Help me find a small Christmas tree that doesn't make me sad

[EdwinDrood]

Hullo,

Last year was my first proper Christmas with my DP in our new flat. I didn't really get myself organised and ended up buying a plastic Christmas tree from a local poundshop. It was so ugly and pathetic that it made me actively unhappy every time I looked at it.

I am determined this year to have a nice cheery tree that fills my heart with joy, not one I will throw away in January whilst sobbing.

Our flat is quite tiny, with next to no storage, so it will need to be fairly small. I've never had a real tree before, and not sure I can be arsed hoovering up the needles. Also am going away over the Xmas week, so don't want to come back to dead shrub in my living room.

All suggestions and recommendations welcome! Also, any suggestion for Xmas decoration on a budget? Perhaps wouldn't mind having tiny sad tree if the rest of the flat looked festive.

Actually maybe the question isn't what Xmas tree to get, but rather how to may my flat feel Christmassy without one.

I would love a nice big tree, but realistically don't have anywhere to keep one for the other 11 months of the year.

What about a potted real Xmas tree? If not, you've plenty of time to find a small fluffy Xmas tree tat makes your heart sing :)

Have you thought of a branch hung from the ceiling with nice decorations or crystals hanging from it?

We have a 5 foot tree that folds up back into the box, then the box would even fit under the bed?

When I moved into my first tiny flat, I bought what felt like the most DECADENT Xmas tree ever. A tiny gold one from John Lewis. 15 years on (!!) I still use it and love it every year.

Does that appeal? A really glam fake tree?

Or do what my parents did on their first Xmas - spray a branch white and hang baubles off it?

Mine's about 3' high. Fits on a small side-table.

We go for the tactic of "if it's going to be fake let's make it really fake, so have a small silver tinsel tree from homebase (we beef it up with extra tinsel to cover the bare patches. It's twinkly and perfect because it doesn't look like it's trying to be a beautiful real tre!

I quite like this... It's 2.5' tall so you could put it on a table...

www.christmastimeuk.com/p/product/breadcrumb/011-08013/10105

Not traditional, but I love these www.coxandcox.co.uk/christmas/trees/frosted-light-up-tree-new

The small one really is small as it's under 2 ft and they're prelit

If you're happy to have a fake tree then you can usually get slim trees or wall trees (like a normal tree but cut in half). There's loads of options for trees if you don't have much space.

I loved my huge white tree but we don't have space with the kids so we have a slim black tree with built in lights which looks brilliant IMHO when its decorated, with the bonus of not having to spend an hour untangling lights then twice as long getting them to sit right.

Have you considered a tall slim tree, I think they are called 'pencil' trees. Take very little floor space. Or you could get some garlands of fake fir and drape them along shelves or on top of a sideboard, if there is no mantel. Or what about a fake fir wreath decorated with lights and baubles hanging on the wall?

Talking of walls, you can get wall hanging half trees but they are expensive. You could get a 3-4ft say cheaper ordinary tree and leave off the back branches if they hook on or bend them if they fold down, so that you have a flat back against the wall, use some strong wire to make a loop to tie onto the tree and hang it from a strong hook. You might have to drill a hole and put in a rawlplug and a strong screw, or remove a picture and use that fixing. You can still decorate it as usual.

I have a 1 ft tree on a shelf, because I have plenty of room, but a nutty dog and 2 tree climbing cats.

I just stick tinsel on everything...my clock, the curtain pole, the mirror. That and a thing on the wall to hang cards from is fairly Christmassy. Oh and a few bits and bobs on my bookshelves and TV unit.

I like tinsel though, I'm kind of of the opinion that tasteful Christmas decorations are a bit joyless tbh, so the gaudier the better, lol.

For a proper cosy Christmas feel there is nothing better than a real tree. Even a tiny potted one. They smell so lovely and look beautiful, and won't lose their needles if they're not cut.

I live in a (small) house and usually use one of my three fake trees of varying sizes from mid to very large, but this year I've decided I'm going to have a real one. A small one, but it will be perfect. You can get them for about £15.

On a budget I would bake some gingerbread biscuits (hearts only to keep it simple) and ice them in white royal icing, then tie with red or gingham ribbon. Buy a bag of mixed dried orange slices/pine cones/cinnamon sticks on ebay and tie with twine or more of the ribbon. One string of lights and voila, you will have a gorgeous tree. They are beautiful in and of themselves so need very little embellishment to look truly stunning.

In the run up to Christmas (starting now, maybe?) save any little glass jars from your sauces and condiments, etc. Tie a white ribbon around the rim and use as tea light holders. A whole row of those along a sideboard or window sill will look so pretty and be very cosy.

Fling fairy lights eveywhere, looks lovely and festive.

Also I always trawl the charity shops in dec looking out for little bargains. Obviously there is a lot of tat but I have found some lovely things here and there for hardly any money.

I have seen a Christmas tree wall sticker before, a bit of goggling would bring it up. The put fairy lights around the room and hang baubles the window etc

Our one ridiculous extravagance of the year is a real tree which we send to the council compost in January
In more frugal days I dragged home a large silver birch branch and stood it in a tub of gravel. Decorated with biscuits, white lights, ribbons etc it was really lovely though DS insisted on referring to it as "the twig"
The best part was that when Christmas was over we took it back to the woods and liberated it back to its fellows :o

This is a pretty realistic-looking small fake tree -- not cheap but also not in the stratospheric range of the really posh fakes.

Fairy lights, Christmas wreath, holly, paper chains (loads), bauble chains, lots of foil decorations across the ceiling.

I had a tiny tree in a pot last year as a sort of secondary tree in my house in London. We moved to an apartment in Paris in the summer and my tree - which I kept in its pot in the garden after Christmas is outside on the balcony waiting to come in for Christmas this year - I just have to decide where to put it. A real tree smells so lovely and if it's in a pot it won't lose it's needles. Personally I think you needs lots of fairy lights and a few candles around the place to get a Festive feel.

Google pop up trees .. They look different and I assume have very minimal storage

slim tree

Sorry to hijack; I want a small, real, tree for in a pot outside...what sort of tree do I need? (and can I put battery operated lights outside?)

Christmassy flats are brilliant to sit in when you have paper chains everywhere, cards blutacked to the walls in patterns, and my titchy crap tree looked fine when I had twinkly lights and pressies under it.