POLL: Christmas Trees

[legame]

When I get my own place there won't be a tree. Don't want/need one.

#scrooge

More than likely I will be at my parents' place for Christmas. Why do I have to have a tree as well? Just adds more work to do.

This. I haven't put up a tree since I graduated college and moved out and I don't plan on it until I have kids. My roommate hangs lights on the bookshelf and patio and my mom has a real tree for when I travel home for the holidays.

[DudeMan2766]

I live alone and decorate because every since I got my house Christmas Eve has been here, so I do it for my family. When I first moved out of my parents and into my place, they were also getting ready to sell the house, so almost everything they had in the garage was stored in my basement. I mean my mom had every gawdy piece of christmas crap she every owned since I was born in the early 80s. She says to me "if you want to decorate, all the christmas stuff is in the basement. ...but you wont be able to get all of it out" I took that as a challange. EVERY piece of christmas in my basement was out. Stuffed elves, ceramic reindeer, ceramic Santas, flowers, candles, holly everywhere. It was so so tacky, not to mention for a 26 year old guy, but it was awesome. ...after that it was way too much work. It was funny for one year, then not so much

[shafnutz05]

My wife and I get a tree every year for our 2BR place. We go to my house the weekend before Christmas and go to her parents for the actual holiday, but it's most certainly worth the approximately 90 minutes it took me to buy the tree, set it up, and put lights on it, especially considering it is up for a month and change.

[mac5155]

My fiancee went nuts last year, we had 2500 lights on an 8 foot tree. Now gosh darn that tree looked good but it took almost 4 hours to put lights on it not to mention i made 3 trips to walmart to get more lights when she ran out.


this was last years.

This year she is working more days a week, and we hardly ever get time to even be home let alone have people over. So we went with a prelit tree. once we have kids or family that comes over we'll go all out again, its just too much work to not be able to enjoy it with friends and family.

[shafnutz05]

Is 2500 lights an exaggeration? We have about 200 lights on our 7 1/2 footer, and it is nicely lit. 2500 lights (or hell 700 lights), would strike me as obnoxiously bright

[blackjack68]

My wife and I get a tree every year for our 2BR place. We go to my house the weekend before Christmas and go to her parents for the actual holiday, but it's most certainly worth the approximately 90 minutes it took me to buy the tree, set it up, and put lights on it, especially considering it is up for a month and change.

Interesting that you use "my house" and "her parents house" to describe what I assume are locations other than your actual house.

[mac5155]

Is 2500 lights an exaggeration? We have about 200 lights on our 7 1/2 footer, and it is nicely lit. 2500 lights (or hell 700 lights), would strike me as obnoxiously bright

we had 22 sets of lights. I wish it was an exaggeration.

[shafnutz05]

haha, true. I guess I still refer to it that way even though I haven't lived there in years.

[shafnutz05]

Is 2500 lights an exaggeration? We have about 200 lights on our 7 1/2 footer, and it is nicely lit. 2500 lights (or hell 700 lights), would strike me as obnoxiously bright

we had 22 sets of lights. I wish it was an exaggeration.

[mac5155]

i mean does it look that bright? that's it in the picture. it was a huge tree.

[shafnutz05]

i mean does it look that bright? that's it in the picture. it was a huge tree.

To be honest, it doesn't look like there are 2500 lights on that tree. Was it a very fat tree?

[mac5155]

i mean does it look that bright? that's it in the picture. it was a huge tree.

To be honest, it doesn't look like there are 2500 lights on that tree. Was it a very fat tree?

probably like 7 feet diameter at the bottom i dunno.. those are 10 foot ceilings

[Sarcastic]

I gotta tell you I am really surprised at the numbers here. I thought it was going to be a 50/50 at best. That fakes are killing it is really... I mean, when I was growing up it was always a real one. We'd go, bring one in, it was fun. Did people get lazy or is it a monetary issue since you can buy one fake and use it for 10 years?

[pittsoccer33]

or is it a monetary issue since you can buy one fake and use it for 10 years?

I think a real one would be easier for a young person/family.

Think about it - a nicer 7ish foot artificial tree is $100-$200. You can get a similar sized real one for $25-$30. Over time of course the artificial one wins out, but for someone without much cash up front it's much cheaper to do real.

Add to that most of my friends have made at least two major moves since graduating from college and/or live in city townhouses/apartments with little extra storage space. Having to deal with a huge tree box when moving or in storage would be a large pain. Thats really the main reason I do a real one. Plus I think it's pretty cool in general.

[MWB]

Wow, that cheap for a live tree? Around here it is $75 for a 7-8 footer, $90 for 8-9 foot real tree.

[BigMcK]

At work, we have an artificial 6' 'Holiday Tree' (happy phone call from HR regarding the use of the "C" word forced the change), that everyone gets to decorate. The first year, it was filled with white lights, traditional bulbs and tinsel. The following year, bulbs showing support for favorite sports team replaced some of the traditional bulbs. Last year, people added homemade team names made from bent wire, toothpicks, and someone added an impressive baseball player made from legos. This year, the tree is up and so far there are a couple magnets taped to paperclips of places people visited. Portland, Austin, Disneyworld are represented. Diversity tree that takes a different theme each year.

At home, not so creative of a tree. Freshly cut, traditional tree with bulbs from past generations. Not so extreme on the lights. Real tree smells better.

[pittsoccer33]

Wow, that cheap for a live tree? Around here it is $75 for a 7-8 footer, $90 for 8-9 foot real tree.

My 8 foot was $30. I saw some at Market District on Center Ave for $40

[BigMcK]

Wow, that cheap for a live tree? Around here it is $75 for a 7-8 footer, $90 for 8-9 foot real tree.

Costco, 7-8 feet for $49.99. Great deal and a nice fresh tree.

[Sarcastic]

Wow, that cheap for a live tree? Around here it is $75 for a 7-8 footer, $90 for 8-9 foot real tree.

Yeah, seriously. I don't know where these guys get them so cheap.

[canaan]

i went to the nursery on 51 in rostraver and got a 7ft for 46.99+tax/tip (omg tip!)

[Sarcastic]

Wow, that cheap for a live tree? Around here it is $75 for a 7-8 footer, $90 for 8-9 foot real tree.

Costco, 7-8 feet for $49.99. Great deal and a nice fresh tree.

I went to Costco a few weeks ago. First time in a year and maybe the 3rd time in 5 years. Just to check it out. Well, I didn't like it again. Not much choice there. Well, meat was pretty cool, but prices not any better than in my local supermarket. I saw lower prices on TVs at Amazon. Mostly it was the lack of variety that was a turnoff. Big bags of stuff I don't need. Maybe if I had a family of 12 and a dog.

[Troy Loney]

The last two years we got our tree from the KO band sale on banksville road. Never paid more than $40, and they had to be over 7 feet tall cause we had to cut some of the base last year to fit it in the living room.

[mac5155]

South Connellsville has them for $25

[blackjack68]

Wow, that cheap for a live tree? Around here it is $75 for a 7-8 footer, $90 for 8-9 foot real tree.

Yeah, seriously. I don't know where these guys get them so cheap.

Canada.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

It's a combo of allergies and pets as the reason I go with a fake. I'd love to a get a real one otherwise