Real Or Artificial Christmas Tree?

[peachcake]

Can't decide this year, I have always had a real tree and LOVE it but don't love having to wait until mid December to put it up so have bought an artificial one, but sill unsure!

Thoughts please?

[Maisieskates]

We've gone artificial for the first time this year. Have 7 mth old DD and know I'm not the type to be hovering up pine needles every day so think its for the best. Reckon we'll get a good 5 years out of it so ultimately cheaper than a real one but probably less eco friendly .

[Earlybird]

I have an artificial one with lights already on. It always looks lovely and doesn't make a mess when time to take it down.

I've also found a lovely scented candle that replicates the smell of a fresh tree - but had to look a bit as some of the candles smell like household cleaning supplies!

[CointreauVersial]

Artificial. We have quite a high quality one, so it looks pretty good.

One day I'll have a real one, but I really can't be bothered with the faff.

[Maisieskates]

Ours is prelit too Earlybird - loving the lights even though no decs just yet

What brand is your candle?

[spamm]

We had an artificial one from Woolworths when we lived in the UK - and we think it lasted about 9 years, more or less. A pretty good investment. We just bought our first tree here in the USA - a gorgeous pre-lit 7FT artificial one, that looks amazing. It looks very real - which is important to me.

I do not like the ones that seem to be in fashion here - with a sprinkling of fake snow, or with pine cones and red berries. Or the Cashmere ones - fake pine, that is soft so you do not get any prickles from the needles.

[Earlybird]

Maisieskates - sorry, can't tell you. It must be packed away with Christmas decorations because (I've just looked) at it is not where I thought it was. Will try to remember to post the brand when I unpack it - and hopefully you'll see the post! Happy holidays, btw.

[CrotchFlakes]

I can't stand hoovering. Does that answer your question?

[Wrigglebum]

We have a fake, it's worth getting a fairly decent quality so it looks ok. Means it can go up earlier which is nice with children and no worries about needles. Those no drop real ones cost so much!! We are usually away for Xmas anyway so doesn't make sense to spend on a real tree.

DH often goes on about how much nicer real trees are, my response is I'm happy to get one as long as he buys it, vacuums the needles and deals with the bloody thing afterwards! So the artificial one it is then .

[Bossybritches22]

There are some lovely fake ones around now I know, but we love the smell of the real ones, & I don't even mind all the needles. I keep an old sheet which I spread out under it before placing it & the prezzies cover it up. After it makes it easier as the majority of needles fall on the sheet-apart from the trail that sheds as you carry the darned thing out to the dustbin!!

However I don't really mind hoovering them up, all part of Christmas really!

[purplepidjin]

Real one. In a pot. Lives on the front doorstep.

I don't have to hoover.

I don't have to cram it in the car twice.

It's eco friendly because I use the same one each year.

And I don't have to find room for it in my cluttered little flat because it stays on the doorstep, covered in tinsel during December

[MrsMuddyPuddles]

purplepidjin, I like your style! :-D

We have a little fake one that comes out if we're not travelling. A real one that live on the balcony would be better! (I am another one wondering about the perfect pine scented candle...)

[peeriebear]

We have a 6ft fake one that takes about an hour to put together- but I like it. We have a balsam pine candle from the Our Own Candle Company which smells gorgeous.
We have only had one real tree, when DD2 was a baby; I was still finding pine needles three years later!

[RainboweBrite]

If you've already bought an artificial, surely it would be wasteful to go out and get a real one as well? So in your case, I'd go artificial. Personally, I prefer real, but don't mind waiting until the middle of December to put it up.

[DontCallMeBaby]

We'll be having our first real one in three years - year before last we had two six-month-old kittens and went without a tree altogether, and last year we were away for ten days over Christmas and it didn't seem worth getting a real one, so we got the artificial one out. I'm looking forward to going back to real - I want to walk into a house that smells of Christmas tree, not light a candle specially to get the effect. I can live with the needles - it's not like they magically spread themselves around the room, so I only need to hoover once after it's been decorated, and once after it's gone (which, admittedly, is quite a lot of hoovering by my standards).

I stand prepared to eat my words if the cats take a fancy to it though.

[purplepidjin]

MrsMuddyPuddles, it's surprising how much stuff lasts ok when it's outside. I usually decorate mid-December with ceramic baubles, plastic metallic strings of stuff and tinsel. I also put cheapo poundshop battery lights on, with the battery bit wrapped in a plastic bag and taped down firmly!

[lobatteries]

Bought a fake one a few years ago and every year the children refuse to let me replace it with a real one.

[Mammonite]

If you've got the artificial one you might as well give it a try! How about some holly wreaths/swags if you yearn for real greenery?