My 'pet hate' about Christmas trees (other people's)!

[BillHadersNewWife]

I have nothing against artificial trees...we have one ourselves...have done for two years now...what I keep seeing though, is pics of people's beautifully decorated artificial trees with BARE STANDS!



Why?? Do people just look at the ugly bases and think "Oh yes, that looks lovely!" ??

Or have they not noticed it's detracting from the rest of their efforts? You don't have to buy a tree skirt...you can just ruffle some fabric or tulle or hessian or even paper around it! Or hide the base with gifts...why have the stand on show?

Petty yes. But genuinely curious too.

[bintang]

I don't know, I always thought tree skirts were an American thing. Or maybe a LMC thing you know where you couldn't possibly let people see the base of your tree because then they'd know it was a tree!
I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in Betjeman's How To Get On In Society...

No-one had skirts when I was a child- they were bare or hidden by presents, or wrapped in tinsel.

[BlastEndedSkrewt]

tinsel, I hate the stuff on trees

[WendyMoiraAngelaDarling]

The one I have ordered looks like fake snow. I don't care if that's tacky, it will go beautifully with the two Anna and Elsa ornaments I have on there. Ours doesn't really have a theme. My children choose or make an ornament each year then I fill in the gaps with glass baubles. We love it!

[wontletmelogin]

They piss me off too I have a white sheepskin under mine.

[Thestrangestthing]

I hate it too. I have a wicker basket that goes round mine. I would love to have a real tree, they are a bit too wide though but I love the smell of them.

[Thestrangestthing]

Only coloured lights, warm white lights and slowly twinkling lights are permissible.

Agreed. In the last couple of years I have noticed a lot of blue lights, especially outside. I'm not a fan at all.

[riotlady]

Have literally never considered it, or heard of skirts for trees

[BillHadersNewWife]

GiveHErHell Oh I know, I know...I have a thing for that sort of stuff...I can't be doing with "tasteful" trees. I like loads of colour. A lot of my ornaments are glass...vintage from the 40s and 50s. My oldest is from around 1900!

[BillHadersNewWife]

The people who've never heard of them....they're everywhere! Have been for years...can't believe you've never seen them in the shops or in photos.

[Lipperfromchipper]

Tinsel!!! Hate the stuff!! Looks so tacky!!

[LustigLustig]

I am with the people that say it will be hidden by presents.
I do put presents under as soon as the tree is up (goes up around 20th usually). There will generally be a few presents under until New Year, as we don't manage to see everyone before Christmas.

I always have a real tree, but it has never occurred to me to try to decorate the stand.

[Thestrangestthing]

I also hate tinsel but I love the smell of that too, reminds me of being little and the Christmas decorations coming out.

[PuffinDodger]

I like fake ones that are in a pot like mine. The pot of mine is made of wicker.

[PuffinDodger]

Here

[WhatWouldTheDoctorDo]

I've always hated the bare stand look OP, but hated fabric tree skirts more. I discovered the wicker base covers a couple of years ago which are perfect for our tree. AND you can hide excess tree light cable inside them.

[septemberismyfavouritemonth]

oh wow, this is something I had never even thought about, we have an artificial tree, and we have a bare base, I'd never noticed and if I had I am not sure I would ever have known about tree skirts!!

[Spacerader]

I personally think tree skirts or tinsel wrapped around the bottom looks tacky, but each to their own.

Gifts go under our tree as soon as it’s up, usually all the gifts that have been bough for family members (the children’s are obviously hidden away) so my stand is always covered. And as pp said there are usually gifts still under there until a few days after Christmas.

[PuffinDodger]

I'm not a fan of nutcracker Christmas decorations that seem to be popular at the moment. I think they look sinister, although i like the ballet

[TheChosenTwo]

I really dislike artificial trees! Obviously personal taste and some people will have real ones for various reasons. The worst offenders I have seen include a black tree and a purple one
I also don’t like matchy matchy themed trees.
No tinsel or that stuff that’s like tinsel but stringy and pulls apart in strands giving a tree the appearance of it entering a room via a 1970s game show. What’s that stuff called?? I’ll have to google it.
Our tree is a riot of colour, mismatched ornaments collected over the years and decorated by the children. I don’t even bother moving or relocating any of the ornaments - It’s their tree really.
My Mum always did ours after we went to bed and I was always sad because I wanted to help so mine do it all. They’ll probably be sad when they’re older that mum never bothered to decorate the tree for them

[Leflic]

I ‘m not keen on themed trees which then actually have a whole load of unmatching sentiment stuff. Has to be one genre or another ( mis matched for me).

I always thought covering the base was because people alwayys stuck trees in old ugly buckets. New fangled stands don’t need covering do they?

[Maxusmaximus]

I dislike tree skirts - I think they look naff - we all know why they’re there and what they’re hiding. They remind me of lace curtains or those antimacassar things people put on sofas. Very twee.

[2018SoFarSoGreat]

i'm with you, OP. I feel sorry for the poor tree all dressed up with bare legs - or feet, or whatever. I have gone through several iterations of base dressing, including a beautiful cream brocade skirt with gold threads and lush gold border (the cat peed on it day one, never to lose the scent, sadly), rich red velvet skirt, with big bold buttons, latterly swathes of limish green tulle, which I absolutely love! I know, I'm a little weird. Just today I ordered a new skirt. White fake fur. Like a sheepskin rug only fake and white. Probably it will look really terrible, but just maybe it won't. Thank goodness for free return shipping. :)

[HeddaGarbled]

Another who hadn’t heard of tree skirts until I read this. Just looked. Naff. Like those dolls with knitted skirts my mum’s generation used to hide their toilet rolls.

[WendyMoiraAngelaDarling]

Lametta @TheChosenTwo

[Cookit]

I’ve only seen a tree skirt once in my life and honestly didn’t know what they were before that
I was visiting a friend’s house and when I asked what it was she was a bit embarrassed and said her quite elderly mum had put it on and she hadn’t the heart to take it off! They were compared - by her - to those carpeted toilet seat covers old people buy.

I think a tree with a load of tinsel around the base would look awful as well. I’d probably go bare base myself.