A friend of mine was horrified when she heard I was faking it with an artificial tree. She thinks I’m cheating my kids out of the “Authentic Christmas Experience.” But I have a few reasons for going the reusable route.
For one thing, we have allergies to deal with in our family. For another, I love trees and figure I’m sparing one each year. And finally, I’m lazy. There. I said it. I discovered that it’s much easier to drag a box up from the basement than to go out and hunt a live tree down.
Are you as disappointed in me as my friend was? People seem to have strong opinions on the topic, that’s for sure. What’s yours? (Photo via Country Living.)
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Ho-Ho-Ho! Did You Miss Any Holiday Posts?
- My Fake Christmas Tree
- Hooked on Holiday House Tours Blog Party
- Inside the Real Home Alone House
- Pop Quiz: Can You Name These 10 Christmas-Movie Houses?
- A White Christmas
- 10 Things to Ask Santa for This Year
- Caption This: Santa in the House
- The Griswold House from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
P.S. Solstice Home has a giveaway for Winter Solstice. Visit Sue’s blog to enter!
{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }
I am all for convenience (no needles please!) and artificial trees look great these days! I go for the effect – not the provenance!
If you are missing the smell – there wonderful holiday candles to fill the house with seasonal smells – and fresh baked cookies always help!
Merry Christmas, Julia!
LaurelStreet´s last blog ..You all told me not to, but I did it anyway: Gallery Wall!
I grew up with a fake tree and always wanted a real one… once I had my own house I swore I would only do real! We did for many years, but with 2 small kids and a husband who would always drag his feet when it came to getting and putting up the tree, I went the fake route. We also live in the South and I like not having to worry about the tree drying out before Christmas (or cleaning up all of the needles)!
Tracey´s last blog ..Happy Holidays!
Unfortunately fake. I am deathly allergic to pine/evergreen trees thanks to their mold spores. Every Christmas as a child I would get deathly ill and my parents finally realized it was the tree. Allergy testing proved it was the mold in them.
We found a fantastic looking fake a few years ago and had to wait until AFTER Christmas to get it on sale for $300. When people see our tree they have to ask if it is real or fake.
I miss the days of gettting to shop a tree lot to pick one. That was so much fun as a child.
Jamie and I are definitely fakers! But we also travel every year at Christmas, and I have a thing about leaving an eight feet tall, drying-up, flammable dead plant in my house when I won’t be there for days. I’m just sayin’.
I don’t think it takes anything away. The lights and the ornaments – especially the ornaments – make the tree, real or fake. And my pre-lit fake tree has lights done up infinitely better than I would have done.
Girlfriend, I can keep a tree up longer and not worry about it drying out!! For the scent? Shoot, candles and potpourri takes care of that! hahaha
Nancy Hood´s last blog ..Thinking Back to Christmas Past ~
I mix it up. Always, always, always a real tree. No compromise here. I do, howcver, use a mix of fake a real wreaths and garland. I think the righ tanswer to this question is to use what works best for your family.
Stacy @ RedDoorHome´s last blog ..Flower Frog Fun
I have a fake tree too! The reasons? There are two…(1) the mess and (2) CATS! I have FOUR CATS and a real tree with all of those wonderful “smells” in it sends them into FREAK MODE!! They climb it and sit in it and in the meantime ornaments are crashing to the floor, garlands are all askew and in general, it ain’t good! I decided it was NOT worth it! I burn a Christmas Tree scented candle, but up the imposter and it’s all good!!!
Have a Great Christmas!!
Lou Cinda
Lou Cinda´s last blog ..MY CAMERA IS DOWN….AND OUT
We get a real tree! When we moved to Colorado Springs, we decided there was no way we’d be using a fake tree in colorful Colorado.
We go to a local tree farm and cut down a Scotch pine for $30.
The Scotch pines are a little sparse (I like to call them “rustic”) but they are very hardy and do not drop needles for about a month and a half. On the down side, there is no smell, but for allergy sufferers that may actually be a good thing.
Our tree is year is 13 feet!
Carrie Isaac´s last blog ..New business coming to the Springs: Rudy’s BBQ
My annual January sinus infections disappeared when we got a fake tree. And none of us miss stomping around in the cold trying to find a tree, OR bringing it home in the trunk of a car!
We’ve done real in the past, but only a few times. I do love the authenticity of a real tree and the smell is wonderful, but it’s not practical in our home. Our pets would be climbing all over the tree like that squirrel in the National Lampoon movie.
Christine´s last blog ..Changes
If you have allergies, all you’re denying your kids by having a fake tree is sinus headaches. I’ve always had a real tree, but lately my son’s and my allergies have been worse. When we brought our tree home this year, we were miserable within minutes, so it was banished to the patio and I made a fake tree. We put the real one just outside of the patio door with lights on it, so we can look at it, and still be able to breathe.
It depends upon the reasoning behing both. I have had artifical trees at a house in Florida when I was growing up but I have a real one at our house now in the Midwest.
I was tempted this year to get a fake one becaue both my husband and I have horrible allergies and the spores that come off the tree were driving us nuts with watery eyes and all for the first few days after we put it up.
It shoud be the fact that you have a tree which is celebrated. I remember a few yrs ago my husband and I didn’t get a tree or even decorate but there was a reason. I was sick andin the hospital for a few days before Christmas and my sister had just undergoone a bone marrow transplant and she could not have living plants in any area near her.
Ha.Ha. Thanks Julia, this post put a smile and a chuckle on my tired face this morning.
and Thank you for posting the giveaway at Solsticehome
C’mon everyone join in!!
Sue
sue@solsticehome´s last blog ..Happy Winter Solstice ~ Thank You Giveaway
I grew up with real trees and never thought I would commit the “sacrilege” of getting fake, but the reality of my life is I travel a lot for work, and I have crazy cats. So a fake tree works better for me. I don’t have to worry about it drying out (fire hazard) and no one is treating the tree as if it is a “kitty salad bar” (my cats love plants. As snacks).
Robin´s last blog ..Orson Welles to the principal’s office please
Heh…as if we needed more drama to displace the meaning of Christmas!
We alternate. A real tree is alot of fun, but the fake tree has it’s own fun to it.
When we have a fake tree, it’s *fake*…either white or silver or something completely different than a real tree.
When we have a real tree, we spend alot of time picking it out. We also get it early for maximum live tree enjoyment.
I’d say don’t stress about it, and do whatever makes the most sense and creates the most memories.
Mike´s last blog ..What I wanted for Christmas #7: Big-Trak
I’m allergic to pines and spruce so we used to cut down a redwood tree every year. They are simply beautiful, but one year it occurred to us that the trees weren’t growing as tall in a year as the ones we cut down. Eventually, if everyone cut down a redwood, we’d consume them faster than they could reproduce. So.
So we went out and spent way too much money on a 7.5ft fake tree than is already lit. With a pine scent oil diffuser people have a hard time believing me that the tree is fake. Plus, we can put up the tree the Friday before Thanksgiving and leave it up until New Years without the fire hazard.
We always got a real tree when I was growing up, and I guess I am just an old-fashioned person. I love going out to a tree farm or a tree lot and comparing the trees until we find the perfect one. And once it is in the house, you know that the wonderful fragrance coming from a real tree is authentic and not from a can or scented candle. To me that makes a big difference. Yes, the needles can be a pain to clean up, but to me, the benefits of having a real tree far outweigh the hassles.
And I care a lot about the environment, too. I don’t think there is any harm in buying a real tree from a farm since they are replaced with new seeds once they’re cut down. A dead Christmas tree has many uses after it is taken down (it can be mulched, used on sand dunes to help prevent erosion, etc.), whereas once you throw away an artificial tree it will sit in a landfill.
I completely understand the reasons why some people prefer artificial, but for me, Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without a real tree!
Wow! 60% do fake? Well, I’m a real tree gal, but you know that
I do have one fake tabletop tree in the dining room, because I wanted a small flocked tree, but the big one is always real, because I love the smell and the hunt for the perfect one. I guess it’s because I love my memories as a child when we’d buy ours and I wanted my kids to have the same. Now my mom, because she lives by herself, orders them online and has them delivered, but it’s always real too
Either way, a tree is a tree and it’s nice to know people still have them.
rue
rue´s last blog ..Twas the night before Christmas…
Fun poll! A few years ago we bought a live tree, to be replanted after the holidays. What a pain, from “holding” it in the garage for 2 weeks prior to bringing it into the house, and vise versa on the way out prior to being planted. We had planned to do this each year…then we moved and a fake tree from Target found it’s way into our lives. That was the end of the real tree venture. Oh well, I get a kick out of seeing the tree when I drive past our old home.
janell
Janell Beals´s last blog ..In Between The Holiday Rush The Office Redesign Got Painted
I love a real tree! But my husband had a nice fake one from before we got married. the first year we were married we had both a fake and a real one. Now we just put up the fake one, but when we need a new one of those we are going back to a real one.
Blakely´s last blog ..Childhood Memories
We always had a fake tree growing up, but the last couple years my husband and I have gotten a real tree. I can see the pros and cons of each. But for now, I’m liking our real tree!
micah´s last blog ..Closet Confessions: Part Three (It’s Done!)
we finally took the plunge this year and bought an artificial tree. my children are all grown and my husband and i decided we were ready to switch.
Hi I’m Carrie, I like fake Christmas tress and I’m okay with that fact. While I would love a real tree, sadly all the ones in Texas just aren’t my style or are out of the budget to do year after year. That coupled with the fact that I even touch a tree I’ll have hives up to my elbows makes me a BIG faker.
Carrie´s last blog ..It’s a big secret
We went fake last year after many years of buying real, mainly because no one was around much to go {we all went together as a family} with work and school, as well as the kids’ social lives.
I am a staunch keep it real-er. My fiancee BEGGED me to go with a fake tree, or horror of all horrors, no tree at all. Guess who won this year?
As a compromise we got a stout little stunner that I decorated lovingly and then made us sit in front of a swoon over. Days later I hear “BAILEY!!!!!!!!!!” bellowing from our living room (never a good sign). “Yes, dear?”
“Did you not water the tree!?”
Ok, so I have always had a real tree, but if you know me you know I have definitely never contributed to the upkeep of said tree.
So now our once beauteous tenenbaum looks significantly more like The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. And I tell people that was the look we were going for.
Bailey´s last blog ..All the Kings Horses and All the Kings Men…
An aside, I’ve spent the morning trying to find the table cloth in the picture. So beautiful!
I’d LOVE a real one, but have had a fake one for many MANY years.
Main reason is, I married a fireman. They don’t like fire hazards in the home and a drying dead tree plus electricity means all that to them.
When I divorced, I swore I’d have a fake one pronto! Did it happen? No. They are expensive in my area! Wow. But this year I was truely going to go for it. The result? I had a Christmas showing in the house that entailed me to decorate in November. Humbug! The fake is up yet again.
I’m one of the fortunate ones though. I bought my fake way back when they first came out. Not a liker for plastic, I ensured what I bought truly looked like the real deal and paid what was a fortune at the time. And those that come in assume it’s real. Each time.
I need to find a nice tree scent now. Most smell fake as well so that’s why I haven’t yet sprung for one.
But honestly, I so want and desire a real tall and skinny tree with sparse branches. I just adore that down home country look.
Fun topic!
Donna
my tree
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2009/12/myyyy-christmas-treee-link-yours-up-too.html
Funky Junk Interiors´s last blog ..A bedroom fit for a young king of his castle – reveal
We had real trees during my childhood, and then my mother discovered color coordinated fake trees. We kids cried for real, so she did the decor thing in the living room, and we got our real tree in a family room, or even little real trees in our bedrooms.
As an adult I had real trees for years, and installed plenty of them when I had my event design business. I even went out in the woods and chopped down my own tree (HILARIOUS!). But I started using fake trees as I got busier, and used real garland and wreaths.
Now it’s all fake! Really really fake as in a silver tinsel retro tree from the 1950’s I bought on eBay three years ago! I have a beautiful fake green tree too that has been languishing in the storage shed – I think I’ll get it out and decorate it on Christmas Eve!
And I love pre- lit trees! And feather trees!
You know it’s all pretty, and it’s all good.
Have a very Merry Christmas darling Julia.
xo xo
I’ve become a big a faker for the same reasons (minus the allergies). It was fun growing up though with real trees and real candles. But I love my forever tree now!!!
Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Julia!!
Maya @ Completely Coastal´s last blog ..Christmas Light Displays -Coastal Towns USA
The only reason I’ve ever liked a real tree is the smell, but you can get that with real garland. ..or a candle? I fake it with a vintage aluminum tree from the 50s complete with vintage ornaments.
Unless you’re going to replant a live tree, I think it’s a crime to cut one down just to decorate your home for a month or so.
Have a Great Holiday Julia!
Hi Julia,
Just wanted to let you know I read an article in this Sunday’s New York Times about Nancy Myers, who directed both “Something’s Got to Give” and “The Parent Trap”. I’m guessing that her new movie, “It’s Complicated” will have some interiors we’ll lust after…
Love the blog! Thanks for sharing!
Oh, I forget to ask! Read a great post on your site about woodworking…I think it was a guest blog. I can’t find it now! Can you help?
Denice–
I think you’re talking about this one, which was a guest post by Tim, “The Remodeling Guy:”
http://hookedonhouses.net/2009/05/11/how-to-add-some-wow-with-woodwork/
Hope that’s it! -Julia
Growing up we always had a real tree, and as I got older I was almost always the one putting lights on it and decorating it, even though I’m extremely allergic to them! I loved shopping for one as a kid, what a great experience, but for me it’s always going to be fake. We bought a very very nice one with the lights already on it about 6 or 7 years ago and it still looks great.
Kris´s last blog ..2009 Challenge Wrap up
My family use to get a real tree every Christmas, but the last few years, we have had a fake tree because we don’t have the money to spend on a real one.
Someday I would love to get a real tree again because I love the fun of looking for one and the smell.
Fake!
Some years ago… After a “lifetime” of cutting down our own, each Christmas.
Aunt Amelia´s last blog ..And may I please have a moment…?
Always real, always! You have some pine needles but besides that its total fun! Going to pick out a tree every year, with each one being different and unique, is the start of my holiday season!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Molly
Whether people are willing to admit it or not, fake trees can look incredibly real. You have to play with it a bit though – not just take it out of the box and hang the ornaments. You need to bend the individual branches so they point a little bit different of a direction and then the individual things that come off of the branches.
Going and finding your own in the wild can also be hard for some people. And trees from the side of the street or tree farm can get expensive. I’ll face it for the rest of my life, lol.
I grew up with real trees but I’ve had fake ones as an adult.
I wanted to have a real tree with roots in a planter for my front porch this year, but never managed to get around to it.
Maybe next year.
Holley´s last blog ..Everything is new….
I love real trees and have gone that route but have had some things happen with a real tree that changed my mind. Trees have died and been removed BEFORE Christmas morning, had a tree once that had beetles in it and had to remove the tree before Christmas because as the tree died the beetles fled and attacked my house, and most of all here on the plains of Texas the trees we can buy were cut in October somewhere and they are already dry when we get them and we can burn our trees because we live outside the city, it scared me to death when I saw how fast our tree burned a couple of days after Christmas and the thougth of it being in my home with my babies made me stop buying real trees.
Tanya ´s last blog ..Full of Awe
I go fake. According to family lore my first Christmas they bought a live tree had all sorts of drama with it, went fake the next year and hasn’t looked back since. I have to say that it’s easier to care for, cheaper (buy it once – keep if forever!), and reusable. Oh and I found out later in life that I’m allergic to trees. Good thing I go fake.
I really want a retro aluminum tree though.
Condo Blues´s last blog ..Easy Personalized Appliqué Dog Towel
My family had a fake one we’d pull out every year….BUT in MY home, it’s ALWAYS been real. I love the smell and enjoy going and finding just the right one!
Merry Christmas Julia!
xx
Renae Moore´s last blog ..What’s on your wish-list?
I’ve been a big faker for about 7 years now and I love it! No pine needles to clean up and no worry about burning the house down with a dried up tree and lights. After growing up in Colorado and having real trees my entire life, I’m content with my plastic tree in Texas.
Great post- Merry Christmas!
Morning T´s last blog ..A loft in London
My kids didn’t want me killing a tree, so for years, I have had the fake ones. I always wanted the real ones with the real smells I remember from my childhood. Now, I find out that so many trees are planted to be a Christmas tree, that you are really not killing a tree, AND they say that real trees break down and are more GREEN than the fake ones overall!
I don’t get disapointed…to each his own! I personally go with a real tree and always grew up with a real tree. Have you tried a frasier fir?? Supposedly they are great for people with alergies! I love the act of cutting down the tree! and the smell can’t be beat! I will admit (don’t tell anyone) that I used a fake tree in my own home for a couple of years…but for the past two I have been back on the right track!
Jen @ After The Alter´s last blog ..Packing For Holiday Travel
Before we moved to Arizona we always got real trees. The real trees that are available here are so sad looking. Plus, it’s so dry I would always worry about the fire hazard aspect. I have to say that an artificial tree is sooo much easier (especially our newish one with the lights already on it – how’s that for lazy?). After 10 years I am okay with faking it.
Debra´s last blog ..Christmas joys…
I’ve got four artificial trees in my house plus one tiny one in my office. For years, we had real trees but frankly the artificial ones are just so much easier to decorate and deal with.
Plus…you just can’t beat the prelit variety. It takes so much work to light those real ones!
LesleySW @ The Design File´s last blog ..Design Translation: Art to help finish the room
When you live in a house that is over 150 years old. You don’t risk the fire hazzard of a live tree. Not worth losing everything for the true scent of pine.
Derek´s last blog ..Peppard Cottage revisited.
Hi Julia yes I’m with you fake is the way to go over here its too hot for the tree to look green and perky for too long. I have a beautiful green fake but it felt too big for me to reach so I got this beautiful stick tree with snow I love it and the christmas bling is very elegant via frenchdressing.com.au and malmaison.com.au – I like shopping on line its great. By the way did you like the Whitehouse Christmas decorations I thought they were beautiful I look forward to seing it every year. On that note I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry and Bright Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year …. enjoy the snow for me…. Cheers from Esther in Sydney…..
I wish we did real, but dh is the one that has to bring it upstairs (we live in a 3rd floor walk up) and down again with needles dragging behind him. I understand his point, but it makes me so sad because the trees in Germany are soooooo beautiful. They’re different from the ones in the States and I just love them.
Maybe next year I’ll get a little tree that’s real for the entry way or maybe even my bedroom.
Mom in High Heels´s last blog ..Random Thoughts Tuesday: No kitchen for you!
Ooooo lawdy…who knew there were more fakers than real? I wouldn’t have guessed!
We keep it real. Love the difference each year…love the hunt…love me a good Charlie Brown tree…love the pain in the ass of the whole thing!
linda@LimeintheCoconut´s last blog ..NOT for the faint of heart…
Hi Julia! I’m so happy I found your site…I LOVE it and look forward to all your wonderful posts!
This is a great question. I’m a real tree person. Growing up we always had a real tree, except for the one year my mom thought it would be fun to get one of those aluminum ones with the color wheel….my siblings and I freaked out! That tree lasted one year at our house and then went to live at my grandparents’ home. Since then, I have never had a fake tree. My husband can’t even stand the thought of one. There is a great lot here in Fairfield that has the most beautiful Frasier Firs. We get ours the first Saturday in December every year, and it stays up until after New Years. We have hardwood floors so needles aren’t really an issue anyway, and we have two cats who love to lay on the tree skirt under the tree, but have never tried to climb it or even play with the ornaments (which is a good thing because they are all vintage!). When it’s time to discard the tree, the city has a site to drop them off and they get mulched and reused. But I can understand others that go the “fake” route. I truly believe it’s a personal choice and whatever works for ya is all good!
Merry Christmas to you and yours, and blessings for the New Year!
Cyndi´s last blog ..…and Yet One More Snowman
Cute poll.
Our main tree is real (it’s way easier for me to make the hubs go buy a live one at Lowe’s as opposed to begging him for a week to pull it down from the attic), but we have 4 small fake ones). 
Amanda @ Serenity Now´s last blog ..False Advertising
Oh, this made me laugh out loud! I have been wondering if real Christmas tree sales are at a record low because of fake trees. Well, it looks like your poll says it all. I can understand the whole allergy thing. To me, picking out the tree is part of the fun. I usually make the whole family go and we have been known to stop at 3 or 4 tree stands before finding just the right one. I know that sounds crazy but it needs to be fat, but not too fat…just right!
I’ll still be your friend!
~Kim
Kim @ Forever Wherever´s last blog ..Christmas Candy – Easy Pretzel Turtles
I’ve never had a real tree – it seems like too much hassle and maintenance for such a short period!
Anny´s last blog ..Sony Card Gives me Warm Fuzzies
i dont like all the hassle with live trees no thanks lol
Tami´s last blog ..Puttin on the Ritz with Devyne Stephens!
The guilt! We turn an innocent, under-age tree into a sad little tart, up-root it, trick it out with tinsel, have our wicked way with it then discard it as soon as it begins to shed its needles. should be ashamed of ourselves.
This October I found an old Christmas tree bobbing about in the bay, totally stripped of needles but festooned with seaweed. Dragged it home, dried it out, sprayed it silver and hung it up where it looks like the Nightmare before Christmas. Friends roll on the floor with mirth. It totally fits with my sentiments about Christmas. Photos on my blog if you are curious.
Tricia Rose´s last blog ..A Hilly Scene
Our tradition has been to take the kids (now grand kids to cut one down at the “Christmas Tree Farm”. It’s building memories and a lot of fun besides. When the grand kids are grown we may take another look at the fake thing. Our friends have one and it is quite impressive.
Kim´s last blog ..Unusual Spiral Columns
I grew up with a fake tree and in my own home we always have a fake tree. So much easier! However, I have to say I currently am not crazy about the fake tree we used this year and last. Hubby and son picked it out and it is a shiny silver tree with a rotating spotlight, and it’s too thin. Ugh.
Robyns Online World´s last blog ..You Got a New Computer with Windows 7 – Now What?
I live in an atriun ranch and I have a live 16′ ficus tree inside my house. It is pretty amazing! So a couple of years ago we decided to decorate our real tree and not buy a Christmas three any more. I know it sounds weird for some, but it is very unique and beautiful! We put lights and lots of family ornaments, and it means a lot to all of us!
animal print gal´s last blog ..Zebra Modern Kitchen