Tree when we can't really have a tree

[PaulinePetrovaPosey]

I LOVE Christmas trees, but for complicated reasons we can't have a real one this year.

I've never had a fake tree and I don't like the idea of it, however good they are.

Any ideas about what we could do instead to have a warm, special looking Christmassy focus in the sitting room? I'm up for things that are obviously not real trees, it's just the green plastic ones I'm keen to avoid.

Budget isn't a problem but time is, so any DIY would have to be quiiiiiiiick.

Ikea do a tree printed onto cloth - might that be an option?

I like these as alternatives

We often have Christmas overseas in hot places, and our "trees" have included a big pot plant, a twisty tree branch propped up in a plant pot, and a flat tree shaped wall hanging we made with string and sticks we collected (like this: https://www.coxandcox.co.uk/frosted-branches-hanging-tree/?gclid=CjwKCAjww5r8BRB6EiwArcckC-XTUpNWoowEcgkOrduab1Amo8-qNut8Lr3pnbzEPI-BSsSnkTCMBoCjrEQAvDD_BwE

As long as it has fairy lights on it, a star somewhere and a few baubles it will feel like a tree, especially when it has presents piled round the bottom!!

Do you have a fireplace OP?

I decorated the mantle piece with greenery (picked whilst out walking), fairy lights and a couple of decorations woven in. Looked lovely with the fire lit.

We've got this:

www.amazon.co.uk/Lights4fun-Branch-Hanging-Christmas-Dusting/dp/B01N7P4TFO?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

We hang it in the window with fairy lights and our favourite baubles

Cox and cox do a posher one www.coxandcox.co.uk/frosted-branches-hanging-tree/

How about a twig one? They look lovely when decorated because they really show off the ornaments.

www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-pre-lit-birch-twig-tree-pure-white-6ft/p5063182

That's absolute perfect @TheLastStarfighter - thank you!! And thanks everyone, some lovely ideas.

I remember reading about a lady who decorated her Ucca plant. Started out as a poverty make do, years later was still doing it, as it reminded her of those hard times.

I was going to suggest the JL one but see it has already been mentioned , I have the brown version which I bought a few years ago from Amazon turned up in a John Lewis box & was half the price - it's in my dining room and is there all year round as a light feature

Meant to say other options would be the Cox & Cox Version or you could get some very tall pussy willow stems in a vase and hang decorations from them