Your Christmas Tree

[Elizabeth86]

What is it like? Real or fake? White lights or color? Angel, star or other for the top? Do you have an ornament theme?

 

We put ours up last night. I love the idea of a real tree, but we just do fake these days. We have white lights. As for the ornaments, each kid gets to pick a new keepsake hallmark ornament each year. We have a lot of kid made ornaments and basic red, green, gold and silver balls. We do a star on top. We were half tempted to buy a star wars death star trer topper last year, but thought we should keep it a bit more traditional. Also, all the ornaments are at the height of a 2, 4 and 6 year old. Tbe top is pretty much bare :lol:. My 2 year old put about 6 balls on one branch in about 3 spots. It is a sight, but I wouldn't dream of changing it. They had such a fun time decorating.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Real, white lights, ornaments we made over the years plus a few (mostly cheap) we've bought over the years.... so very mismatched.

[HomeAgain]

Ours is fake.  I'm allergic to the flame retardant material they put on them, so I don't touch it.  The alternative is dealing with a real tree.  We considered it this year but there's a shortage. Even modest trees are $150 here, and I'm too cheap to throw that away each year.  Out front we have two lovely trees that I can decorate for the birds.

As far as ornaments, we are currently decorating in "Post-Toddler Years"  Everything is still plastic, thanks to my husband finally listening after I cringed when he decided that we didn't need to adjust for a baby in the house.  The first time the then-2yo shrieked "ball!" excitedly and then threw a delicate orb across the room he thought it was a fluke.  The next morning when only half the tree was decorated he decided I was probably right about the plastic.  :laugh: With a 7yo I can now add a few things like the glass snowmen and a gorgeous centerpiece decoration that I've hand carried through every move because it was a one of a kind, hand painted piece of glass.  Okay, maybe not on the coffee table, but it can now be shown in the bookcase behind the glass doors.

 

We have yet to resolve the angel/star issue.  It has been a family "argument" for way too many years now. Dh likes the angel because it is traditional. I like the star because the idea of sticking a tree up an angel's butt just seems so wrong.  Most years we go back and forth and nothing goes on the top.  Currently it's a bird skeleton (Halloween decoration) that the boys thought would be funny.  I'm thinking that a pretty bird might be the answer to the age old question, but then, what would we argue over each year? :lol:

[AnnE-girl]

We’ll cut our real tree in the next two weeks. It stays up until Epiphany, so we wait until closer to Christmas. We use white lights and an assortment of meaningful ornaments and pretty, but cheap, “filler†ornaments.

[bettyandbob]

Fake

 

White lights

 

Mix of homemade and ornaments given as presents each year. Each dc gets a new ornament. I usually pick out something that reminds me of the child. So there are ornaments of drums and art supplies, SpongeBob, ballet shoes, Yoda, Lego, etc.

 

I prefer a star. We used to have an angel. One DC wants to use a Santa tree topper my mother gave that I do not like. We solved that problem by not having a tree topper at all for the last few years.

 

I'm leaning towards no decorations this year.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Diana P.

[regentrude]

Real tree. white lights, red glass ornaments, straw stars. No topper.

 

Back home, we always had read candles, but here, they shape the trees by cutting them while they grow, so it's not possible to do that. I miss candles on the tree. The electric stuff isn't the same.

Edited November 27, 2017 by regentrude

[marbel]

We have a fake tree, thanks to allergies. White lights, mix of homemade and purchased ornaments, angel on top.

 

Someday I'm going to have a small second tree that is all bird ornaments.

[DawnM]

Fake.....reusable, less costly, less hassle (heck, if I take it down in June, it still won't be brown!)

 

I thought I had given it away in the great purge of Spring, '17, but apparently not.  It was in the attic and DS found it yesterday.

 

But alas, the lights are all defunct now, so we will need to buy some and string our own.  Thankfully, our local favorite thrift store is full of them!  I will go Sat and get some more, but we will use the few we have for now.

 

It isn't that great of a tree, it was cheap to begin with, but I just can't bring myself to spend a lot on a tree, so we will make it work for a while longer.

[mlktwins]

Fake trees here.  We've been using the same one since the boys were 2.  Mix of colored and clear lights.  My MIL's tree topper and a 92 year old Santa rattle take places of honor.  My boys' handmade and yearly ornaments I give them have taken over that tree so I bought myself a new fake tree for the living room.  White lights (what I grew up with) and will hold my ornaments that haven't made the boys' tree in years -- LOL.  I purchased silver icicles from Amazon yesterday because I grew up with them and they make the tree so pretty.  These will go on my new tree. 

[gardenmom5]

What is it like? Real or fake? White lights or color? Angel, star or other for the top? Do you have an ornament theme?

 

We put ours up last night. I love the idea of a real tree, but we just do fake these days. We have white lights. As for the ornaments, each kid gets to pick a new keepsake hallmark ornament each year. We have a lot of kid made ornaments and basic red, green, gold and silver balls. We do a star on top. We were half tempted to buy a star wars death star trer topper last year, but thought we should keep it a bit more traditional. Also, all the ornaments are at the height of a 2, 4 and 6 year old. Tbe top is pretty much bare :lol:. My 2 year old put about 6 balls on one branch in about 3 spots. It is a sight, but I wouldn't dream of changing it. They had such a fun time decorating.

 

I did a snowflake/winter handmade ornaments only tree a number of years back. back when I had a tree in my family room.   I used it for several years when dudeling was little - I didn't have to worry about him breaking something.

crocheted snowflakes, clear glass balls, balls sprayed white with iridescent glitter, spruce cones with white iridescent glitter, plastic crystal beads to make icicles. you can practically feel the cold wind blow off  of it.

dh wants to use them on our living room tree this year.   it's 9' fake.   white lights.

 

my standard living room is more eclectic, heirloom, glass, resin, craft day, theme's -birds, first christmases, nutcracker; with the german wax angel  on top that my mom bought me.  and the candle lights I bought for dh that I'm the one that fights putting them on every year. . . .

[Sherry in OH]

Fake tree, white lights, eclectic mix of ornaments, angel on top.  

[Xuzi]

Real, multi-colored lights, multi-colored star topper, mish-mash of ornaments and garlands that we've picked up over the years. Some of the ornaments are sentimental and meaningful, some just fun and whimsical, like the silver sparkly hedgehog I got last year.

[rainbowmama]

We do a real tree with a snowflake at top. We do not have an ornament theme. My tree is currently crooked, thanks to kids pulling on the lights. 

[mom31257]

We have fake trees because real ones bother my sinuses. The main one in our living room has white lights, and we put an angel on top. The only theme to the ornaments on that tree is that many are from our vacations and even short trips. 

 

We have other trees, but last year, ds requested we not put one in his room. It was a small tree with candy and gingerbread ornaments. We have a white tree for dd's bedroom with teal ornaments to match her room. We have a small tree for our bedroom that has natural and brown/red ornaments to match the browns in our room. 

 

I have a metal tree that turns when candles are lit beneath it that I put on our kitchen island. 

 

My sister gave me a Charlie Brown tree that I want to put somewhere, but I haven't decided yet where it should go. I might put a small one in our bonus room window and light at night. 

 

I like Christmas decor as you can tell! 

[PrincessMommy]

real tree with white lights.  I like that I can get it out of the house and I don't have to store it.  I also like the smell.  

 

But, I have been pondering after one of the threads about asthma.  My dd has very bad asthma and I have to wonder if having a real tree isn't helpful.   It's a bit hard to quantify.

 

[athomeontheprairie]

I always feel like the Grinch when it comes to Christmas trees.

Ours is up, it's fake. Dh bought it when we were still dating. I really hate trees with lots of "stuff" on them. I like ones that match and are uniform. So threeo years ago, the kids sat down and made snowflakes out of Perler beads. Last year and this year, they've made additional ones. The tree is covered.

They like that it's their tree. I like that it's got a theme. And that they made it.

But really, I like when it can come down. ðŸ˜

[Alessandra]

We’ll cut our real tree in the next two weeks. It stays up until Epiphany, so we wait until closer to Christmas. We use white lights and an assortment of meaningful ornaments and pretty, but cheap, “filler†ornaments.

We also put our tree up just before Christmas and keep it until Epiphany.

 

Real tree, white lights, angel on top. Ornaments are gold angels, white doves, white and red poinsettia blooms, fancy gold and silver ornaments. The filler ornaments are gold, silver and white snowflakes plus red, gold, and silver balls. Oh, and my collection of Santa mice and other sentimental favorites.

 

The gold angels and white doves are not inexpensive, and we have acquired them over the years. But the poinsettias make the tree magical, imo, and are so easy -- just cut apart fake poinsettia branches from craft store and twist stem over tree branches.

 

I still have fond memories of my childhood trees -- colored lights (the kind with large bulbs), colored glass balls, and silver tinsel. As an adult, I transitioned briefly to gold tinsel garlands, but they tended to look lopsided.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Alessandra

[Starr]

Real tree. white lights, red glass ornaments, straw stars. No topper.

 

Back home, we always had read candles, but here, they shape the trees by cutting them while they grow, so it's not possible to do that. I miss candles on the tree. The electric stuff isn't the same.

 

I was an exchange student oh so many years ago in Germany. Candles on the Christmas tree are still a wonderful memory for me.

[JustEm]

Ours is real, multicolored lights, no tree topper last year because our star broke. I'm really hoping dh buys me a Dr who tree topper. Our ornaments are an assortment of ornaments from my childhood, dh's, the kids get a new one each year, and homemade felt ornaments. I absolutely love our no themed tree. I am always a bit sad when it is time to take it down.

[Alessandra]

Real tree. white lights, red glass ornaments, straw stars. No topper.

 

Back home, we always had read candles, but here, they shape the trees by cutting them while they grow, so it's not possible to do that. I miss candles on the tree. The electric stuff isn't the same.

Ive always wondered how the candles work in terms of safety. Is it difficult to make sure candle holders don't tip over? Are fires common?

[chiguirre]

Fake, 4 ft on the mantle, white lights pre-strung, red bow topper and red bows and white snowflake ornaments. It's small but because it's on the mantle we get a lovely glow of light throughout the family room and kitchen. We go away every Christmas and it's not worth putting up a big tree for just a couple of weeks and not even Christmas day at home.

 

ETA: I realized that our tree is 10 years old!!! I bought it when Trinqueta was in kindergarten. Those pre-strung lights have lasted more than I would have thought possible. Kudos to Target and their Chinese supplier! I've totally gotten my money's worth from this tree.

Edited November 27, 2017 by chiguirre

[marbel]

<snip>

 

Back home, we always had read candles, but here, they shape the trees by cutting them while they grow, so it's not possible to do that. I miss candles on the tree. The electric stuff isn't the same.

 

I love the look of a tree with real candles though I have never had one.  

 

But this reminds me of an amusing (to  me, maybe to no one else) story.  My daughter and I were on a historic house tour one Christmas and the tree had fake candles on it.  (Not typical tree lights, but lights that looked like candles.) The tour guide said something like "of course when the family lived here there were no electric lights, so they put real candles on the tree!  Can you even imagine that?"  in that voice that sounds like the speaker is sharing some big secret, amazing, snocking thing.

 

My daughter and I were surprised, not by the revelation that people put real candles on trees, but by the way she presented the information.  We felt like we were supposed to gasp in shock or horror or something.   

 

 

Edited November 27, 2017 by marbel

[Renthead Mommy]

Our tree is a fake 6’ tree I bought at the base thrift shop two days after landing in Okinawa. We were still in the hotel. I was at the thrift shop for sonething else and they were having their christmas in July sale so I bought it for $2.50 figuring it would be hard to get a real tree in Okinawa come Dec and I was right! It has served us well over the years and we switch it out with a real one depending on where we are living.

 

All most all the ornaments wete bought from places we traveled too. The flat pewter, gold or wood kind. We started collecting them when we started ending up with refridgerators that magnets did not stick too. So I guess our theme is places we have been.

 

There is a father christmas style Santa on top. I grew up with the cheesy light up star, but the agnostic jew husband picked this out. Snce he does all the set up and take down he can have what he wants!

[lynn]

fake tree with the option of colored or white lites, flashing or not.  DD wanted silver and gold ornaments this year.  We are trying to put a star on top but it's heavy so dh is going to do something to keep it straight.

Edited November 27, 2017 by lynn

[nixpix5]

Fake tree with white lights and star. No ornament theme.

 

For the past 24 years we have been buying an ornament or two that represents the year for us in some way. For example, we have a Disneyland castle and Ollivanders wand shop for the year we took our trip to Anaheim. We have a European glass school bus for the year the kids started school, we have a french bulldog for the year we got our dog etc. It is fun to look at the tree and be reminded of all of those memories. Especially with our older boys. Every time I hang Pikachu on the tree I smile because it is from 1999 and it is when the boys got into pokemon battles that year.

[TheReader]

We do a real tree, though our youngest goes on & on each year about what a waste of time and money it is and how instead we should buy a fake tree, once, and use it forever. Cracks me up! 

 

So, real tree, multi-colored lights, several different color shatter-proof balls, assorted random ornaments, and the kids do all the decorating every year (dh puts on the lights, then the kids take over). Once a child has placed an ornament, that is where it stays, period. 

 

We will add candy canes throughout the season as well, although we're debating this year as we have a new dog who chews everything, so not sure. We'll try it and see; so far she's leaving the tree alone. 

 

No theme or anything, just randomness and fun. 

[Matryoshka]

Real, colored lights, angel on top.

 

Don't have an ornament theme per se, but I'd say the vast majority are glass ornaments.  My mom and grandmother have/had similar trees, and my mom insists on giving me more ornaments every year. There is no more room! (even though we get an 8-foot tree!).  Takes me ages to decorate and take down!  I like it, though.    Some do commemorate life events and many have memories attached. There's an odd assortment of other stuff in there too, but the glass stuff overwhelms it.

 

We put up/take down our tree later than most.  The German tradition is to put it up Christmas Eve, but that just doesn't work here - and especially not with all those ornaments!  I usually put it up a couple of weeks before Christmas and take it down on or a bit after Epiphany (Jan 6th) - because Christmas isn't over till then!!

 

 

[dirty ethel rackham]

Fake tree.  

Mixture of homemade ornaments (some from various activities that the kids were in when they were young and some that we made like the applesauce/cinnamon ones), gifts, mementos of vacations/trips (we always buy ornaments on family vacations), and a few hand-me-down ornaments from when dh and I were kids.  We use bead garland, white lights, and have an angel on top.  

 

When dh and I first got married, the only ornaments we had were a couple that we received as wedding presents.  So I bought a roll of pretty wire-edged ribbon and made bows.  

[dsmith]

Fake tree with colored lights. We've had it for about 8 years now, purchased it pre-lit but I had to replace the lights 2 years ago. We have a mix of ornaments - I really don't like the tree to look too coordinated. We've received many ornament gifts over the years, purchased others on our travels, were given some by relatives that have passed, plus we have some from our childhoods. My mother-in-law dumped all of her unwanted ornaments on us when we moved out 25 years ago or so, and there were some really hideous ones. I've kept a few, and one especially ugly plastic cartoony looking duck is always searched for every year. My nieces and nephews used to make a game of it when they were younger, and even tried to talk me into parting with it, but the tree isn't ready until "ugly ornament" is hung on it. I also have one section of the tree with picture ornaments of my mom, dad and dh's Nana, surrounded by angels - it's a little memorial on my tree, lol. Some years I use an angel I made out of doilies on top, other years a star. 

[Amira]

Fake with white lights. Real trees are not a thing in most places I live, and especially not here. Currently there is a tiny piñata topping our tree, and that is topped with a tiny sombrero. It has also been topped with a three-corner hat from Colonial Williamsburg.

 

The ornament theme is eclectic. I have all of the ornaments I got each year as a child, a few from my grandmother’s and mother’s tree, various ornaments people have given us (that’s my favorite gift, or I turn little souvenirs into ornaments, like the drum my Arabic teacher gave me from Malaysia and a little wagon magnet from a Filipina friend), some snowflakes I crocheted, a few ornaments my children made, a bunch of Met Museum Star ornaments that we collected for about fifteen years, and lots of ornaments from places we’ve lived or visited. We added a few more Saudi ones this year, plus some from Turkey and Uzbekistan.

 

Decorating the tree is one of my favorite things all year long. So many stories.

[MaeFlowers]

We have three trees, all fake.

 

The main has white lights and silver and muted gold ornaments. No topper.

 

The other two small trees (in the kids rooms) have multicolored lights and a mish mash of inherited, handmade and plain multicolored ornaments.

 

I like real trees but I hate stringing the lights. So, fake prelit trees it is.

Edited November 27, 2017 by MaeFlowers

[Garga]

Fake tree. About 25 years old, but a friend walked in the house the other day and thought it was real. It's nicely rounded and not overly skinny, as a lot of fake trees today are.

 

We put up white lights and colored lights on separate loops. Then, if we only want to see the white, those are all we plug in, or if we only want the colored, those are what we plug in. Usually, both loops are on at the same time.

 

A star at the top, but not for any particular reason. It's just what I have.

 

Each year, I do different colors. One year is red and green. Another is red and silver. Another is silver and gold. Another is rustic with all cloth ornaments. This year is pink, blue, and purple :). The garland and balls are mostly the color of the year, with some extra fun ornaments thrown in. The previous year I decide what we'll do for the next year and I'll get stuff half off on Dec 26th. I have about 6 different color schemes that I cycle through right now.

 

I keep a few sentimental ornaments, but don't always put them up each year.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Garga

[Raifta]

We had a real tree once - probably the first year we owned the house.  I was still vacuuming up pine needles half a year later and swore never again.  Also the cats really loved attacking that tree (and since we have always had between 2 and 4 cats I knew this would be a continual problem).

 

So now - sad fake Charlie Brown tree that we got second hand from someone 19 years ago and had seen better days even then.   Decorated however the kids choose so there is never any theme.  Two years ago they opted to forego the lights and it was like Christmas had come early!!  

 

These days (for the last two years) I set up the tree, go for my annual haircut at the hairdresser at the end of the block and the kids decorate the tree.  It's delightful.  

 

I have no idea what's on top.  We don't have a star or angel.  I think the kids sometimes tie a small stuffed animal to the top?  Sort of like a hostage?

[2_girls_mommy]

Fake tree. Would love a real, but can't afford that every year. It is purely a financial decision. We currently have an angel on top. For years I used a star that the girls and I made out of cardboard covered in foil, decorated with glitter glue, lol. It was actually very pretty, with a star section cut out for lights to shine through. But after my sister died a few years ago, I bought an angel that reminded me of her, made of felt and in a kind of country style which matches our homemade ornaments. 

 

Ornaments are almost all handmade. Some years my mother has made a bunch for gifts and we have a big set. Other years the girls and I have done that. But every year we make a few and add to it. They are mostly hand sewn in felt. And I use tons of the little things the girls have made over the years in scouts or co-op or whatever. And I have a picture frame of each baby from their first Christmas. I would love a more matchy, pretty tree, but I don't think the kids would stand for it. :) 

[Garga]

I would love a more matchy, pretty tree, but I don't think the kids would stand for it. :)

When I first got married, our tree was pretty pathetic. I didn't have money for anything nice. And slowly, I collected a mish-mash of things. And every year the tree was ugly. I was afraid that if I didn't do something, it would be ugly for the Rest of My Life. So when the boys were too young to be sentimental yet, I took my Christmas money and on the 26th, when everything was 1/2 off, but there was still a lot in the store, I bought a bunch of cream colored ornaments and cream ribbon. The next year, the tree was gorgeous! It wasn't sentimental or anything, but it was just pretty.

 

And then again, I went the day after Christmas and got a different set of colors for the following year and did that for about 6 years, so now my trees are nice. I have an assortment of different color schemes and cycle through them.

 

If I hadn't had done it early enough, the boys would have been too old and would have wanted all the mish-mash up every year. I feel like I dodged an ugly-tree bullet.

 

Do you think your kids would like the idea of getting up early on the 26th to have a matching tree the next year, or would they be aghast at the idea? (You have to be there before 10, because lots of people show up for the 1/2 off stuff and it clears out pretty fast.)

Edited November 27, 2017 by Garga

[HS Mom in NC]

We have permits to cut two wild trees this year.  AZ trees from up north are thin branched and pale in color, but we do it for the experience of a family trip to the woods and enjoying nature.  It also helps manage our forest because we live in a region where wildfires are an annual seasonal event. I may have to wire a few branches to make them more sturdy.  We'll put every ornament we can on it to bulk it up visually. Each year the females in my family take turns deciding the ornament theme.  It's my year.  Everything is red, white, cream,silver, brown and handmade.  The wrapping paper will be coordinated with the ornament color scheme.

Oldest's finace's family (dad, step-mom and younger brothers) will join us.  We'll each get separate lodgings in the area and meet up for a couple of activities, including cutting our trees.  They've been through a rough couple of years and will enjoy a fun family trip.

[theelfqueen]

We had real trees for many years. We bought fake a couple of years ago. It's really big and prelit and lovely. It has lights that can be either white or colors ( I prefer colors). Th ornaments are a mish mash if things my kids have made and that we have collected over the years. We usually buy ornaments as souvenirs when we travel. No theme. The topper is a lovely wooden one we bought in Germany.

 

There is also a small white pencil tree in our living room that I decorate with my Disney Ear Hat ornaments and that exists primarily to get lights into the room :)

 

The big tree will go up next week and get decorated around the 10th ( we will be out of town for St Nicolas Day). And it will stay up til Epiphany.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[AMJ]

Low-fuss fake, narrow configuration (easier to fit in the spot we use), pre-lit, inexpensive.  When the kids were little we had a 4-foot fake tree we put on top of a table.

 

While our current tree is strung with some white lights DH really likes colored lights, so we often will put a string or two of colored lights on just because.  I have found that I still default to less breakable ornaments when decorating the tree, and I have several old brass bells from my grandmother's bell collection that I have strung on ribbons to hang on the tree, too.  (I like bells on trees, so long as people don't ring them constantly.)

 

I have a calico gingerbread man "garland" my Mom made years ago hanging above our front door.  It was meant for the tree, but our first Christmas here it fit above the door so nicely and I like it there so much I haven't taken it back down except to paint the walls.  I have other hand-made ornaments, made by my Mom, my Grandma, my kids -- these take pride of place on the tree.

 

The gaudy star DH bought years ago to top the tree had broken last year.  We zip-tied it in place last year, but this year we will get something else.  I might go buy something myself just to make sure it isn't as obnoxiously gold as the last one (little puffs of tarnishing tinsel around each light on it).

 

 

When I was growing up our tree always had chocolate Santa's from See's candies hanging on it, candy canes, and construction paper chains made by us kids.  This became a tradition when I was a toddler, when we all moved to Denver on Christmas Eve so Dad could start his airline job right after the holidays.  We were all in a kitchenette room in a hotel so Dad ran out to buy a tree, and he and Mom decorated it with chocolate Santas, candy canes, and made paper chains with us kids.

[SKL]

Fake, though I still feel bad about that.  My folks always did a real tree.

 

Our tree has colored lights already on it (at least I think they are colored - might have to double check that).

 

We love our photo ornaments the best.  We have a wide variety of different ornaments, and most of them are keepsakes.  A fair % are from other countries.

 

We probably won't put up the tree this year because of travel plans.  We have a much smaller one that is always decorated, so I am thinking we just put that on top of a table and pretend.

[ktgrok]

Real tree. We used to have fake trees and I was growing up due to asthma but I outgrew my asthma so now a real treat! For several years we went to a place where you could cut your own, but in Florida that means a Sand Pine and they are not sturdy enough to hold heavy ornaments. So now we go out to that same place, check out the petting zoo, roastmarshmallows over their bonfire and buy a pre-cut tree from them, that has been shipped down from up north. It was worth the drive to go to this place because the trees are kept in an air-conditioned storage area until put on display, and kept in water while on display. So they said last a lot longer. We have a tradition of going the day before Thanksgiving because my husband is off that day. Then we decorate it the day after Thanksgiving. Some years white lights, some years colored lights. This year is multicolored lights. And assortment of ornaments. And the topper is a star that has a disco ball in fact, LOL.

[Selkie]

For years, we either cut a cedar tree on our land or bought a tree at one of the local tree farms. Now the tree farms have gone out of business and we haven't been able to find any more cedars that are the right size - they're either tiny or humongous. So last year, we bought a pre-lit artificial tree from Wayfair. I love it! It has pine cones and berries on the branches and looks so pretty that we don't even put any ornaments on it.  I do miss the fresh tree smell, but I don't miss the tree drying out and dropping needles all over.

 

This year, we have to put up a little fence around the tree because we have two 5-month-old lab puppies who would surely destroy it the minute we turn our backs.  :)

[Sdel]

This year we are putting up a tree.   Our first ever tree.  My soon-to-be 10 year old is over the moon.  We are using my mom's bear ornament set this year.  We'll probably make some cinnamon dough ornaments next week (this week is consumed by birthday).  

 

Fake.  We have cats.

 

Stefanie

[cjzimmer1]

Mine is artificial with fiber optic lights.  Super easy to change colors and patterns just by changing the disk although I tend to stick with the multi color because I don't care for single colors much.  

 

In our current stage of life, the tree is decorated with kids made ornaments and garland.

 

They kids all know the "good" stuff is waiting till they are older.  They've seen my collection and my girls in particularly are eager to use it. 

 

When I was in high school and college I made Christmas ornaments.  Some were kits some are my own designs, styrofoam balls covered with that fine thread and decorated with sequins and beads.  They took any where from 5 -30 hours to make each one and are very elaborate and their are over 50 of them.  We do use the tree topper I made.  6 pointed 3 dimension star that took over 40 hours to make.  My thumb was bruised for weeks after completing that one.  Kids aren't allowed to touch it and I put it on and take it off the tree.  It's old enough that I'm starting to have to repair it occasionally as the glue is starting to let go in places.

[Junie]

We have artificial trees.

 

The main tree (in the living room) is the fun tree.  It has colored lights, a star, and a huge mishmash of ornaments -- some homemade, some nostalgic.

 

We have another tree in the dining room.  This is the pretty tree.  Dd15 had decorated it every year for the past 3 or 4 years.  She picks a different color scheme each year -- silver and gold, red and green, red and silver, blue and purple.  She hasn't decided what she wants to do this year.

 

Dd15 and dd13 also have a very tiny tree in their room.

[Heidi]

Real, colored lights, all homemade ornaments, star that was purchased. No scheme.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Heidi

[Annie G]

After years of real trees we now have an artificial one. Choice of white or colored lights. Most family members are very opinionated on which is better. 

 

Some ornaments are sentimental, passed down from my childhood, our kids' first Christmas, etc. But about ten years ago we started going to the Christkindlmarket in Chicago every year and everyone who goes chooses an ornament from the market. We now have a lot of ornaments from there, mostly  beautiful German glass ornaments but some straw ones also. 

 

The top is a spire from Germany. I have the one from my childhood but it's not shiny now so we bought a new one a few years ago. 

[MEmama]

Real tree.

White fairy lights.

Wood and straw ornaments, with some copper for added warmth and sparkle.

Wood star topper.

 

We'll get one in a few weeks. None of us like having it up more than a week or two before Christmas.

[Liz CA]

Real - even though we discussed several times getting a fake one

White lights

Assortment of ball ornaments - many in silver and gold colors, some red.

Smaller selection of other ornaments like bells in all shapes and sizes.

[lavender's green]

For the last few years we've had two trees, a real one downstairs with colored lights and all our normal decorations, and a fake one in our bedroom. I prefer the fake one, even though it's not a nice tree, because it has a theme. Lots of uniform gold balls, some glittery, some shiny, some matte, a handful of little red tulle bows twisted onto the branches, a couple of birds, and a garland of burlap ribbon with a branch-and-berry print. The overall effect is soooo pretty and very calming.

 

I love the delicate glass ornaments on our main downstairs tree, but I don't love them all together. It looks so cluttered that after a while I feel it's an eyesore, and breathe a sigh of relief when it's time to take it down. I'm thinking of getting ornament stands and putting them on the mantel or shelves, so I can see all my pretties, but still have a themed tree. I guess they'd still be together, but somehow it makes sense in my mind...

 

We often get the real tree over Thanksgiving weekend, but I'm sick of how dried out they get by Christmas when we do that. Also the death of a relative in imminent and we'll have a multi-day trip to get to the funeral, so we're holding off on buying a tree until life is more settled down. Or maybe we just won't...trees are so expensive and the needles get everywhere.

 

I grew up on an old Christmas tree farm. We cut Christmas trees from our own property while they were still small and trimmed enough. The surrounding land was still an active farm. Our house was on top of a hill overlooking all the Christmas trees. They're special to me. :)

[regentrude]

Ive always wondered how the candles work in terms of safety. Is it difficult to make sure candle holders don't tip over? Are fires common?

 

You have to be careful, but my folks never had a fire. The candle holders clip onto the branches and are very tight. You need to choose got spots so that there are no branches close above your candle.

You just cannot leave it unattended.