Yep, tree mat is a must. Catches all the needles as they fall off. We do a tree, menorah (two this year!), toast the turning of the sun at the exact hour every year, little gnome figures all over the place ... anything to brighten our lives during the darkest month. But the tree doesn't go up until Dec. 23, otherwise it'd be bare branches by Jan 6 when it comes down. So Dec 23 DH puts the tree in its base and the "kids" put on the lights and all the accumulated decorations they made at school up through the years and when the tree is up we go across the street to the neighbors' pre-Xmas party (mulled wine and moose buffet, and "the lady and the butler" sketch on tv). Same procedure as every year, James.

Gorgeous tree, bcipam! Ours are never so thickly branched, nor do we have any decorating themes. One year our tree was so twisted in the trunk that we had to tie it to the window hasps to keep it from tipping over. That was after it tipped over once and broke pretty much all our glass decorations. THEN we tied it up, when it was pretty much empty. But a tree does cheer up the room nevertheless.