Christmas trees are a really personal item. The initial choice of type and the way it is decorated, and whether it is decorated the same each year, allow for a combination of the new and the old that is really unique.
When I first started flatting, I didn’t have room for a tree and tended to decorate house plants. The family coped well with the tinsel and gave the lounge a focal point, as well as being a place to stack the presents.
When I moved into my first house, the debate about real v’s fake came to life.
Real trees – Pros
- They are a renewable resource, and if you want to go that one step further you can grow one in a pot and keep it in the garden, once the Christmas season is over.
- There is a beautiful pine fragrance that spreads through the house.
- If you go to a Christmas tree farm, you can have the fun of picking your own tree.
Real trees – Cons
- Its real easy to pick one that is too big.
- As the tree dries out, you get lots of pine needles on the floor.
- There may also be issues with sap leaking from the tree as well.
- The branches can be difficult to thread Christmas decorations on to – particularly young children.
- The beautiful fragrance may trigger allergic reactions in some people.
Fake trees – Pros
- Purchased once and used many times, this can save money over the long term.
- The branches tend to be easier to hang decorations from
- They don’t shed pine needles.
- They come in a variety of colours and types and some even have the Christmas lights (fibre optics) included as part of the tree.
Fake tress – Cons
- Lets be honest they are fake, and if you want something that looks less fake, it costs more.
- The more ‘natural looking’ trees can also be more complex to put together, and to dismantle and get back in the box, when Christmas is over.
- Depending how you store them, they can become dust traps, which is a bit of a hazard, when you add lights.
Alternative trees
These are the trees that really aren’t trees. In childcare centres they can be two-dimensional fuzzy felt tree shapes hung on the wall, or hand shapped cut outs that are stuck to the wall in a tree shape to look like leaves and branches.
Three dimensional ones can be made out of drift wood, books, blocks of wood and wire shapes; limited only by imagination, and even then, magazines that include decorating ideas usually publish brand new ideas in their Christmas editions.
The tree on the left is Terri’s Christmas Tree – It used to model Christmas tree ornaments in a shop in its previous life. Its about 120cm tall and sits on a trunk in the front hall each Christmas, greeting visitors as they come in the front door.
Pros
- The two dimensional types, are ideal for rooms, without a lot of space, and also rooms with lots of children traffic (they can’t be knocked over).
- They are unusual and therefore conversation starters.
- They are original, and there is a sense of pride that goes with creating something unique.
- Great idea if you can’t afford to buy a tree
- You can throw it away when your finished
Cons
- If it is home made craft, it will take time.
- Depending on choices, it may not stand being packed and stored over a number of years – paper, two dimensional versions maybe particularly fragile.
