A bit early I know but...

[Brandi]

Do you have a type of christmas tree you strive for every year? Small, big, open, lot's of ornaments, no ornaments? What are your tree traditions? Do you get your tree the day after thanksgiving? Or are you like our neighbors down the way who have all their christmas stuff up already (kinda weird).
We normally go to a tree farm and cut our own tree the day after thanksgiving. We leave the tree up with no decorations for about a week so we can enjoy it's natural beauty. Then we decorate while watching A Christmas Story. I like tree's that are about 5 and half to six feet. Lots of branches. We get the kind with the long needles. Of coarse that is all they grow at the farm. All my ornaments or at least most of them are from around the world from all my traveling the past 20 years. Almost everyone has a special sentament behind it. i have a friend who does a pet tree. there is an ornament for every pet past and presant. I might do one of those this year. My traditions are out the door this year since i have to work through thanksgiving until Dec 7th. Hope there are still some good tree's left!

[SJCzar]

Our tree seems to change each year depending on what kind of mood I'm in at the time. We had an artifical one (yuck) that we used for a number of years when our daughter's allergies were worse. Now we've gone back to real.

Many years ago, before I was married and still living at home with my mom, we waited longer than usual to get a tree and ended up with the last one on the lot. It was a total "Charlie Brown" tree....not at all full, with many bare spots. After we got it decorated we both decided it was the best tree we ever had. All the lights and ornaments really looked lovely without being blocked by so much greenery. This is my first Christmas since my mother passed away last spring. Perhaps I'll have to take my daughter out with me to look for another tree just like that one.

[light_sabe_r]

In Australia we're all using plastic trees. OR the lastest fashion according to realliving magazine is a stick spraypainted WHITE or GOLD. (that's too bizzare for me though)

It's the middle of summer! Pine needles and barefeet/skin don't really mix. Plus the risk of starting a fire as most of the trees are dry from drought and christmas lights... yeah...

BF and I bought our plastic tree last week. Here's hoping it'll last many years to come. We won't be putting it up until the first week of advent. (four sundays out from Christmas... It's my Irish familie's tradition)

[paigette]

I live in an apartment, so I generally use a small 3-ft plastic tree. I've collected Hallmark ornaments since I was 12 or 13, so I use those. They are random & have no pattern...though I do prefer their fairy ornament collection. There is no time schedule for putting that up....generally whenever the Christmas spirit hits me. I also put up my stocking, my boyfriends stocking & my dog's stockings (yes, they have their own stockings)

I also generally help decorate my parents house. We do this the weekend after T-giving. My parents have this huge fake tree that really is gorgeous. We decorate it with Marroon & Gold with clear lights. Decorating their house is a whole process as we seriously create a winter wonderland atmosphere--my favorite being the 6 foot Lighted Angel that goes ON THE ROOF!!

[Aggie_Ama]

We usually put up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Our tree is a fake one and not a very expensive one at that. My allergies are pretty bad, so I don't want a live tree in the house. I am hoping to covince DH to buy a better looking pre-lit tree this year. We have stockings for us and really adorable ones for the dogs. Theirs look much better than ours, but isn't that how the kids are? This year we are definitely hanging lights since it is our first Christmas in a house. Last year we had a string of icicles on our apartment patio.

We are slowly eliminating our little glass ball ornaments and replacing them with sentimental ones. Each year we get one to symbolize the year.
1- First Christmas
2- Disneyworld (we went the week before Christmas)
3- Cycling Paceline (1st century)
4- New house!

I also have some that were bought by my mom my first Christmas in my first apartment. She selected ones that fit my personality. We fill in the bareness of the tree with some real pretty glass snowflake ornaments from Pier One.

[Deanna]

My husband and I have a live tree we've been bringing into the house for the last 8-9 years. When I was growing up, a friend of the family always got a mis-shapen tree, because "every tree deserves a home, even if it's ugly". I thought that was very cool. Our ornaments have primarily been gifts or passed down, so there's history behind just about every one of them. Our tree is still pretty small, but I load it up with ornaments anyway.

[Bikingmomof3]

We get our tree on Dec 1. It is usuallt about 7 feet tall, quite full with soft needles. I love lights, so DH grumbles the entire time (secretly he loves it). Then we all decorate the tree with ornaments we bought on travels, from when DH and I were children, ornamnts the boys have been given, ornaments the boys made and Old World Christmas ornaments (my fav-especially the glass clip on birds).

[7rider]

Our level of trees also vary with our moods and travel plans.
When we stay local, we'll get a live tree (or rather, slowly dying tree) and decorate it with the usual assortment of ornaments that we pull out from the box. They seem to have a nautical theme.
If we go away for the holiday - as we will this year - we put up the 4.5" falsey and put the lights on a timer. Easy-peasy.
I always put greens and lights around the front door.

[bcipam]

I start putting up my tree during the Thanksgiving holiday. It usually takes me 4 days to get it up. I bought a "fake" tree several years back. It's tough to put up but looks beautiful (I paid alot for it) and I don't have to worry about going out to buy the tree, it drying out etc. The tree is 8'. It's big. It takes lot of lights and ornaments.

Over the years I have collected many beautiful and expensive ornaments (I'm single, no kids to break them). I also make ornaments which I sell at Christmas time but alot go on the tree. Once the tree is up with lights and ornaments, you can barely see the needles or any green. I usually cover almost every inch with something.

I love having my tree up - it's so pretty!!!!!!! :D

I'll post a photo once I get it up this year.

[Veronica]

This year we're getting an ornament tree.

http://image.normthompson.com/solutions/images/us/local//products/detail/67386.jpg

I have a "thing" about artificial green trees. I'm nostalgic for the days growing up in Maine when we would tramp through our woods or my grandparents' woods to find a tree and cut it down. I tried doing a live tree in a pot years ago, but couldn't keep it alive through our summers

I have a lot of homemade ornaments.

We won't be home for Christmas but Thom wants to pull out all the stops decorating the house this year. I wonder when he'll find the time. :rolleyes: Last year we were home, but didn't do a tree. The three years before that we were away.

V.

[Offthegrid]

Veronica, that's very pretty.

I *love* real trees. I love the smell and the look, probably because my parents never let us have a real tree.

Stupid ex-bf wouldn't have it, though, and we had a young puppy at this time last year. So this year I am getting a small real tree. I think the jerk even took the ornaments I bought, so I probably have to buy those, too.

I like white lights and simple, matching ornaments.

[Veronica]

Thanks, I'm looking forward to getting it. (That's the catalog picture.)

We have tree recycling here. The trees get chopped up into mulch. But you can't recycle flocked trees. I've always wondered why people got flocked trees to begin with. It doesn't look like snow and why would you want snow in your house? Maybe the white reflects the lights better.

V.

[CyclChyk]

Ok so am I the only weird one who doesn't put up a tree??? :confused:

And on a side note, my neighbors have already slathered their house with christmas decorations. I have to say, it looks great but holy toledo its not even Thanksgiving yet!

[suzieqtwa]

I used to cut down a tree every year ,but I got sick of the needles falling all over the house ,and finding them for months after ,so I got a 8 ft tall fake tree with lights on it ,and I love it. Its so easy to put up ,and we have tons of decorations. I use glade plug in ,pine scent to make it smell good. I usually put it up after Thanksgiving.

[makbike]

No tree this year for I don't feel it would survive my two kittens! I really haven't put up a true Christmas tree for the past 10 years. My living room is tiny and with a Great Dane it has always seemed like a bad mix. One swipe of his tail and the tree would be on the floor. I have, however, decorated the cat tree my brother-in-law made me several years ago. He literally cut down a small tree, removed the bark and put perches at the end of each branch (the cats love it). I have in the past put lights on it and hung my ornaments (gifts from students and an ornament for each past and current pet). I have found myself tearing up when I put past pet ornaments on the tree for it makes me realize I how much I miss them and more importantly how much they shared with me the years they were with me. I need to find some ornaments for my three new additions - I think I'll shop tomorrow while I look for my final gift for my SS. I do love the holidays!

[kiwi girl]

I haven't had a tree since I left home, but after 13 years of renting BF and I now have our own home - so I think I'll get a tree this year - probably just a small artificial one though

[emily_in_nc]

We put up Christmas trees early in our marriage but have kinda gotten away from it in the past few years. I grew up in a family where we always got real trees (but never until about a week or two before Christmas, much later than most people seem to these days), so I always disdained artificial trees. Love the smell of real pine! However, they are messy, and if you travel during the holidays as we often do, very hard to deal with the watering situation. So, we finally broke down about 8 years ago and bought a very nice artificial tree. I really didn't want to, but DH talked me into it. We used it once, then we moved into a house where there's just not a good place for it.

Since moving into our new house, the fancy artificial tree is in the attic. I've taken to decorating the house with rustic Christmas decor like wooden and iron figurines (reindeer, angels), baskets of pinecones, garlands tied with raffia, just simple stuff but definitely "holiday". I try to put a little something in every one of the downstairs rooms to make it festive, but no big tree.

We just added a sunporch, though the floor is not in yet (we'll be tiling, right now it's just raw plywood). Since we haven't furnished it yet, we actually have room for a tree out there. I didn't think of it until reading this thread. Maybe I'll get the big artificial tree out of the attic this year and go for it. I do have a lot of lovely ornaments, many handed down or handmade by my mother, and I miss not getting to use them. But I'm kinda lazy about the whole putting the tree up, the lights, decorating, and (even worse) undecorating the tree. We'll see how inspired I get!

Emily

[nancielle]

I love "real" Christmas trees but I live in an apartment and after a few years of hauling them up (and down) a couple of flights of stairs, I finally switched to an artificial tree. One of my local grocery stores gets pine scented candles in every year that really smells like pine trees so I burn those. I love lots of lights on the tree. One year though I had bought a set of lights from BJ's and they were much brighter than I expected. I could have landed a plane with that string of lights. I ended up giving them away to one of my sisters who decorates much more than I do (her kids thought the lights were cool.)

Christmas is the only holiday I decorate for. Love putting everything up, hate taking it all down in January though.

[short cut sally]

When we were first married, we decorated anything and everything, real trees and green artificial were used. All decorated with ornaments from both grandparents and my parents, all the old shiney brites. However,the artificial tree spent more and more time in the closet as xmas rolled around. The 6 foot artificial tree was given away and a few years ago was replaced with a 3 foot silver aluminum tree from the 50's. The tree is decorated with plastic strings of garland,shades of blue ornaments, and the cheesiest of lighting system is used. The color wheel. (Also from same era.) Yes, lucy from charlie brown would be happy. It is tacky but fits in my decor well. I do love decorating the house, i have vintage decorations, and love to get them all out and enjoy, but taking care of everything is such a pain. I think the older I get, the more a chore decorating seems to get. Now I know why my parents and grandparents decorated very little while I was growing up. I vowed I would'nt be like that when it came to the holidays, but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree now. I have good intentions but we'll see how far they get.

[Brandi]

All these stories are great! I love to hear what other people do or don't do. keep the stories going. Post pic's if you have any. Maybe some of us will be inspired. I would like to find a christmas bike ornament. Does anyone know where I can find one?

[Aggie_Ama]

Brandi- REI had some nice bike ornaments last year. That is where we got our paceline. It is a pewter-type. They also had a tandem and I think some others. I had to order it and have it sent to my local REI.

I will take pictures next week when the tree is up. :D

[MomOnBike]

Veronica,

What catalogue is that? I seriously want that tree. No needles, no fire hazards, no cats playing "You Can't Catch Me" in the branches, the pretties that we've collected and made over the course of the years actually showing, the tree itself is attractive ... sigh....

Really. I need to have that catalogue.

[spokewench]

I usually put up a 5-6 foot tree. I prefer a spruce type tree, but have used pinion, a baby ponderosa, whatever is cheapest type tree when I can't stand to spend the money on an expensive one. I work as a paralegal and one our my clients is a very large ranch in northern arizona. It is a tradition to go out to the Ranch and cut a tree every year. One of the guys usually does cowboy cooking on a fire so it is quite a gathering! So then, it is whatever looks the best as far as type of tree.

Last year, I was not able to go so I bought a small tree at one of the local christmas tree lots.

I don't really care about the ornaments too much. I really LOVE christmas lights so I put a bunch of those on and then a few ornaments. Then, my hubby who is a grinch of sorts thinks there are not enough ornaments and he will fill the branches in with ornaments. It's the only way I can get him to participate in the decorating! He's kind of ADD so it works!

[caligurl]

Ok so am I the only weird one who doesn't put up a tree??? :confused:




i didn't last year.... and i'm leaning toward not doing so again this year..... we'll see....

[nancielle]

The tree is decorated with plastic strings of garland,shades of blue ornaments, and the cheesiest of lighting system is used. The color wheel. (Also from same era.)

shellyj, my grandmother had one of those trees with the color wheel. When I was very young I thought that wheel was the greatest thing ever! Drove my mother to distraction every time we visited there during the holidays (she lived next street over so visiting was very easy) because I'd constantly stick different objects (including hands/feet) to watch them turn different colors. :D

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

shellyj, my grandmother had one of those trees with the color wheel. When I was very young I thought that wheel was the greatest thing ever! Drove my mother to distraction every time we visited there during the holidays (she lived next street over so visiting was very easy) because I'd constantly stick different objects (including hands/feet) to watch them turn different colors. :D

There was something magical about those color wheels....especially when the shone on silver foil trees. And the little liquid bubble lights...
Anyone remember when tinsel was made from REAL LEAD strips? I do! :eek:
OUr cats used to eat it, it weighed a ton and tore very easily, and we kids loved to roll it into lead marbles to play with. :eek: :eek: I'm not dead yet.

I just read this:
"In the 1950s and 60s, metallic trees with all the same shape and color ornaments became the rage. The trees were made of aluminum-coated paper, which posed a fire hazard when Christmas lights were placed directly on them, so they were instead lit by a spotlight with a motorized color wheel in front of it."

[Veronica]

Veronica,

What catalogue is that? I seriously want that tree.

Really. I need to have that catalogue.

Solutions

V.

[snapdragen]

Yes Lisa! I remember lead tinsel too.

We have a huge fake tree, it's really quite pretty. The first year we put it up we didn't tell anyone. The rest of my family didn't know it was fake until they got really close, trying to smell the pine! We have ornaments from when my parents were first married (50+ years ago) on up to newer stuff. I usually buy one special ornament each year. Nothing matches, a multitude of colors - my favorite kind of tree.