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Real or Artificial? The Christmas tree debate.

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  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,642 Member
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    I like fake ones if they're done well.
  • lmr0528
    lmr0528 Posts: 427 Member
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    Real for sure. My husband and I have started a tradition with some friends of ours. Every year at the beginning of December we all go out about an hour away from home to a tree farm to cut it down. Then we get a good dinner out. It's become our thing. Can't wait til a few years from now when we all bring our kids along :-)
  • mave34
    mave34 Posts: 109 Member
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    I too grew up with the same artificial tree, it came in three boxes and it was exciting to me to go into the storage and get out the ginormous boxes and find the color coded branches. I would sort them pile them and then begin building. To me the smell of Christmas is a musty old tree from sears in three beat up original boxes. (my father claimed allergies but he also conveniently developed an allergy to cats and dogs when we started wanting pets) That tree is long gone and as a young adult I wanted my children to grow up with a real tree. Now, my children are a little older and I am a single parent and the thoughts of going to a lot, trying to find a tree that has a reasonable shape for my liking, spending 40-50 bucks on it, throwing it on top of my new car and dragging it inside, making a mess remembering to water the damn thing (a reason I can't keep houseplants) I don't have the time or the money when I have three artificial trees in my basement (which all are going up and will be decorated) So why bother? This has been a difficult decision for me this year..silly I know but I have decided to go back to fake for now :D
  • Joannah700
    Joannah700 Posts: 2,665 Member
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    mave34 wrote: »
    I too grew up with the same artificial tree, it came in three boxes and it was exciting to me to go into the storage and get out the ginormous boxes and find the color coded branches. I would sort them pile them and then begin building. To me the smell of Christmas is a musty old tree from sears in three beat up original boxes. (my father claimed allergies but he also conveniently developed an allergy to cats and dogs when we started wanting pets) That tree is long gone and as a young adult I wanted my children to grow up with a real tree. Now, my children are a little older and I am a single parent and the thoughts of going to a lot, trying to find a tree that has a reasonable shape for my liking, spending 40-50 bucks on it, throwing it on top of my new car and dragging it inside, making a mess remembering to water the damn thing (a reason I can't keep houseplants) I don't have the time or the money when I have three artificial trees in my basement (which all are going up and will be decorated) So why bother? This has been a difficult decision for me this year..silly I know but I have decided to go back to fake for now :D

    Not silly at all. Part of the reason I'm getting a living Christmas tree is because I know they will deliver inside my house and pick it up at the end of the month. I don't want to haul in a tree! And because it's living...fewer pine needles fall.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,529 Member
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    mave34 wrote: »
    I too grew up with the same artificial tree, it came in three boxes and it was exciting to me to go into the storage and get out the ginormous boxes and find the color coded branches. I would sort them pile them and then begin building. To me the smell of Christmas is a musty old tree from sears in three beat up original boxes. (my father claimed allergies but he also conveniently developed an allergy to cats and dogs when we started wanting pets) That tree is long gone and as a young adult I wanted my children to grow up with a real tree. Now, my children are a little older and I am a single parent and the thoughts of going to a lot, trying to find a tree that has a reasonable shape for my liking, spending 40-50 bucks on it, throwing it on top of my new car and dragging it inside, making a mess remembering to water the damn thing (a reason I can't keep houseplants) I don't have the time or the money when I have three artificial trees in my basement (which all are going up and will be decorated) So why bother? This has been a difficult decision for me this year..silly I know but I have decided to go back to fake for now :D
    Lol, I totally remember (and I think my mom and dad still put this tree up) where you unboxed each "branch" and they were color coded on the end of each wire that you stuck into the pole that corresponded with that color!!!!
    It's so much easier now with just 3 pieces, put them together and then just "fluffing" out the branches with pre lit lights. Only thing you have to put on it the ornaments and voila, tree done in an hour!!!

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • slomo22
    slomo22 Posts: 125 Member
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    I like real because they are bouncier. Artificial look amazing but are less satisfying
  • klbaierwalter
    klbaierwalter Posts: 309 Member
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    Artificial. I am highly allergic to the real trees and wind up with sinus issues, vomiting, and diarrhea. Yeah, I love the real trees because they are really beautiful. However, my body appreciates the artificial trees.
  • Legs_McGee
    Legs_McGee Posts: 845 Member
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    I prefer real. That's what I grew up with. And I like the whole experience of going out to the tree farm, picking out the perfect tree, cutting it down.
  • hollyk57
    hollyk57 Posts: 520 Member
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    I love the smell of real trees, but I refuse to buy a real tree because I disagree with the unnecessary death of a live tree... such a waste of something that could have lived a long, beautiful life. Not a fan of watching a tree slowly die and drop it's needles until it's tossed aside like rubbish. My artificial tree is gorgeous and looks real.
  • klkarlen
    klkarlen Posts: 4,366 Member
    edited December 2014
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    I love a real tree. But I have not had one since my dogs took dumps under the last real tree I bought - I guess they thought it was like a doggy litter box :s

    So I go with the smaller artificial tree that I can put up on a table so the dogs won't eat the ornaments.
  • johnmurphymfp
    johnmurphymfp Posts: 2,590 Member
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    Growing up we always had an artificial tree, but when I got married we went real. We for the first time in 29 years... may get an artificial one. I have mixed emotions about it though.
  • jasonmh630
    jasonmh630 Posts: 2,850 Member
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    Fake with white lights for me, with a whole bunch of crimson and white ornaments and a houndstooth topper of some sort. If you cant tell, I'm an Alabama fan. lol.
  • michellemybelll
    michellemybelll Posts: 2,228 Member
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    i grew up with real. we'd hike out in the woods, after obtaining a permit naturally, and chop one down ourselves. it was always a ginormous hassle though. lol. it resulted in family fighting, us kids inevitably crying and pouting in the snow. lol. i can't even remember any more why it was always so dramatic. my parents still get a real tree, but as for me i'm not big into the holidays. i never actually get anything myself, in the past various family members have shipped me a mini xmas tree that like unfolds? and plugs in, pre-lit. lol. that was kinda great in its ease. i definitely see the appeal of fake. my boyfriend has a fake palm tree one with lights and all that jazz, and i love it :smile:
  • brcossette
    brcossette Posts: 89 Member
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    much like boobs real is better
  • PMA150
    PMA150 Posts: 43 Member
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    Real tree, every year.
  • beautifulwarrior18
    beautifulwarrior18 Posts: 914 Member
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    I'm from northern Wisconsin. I grew up with real trees, but they're just such a hassle. Sure they smell good but they make me sneeze, you find pine needles all over your house, you have to cut the bottom off (and I don't own a saw). You have to remember to water them. However, fake trees are outrageously priced. Now that I'm an adult I'm all about the fake tree. If I had kids though I'd definitely be taking them to one of those tree farms where you get to ride the horse drawn sleigh and cut your own tree.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,529 Member
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    brcossette wrote: »
    much like boobs real is better
    Subjective since there are lots of females who would love to replace their current "girls" with fake ones.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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  • liekewheeless
    liekewheeless Posts: 416 Member
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    Real only if it can have the roots still on and I can plant it outside after. We have an artificial one because I can't find a real one with roots where I live.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    brcossette wrote: »
    much like boobs real is better
    Subjective since there are lots of females who would love to replace their current "girls" with fake ones.

    LOL. After all of the weight that I have lost, mine look kind of like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree!
  • Soggynode
    Soggynode Posts: 1,179 Member
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    We've always had an artificial tree. The one time we brought home a fresh cut tree it was full of ants (obviously unknown to us at the time). My wife's sister was visiting and woke up in the middle of the night screaming covered in ants... 20 years later we still hear about it at family get together's.

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