I was wondering this as buying real ones yearly get sometimes pretty pricey
We have a cat tree we use. So artificial.
that is so adorable, ive been seeing that all over social media would you say its worth the money?
I got it last year for $90. It was up for ~2 months. Cats loved it. Got it back out a couple weeks ago, it is not used as much this year as last, but it does still get used.
I would totally say it was worth it.
a real one might not survive a cat.
When I can, I get a real tree. After Christmas, I trim all the leaves and branches off the trunk and put those in the municipal compost bin. I then put the trunk in storage and let it dry out for a year or two. Once dry, I’ll carve them into things like walking sticks, wizard staffs, etc.
wizard staff is so fire
Artisanal! I love it!
Name checks out
Artificial. While it was a ton of plastic I can’t get over cutting down a tree every year. Seems wasteful to me. My artificial is exactly the same as it was 10 years ago and I have no need to replace it.
a real one, which are usually Norway Spruce species, which has the iconic signature tree look. YEA its annoying when it starts to decay and go brown, you just dump outside, its wasteful asf. and a real one you have to make sure it doesnt carry any pests with it.
I haven’t had or put up a Christmas tree since I was a child. I don’t see the point. I don’t do any seasonal decorations. Time moves so fast that it’s like a week later I’m taking down a bunch of shit I paid money for and can barely use.
We started putting our shit up almost immediately after Halloween. I don’t mind all the gaudy bullshit, just the work and storage space. I just want to put up projector lights. My wife complains that they look like someone didn’t put any effort in — I said that’s exactly why I like them. At least we were able to agree on a prelit tree with no extra ornaments. I do miss the extravagant trees my grandma put up when I was little but it’s so much breakable glass shit.
Last year I put up permanent Govee lights. They were pretty good but then we had our roof redone this fall and I noticed half of them don’t work now. C’est la vie.
Never bothered with putting a tree up, but I’ve always kinda wanted to steal this idea:
I gotta say…
This was a triumph.
Why would i want a real tree? They’re messy and EXTREMELY FLAMABLE
For me it’s all the winter dormant insects in the tree that wake up once the tree is inside a warm home that makes me never want a real tree.
Or the smell of frozen animal piss thawing (I’ve heard some people mark their trees with fox urine to prevent theft)
Fake one. Bought it a decade ago and its still doing just fine.
Real f’sure.
A lot of states sell Christmas tree permits every year, so for 5-10 bucks plus gas I can harvest my own tree(s) sustainably.
It’s rad.
If you can’t find yourself in any of the states above, it’s likely you live in a state with state-run Christmas tree programs. Texas, Oklahoma, any state not in the half of the US listed above will have other state resources for Christmas tree permits and many private tree farms, which are maybe 10 dollars more but offer the same service:
Buy a permit, drive there, choose a tree, chop it down, take it home.
Thats what we do! 30-45 minute drive and we can get noble firs.
Heck yea! A satisfying quest all around.
Neither. Cutting down a healthy tree for a little ritual seems extremely wasteful to me. I don’t care much about Xmas so I don’t have a fake tree, either. I do have lights up in the apartment, but they’re up year round. I like the colors.
Real, but I keep it in a pot and it goes outside the rest of the year. It’s about 3.5’ tall at the moment and gets a little bigger each year. I’ve had it for 4 years now
That sounds excellent… i might pitch that to my wife for next year.
Number one cause of house fires around Christmas time, dry trees in homes. We put up the same artificial tree every year.
We ‘rent’ a real tree. After Christmas we bring it back and they re plant it.
Frugal family, never had a tree. I didn’t care either. I just wished we did something fun as a family. I see normal families on tv and I feel jealous. My parents aren’t like bad, but they kinda aren’t good either. None of the holidays were really memorable in particular. I had “okay” moments, but nothing really “wholesome” that i could share.
Like any useful gifts or really just family time to some new place is all I want, fuck trees, I personally don’t care, it doesn’t really do anything.
I mean colorful lighting would look cool, but trees? Meh.
(I’m not born in a western country for context)
I feel like I’m “not allowed” either.
I grew up in a very religious household/extended family. When I was 19, I became agnostic. But I actually really enjoy the Christmas season and decorations. It doesn’t have a religious tie to me, but it has a nostalgic tie to me.
My husband is VERY jaded/exhausted/raged by Christianity as a whole. Their very existence pisses him off. So naturally, Christmas pisses him off.
But in a fantasy world where we could all get past this bullshit – I’d honestly be happy with either. I grew up with artificial trees, but real trees always seemed better. But killing trees to be a decoration in your home for a month seems wrong…
Final answer- artificial tree would be my choice if I decorated.
While I certainly feel the rage, the tree is yet another decoration the Christians copped from the pagans they sought to drown out. It’s yule, not what Jesus put in his home for his birthday (not that he was actually born in the winter anyway, they rewrote that too). Eggs and bunnies are pagan fertility things, not what phasewalker Jesus handed out from the tomb.
While I know it’s clearly a Christian symbol now, you can’t change what makes you nostalgic.
Anyway, I don’t know about everyone else, but it was only this summer I learned that “pagan” just means ANY religion that isn’t Christian. I assume it’s more the various Nordic, Germanic, and Anglo sects in the European Christian range.
Have always had artificial. My parents still use the same tree they used when I was a kid. When my wife and I bought our own place we invested in a good quality artificial and I expect it to last just as long.
Real trees are a nice idea but I’ve seen far too many horror stories about them causing fires, and even if they don’t go up in flames they still drop needles and insects everywhere. Why take the risk?
