Artificial Christmas Trees - Will a cheap one be okay and what should I look for?

[TeWihara]

I've never had a fake tree before but this christmas includes:

A crazy cat that attacks trees.
A planned homebirth.
A toddler that loves to move stuff around.

So artificial is looking like by far the best plan! Really hoping not to spend much money (we would only usually spend around £25 on a real tree) but it needs to be really sturdy. Otherwise not sure what to look for and if just grabbing the cheapest one in B&Q is a terrible plan.

Cats knock fake trees over far far easier than real ones in my experience probably because the real ones weigh more and tend to be in a bucket of sand or on a decent stand.

My cat can have a fake tree over in about 2 seconds whereas he won't go near a real one since the great spiking incident of 2005

So if you're getting a fake one make sure it's either heavy or weighed down really well.

Ha!

Gah, hadn't thought of that. He lies underneath and pulls off all the decorations/eats the pine needles off the branches (crazy I tell thee) so didn't really worry about him knocking it down last year, but the mess was insane.

But will definately look for heavy just in case, how heavy do you reckon?

The tree itself needn't be heavy, you could fill bags with pebbles and place them over the legs maybe? Then cover it up with one of those tree "skirts"

Good luck with the home birth

Thanks, hopefully it'll go okay.

We have gravel at the front so could maybe steal some and use it to weigh the tree down.

Have you thought of hanging a tree on the wall? Get a 3-4ft artificial tree, either only put on half its branches (if hook on type) or flatten branches up the back or bend to sides and front if hinged. Hang from a strong screw on the wall.

You can decorate as usual, and do something to disguise the tree 'trunk'. Might keep it out of the way of the toddler and cat and free up floor space for the home birth! Good luck with it all by the way!

We used a small artificial tree last year as a temporary measure. We also have an attack cat and last year DS was in destroy mode as he was only just 2 years old.

When I say small, it was 3ft. It was very very cheap but bushy for the money! Once dressed it looked great. The beauty is all in the ornaments I think.
I still dont know whats best , real or artificial.

It's a good idea girly - but we haven't got any walls to hang it against really! We have a bay window so as long as it's not too big we can stick it in dead space fairly easily.

goeasypudding where did you get your tree from?

I went over to artificial trees 5 years ago and the best thing about it is that it is pre-lit. Would definitely recommend that (and look for 100 lights per foot of tree).

Got ours at Homebase for about £50 for a 6 foot tree, so not expensive and totally bargainous when compared to buying a real one every year. Plan to go back to real when DD grows up.

The tree was from Tesco, I wasnt impressed with it when DH brought it home, but once you spend some time "bushing it out" as it were (!) it looked good.

Lots of warm white lights, pack on the decs, perfect! BUT it was dashed to the the floor several times by the toddler and by the cat. A few decorations got broken but as it was so small it didnt do anyone any harm on its way down! I thought it a good compromise. Got to have a tree!

So, BiscuitNibbler, these prelit trees, how does this work? What happens if the lights fail? Can they be removed?

I like the dense lighting effect these prelit ones have.

The lights still work if a bulb goes, and you just replace it as normal. The only difficulty is that all parts of the tree are attached by the lighting wire, but it is ok once you get the hang of putting it up - and I managed when I was heavily pregnant so it isn't too much hassle.

If I were to buy another tree I would definitely have a pre lit one as putting the lights on is a job I hate.

Oh Biscuit I see you have a Pre-Lit. Can I ask do they come in one piece ? (I assume so because of the lights, that would definitly be an advantage for me..save the annual "we need G's now, no not M's".... etc

TeWihara if you want to weight you tree down put some of your gravel in tights or socks and tie them to the base

oldraver the branches are all attached, but the tree is in three sections (top, middle & bottom) but still connected by the wire if you see what I mean.

I don't like artificial Christmas trees, I like real ones that smell all pine-y.

Or, I did until last year. Due to the bad weather we couldn't get a real tree so we ended up with an artificial pre-lit. There are quite realistic these days!
Can't remember how much DH paid but it wasn't that much more than we normally pay for a real tree (and definitely less than one of those poncy no-drop ones).

Homebase are offering half price artificial Christmas trees and lights at the moment.