasted'. their compromise was to buy a live tree in a bucket that lived on their patio during the rest of the year. it was kind of cool to see the photos over the years of the kids aging up along with the tree getting taller (periodically they would upsize the container to prevent it from becoming root-bound). I've wondered if when they sold the home they took the tree with them or planted it in the yard.