When I was a kid, and up to the first couple years Bud and I were married, we would go a short distance, but deep into the foothills where we lived, in the Colorado Rockies, to chop down the "perfect tree". Then, I laid in bed one night after doing that -making it a day outing with our first born; I couldn't sleep. All I could think of was "If everyone did what we do, there would be no pine trees left in the forests"! That was the end of my wanting the "real thing"!! For 50 years now, we have had an artificial tree. If I want the scent of pine, there is pine spray. In those years, we have purchased three. The first two eventually lost its greenery by shedding the 'needles'. In fact, I read online [out of curiosity] that the artificial tree didn't become popular in America until the 1980s. AND, the first artificial tree in USA was produced in the 1930s...using brush bristles dyed green. Another fact that I found of interest, was in the 19th century, to avoid deforestation, the Germans created artificial trees using feathers, dying them green also. Hmmmm, interesting...since the Germans' holiday song is O Tannenbaum about the "fir tree". Anyway, I digress. The first photo, at the beginning, is the before. And then, since I try to do a 'themed' tree [last year was Candy Cane]. This year I wanted to do a color theme...gold, green, and brown. With an essence of reindeer ornaments. At the floor I placed green felt for a tree skirt, and asked Bud to get the sleigh and reindeer [wooden, made by Bud years ago] to surround the tree bottom. I'll show you that later. Here is the after...
O Tannenbaum performed in German
First artificial tree at Wikipedia
Christmas tree facts [such as the first tree in the white house, millions of artificial trees are now sold annually, etc.]
Hello Anni,
ReplyDeleteI love your tree, the decoration and the cute reindeer. Take care, enjoy your day and the weekend!
Thank you Eileen
DeleteYour tree is beautiful. I always had a real tree until the first year I was separated from my ex husband. That year I had asked my brother if he would help me get a tree and he took me out and bought me an artificial one for my Christmas present.
ReplyDeleteA gift that keeps on giving!
Delete*thunderous applause*
ReplyDeleteWELL done, Anni! Your tree is gorgeous! Love the color theme. And I also clicked on the link that led to your Candy Cane tree, which was also gorgeous!
When I was a kid, it was the same, we had real trees up until I was in my early teens, when my family switched to an artificial tree and used a pine spray to give it an authentic scent. Also, my father got one of those "silver" Christmas trees that we used for many years, which no one else in the family liked because it was just plan tacky. It came with one of those revolving colored lights that would change the tree into different colors. SO tacky! LOL!
Hope you enjoyed a Happy Thanksgiving Day!
P. S. love your new Christmas blog theme!
Thanks Ron. And,yes I remember those silver rotating trees!
DeleteYour tree is just beautiful and we love that you change themes. Ours is always an Airedale tree - two of them.
ReplyDeleteI bet your tree is fun...and mighty pretty!
DeleteLove your tree and the deer ornaments. I was all for real trees till in my mid twenties when I thought what a waste to kill a tree for a few weeks of pleasure. With
ReplyDeleteproper decorations, it is hard to tell the difference between fake and real. Kind of like an "almost burger" with lots of toppings:)
Yep...an almost burger! 😄
DeleteIt was either real tree or no tree. My dad always found just the right one on one of the farms he visited when working. He brought it home to rest on the porch before Christmas Eve when it was brought into the house. We never saw it decorated until the next morning when the call to come downstairs so we could be surprised at its decorations, lights, and the running lionel train going in a circle. You have brought back memories and I sure think your tree is beautiful with the special decorations.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great tradition!!
DeleteYour decorations are amazing! And I love the Bird in your header. You are so very talented.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Inger.
DeleteWe always had a real tree when I was young and when we got married and had our boys we would make a day of it and go and cut down the "perfect" tree. As we and the kids aged it got harder to do so we surrendered to an artificial tree which really looks real. We haven't looked back from that time till now. Same tree and it really is holding up well. Ours is going up in a few days since we are having our bible study group over for the annual holiday potluck. Lots of work in the next few days.
ReplyDeleteI love your sweet birdie header. He's cute and festive. Love the reindeer too...just lovely all the way around.
Sue
Thanks Sue. Artificial trees have come a long way!!
DeleteOooooooooooooh Anni.... your Christmas tree this year is absolutely beautiful!! We've had an artificial tree for many years now too. I wasn't thinking so much about deforestation or anything like that tho.... for me it was the "after Christmas" thing of seeing my beautiful little tree sitting on the curb waiting for the garbage man. *sigh* I just couldn't handle that. So we've had artificial trees ever since & when Christmas is over, I pack her away and say "See you again next year, friend!" That suits me much better! Of course, driving by "the root beer stand-turned Christmas tree lot" a couple days before Christmas and see the lone, tiny, ugly tree being the only one left gets to me too. Cut down and never honored with lights & ornaments. Sad. ~Andrea xoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteThanks Anndrea. I feel your remorse!!
DeleteYour tree is beautiful but then I knew it would be. :)
ReplyDeleteWe mostly have real trees but we've had fake ones too.
We will probably look for a small one around our property to cut down. That's what we did last year.
There are Christmas tree farms around here where they just plant the trees for Christmas.
Those farms, tho an income for owners...it still seems a waste. Thanks, I look forward to seeing your tree.
Deleteabosloutly gorgeous!!!!!! love all the ornaments and the colors.. your artist gift allows you to know how to place the decorations, mine are always off somehow... my story today was true, every word and a lot more. back in 1983 I got my first fake tree in 1969
ReplyDeleteThe fact it was a true story just blows my mind.
DeleteHello Anni, Thank you for stopping by our blog. It's nice yo meet you and I loved your post. We always have artificial trees because I'm allergic to cut pine. We started with one but we now have several. Since we have 15 foot ceilings I had the bright idea of getting a ten foot tree. It's lovely but at 5'4" that leaves a whole lot of tree that I can't reach. I use a step stool but the top of the tree tends be a bit sparse. On that one we use family ornaments and ornaments that we've purchased on our travels. We have a five foot tree in the hallway with artificial candies and cookies. In the den there's an eight foot tree that has my dog ornaments. Each of our dogs has an ornament and there are others homemade and received from friends. There's a two foot tree in the bedroom that has frogs on it. I've collected frogs for years and there's a small tree, about six or eight inches in the kitchen that was given to me, also with dogs on it. The big tree stays up year round and gets seasonal trims. I look forward to reading about your holidays.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a real festive, fun & beautiful, home!!
DeleteVery pretty! I'm anxious to see Bud's sleigh.
ReplyDeleteWe had real trees until our daughter became allergic, and that was the end of that.
We have 3 trees, a main tree in the living room, a skinny tree in the kitchen and then a smaller one in our family room downstairs.
I'm reading that several have allergies. Thank goodness for artificial.
DeleteI was a Forest Rangers kid and so we always got our own tree. Dad would buy two permits and get two trees and then use the second tree's limbs to fill in the holes in the first tree's limb layout.
ReplyDeleteI found out that I was allergic to the trees in the 1980's so then all we have had since is artificial trees.
Your tree this year is gorgeous!!
Clever idea with the extra branches!!
DeleteI love themed trees. My besties husband does that every year. He has about 3 or 4 themes he rotates each year. We started using artificial after we found our why our daughter was sick each Christmas. She was allergic to the spores on the cut tree same thing with a fire in the fire place. You heat of the wood the spores mutate. I spy a kitty too
ReplyDeleteHugs Cecilia
He likes to bomb photos a lot!! Lol
DeleteLovely reindeer ornaments! I don't think I've ever seen a reindeer tree before. Yours is quite pretty.
ReplyDelete....now you remember, you saw your first reindeer tree here. lol
DeleteOh, it is so beautiful. When I was a kid, we did not get pine trees...we cut down cedar trees. They take over pastures down there. This one place took a bulldoser and just pushed them into piles.
ReplyDeleteWell, cedar is of the pine family. Thanks Rose.
DeleteYour tree is beautiful. I have never had a real tree, so I can't compare the two. My husband and I were married in June of 1972 and in November we bought our first tree, an artificial one.
ReplyDeleteArtificial is the way to go imo. Thanks Ruth.
DeleteBeautiful tree Anni! Love the "naturalist" theme. I'm a bit ambivalent on the real vs. artificial. I grew up on an 80-acre farm and thinning of trees was a good thing...replacements grew up quickly. When we sold the farm after my father's death, my mom kept about 15 acres and built a home on that and actually planted christmas trees for harvest in a field that had been one of our hayfields. There are many tree farms in these parts and they grow quickly...and eventually have to be harvested or they usually will die out anyways. But I do feel sad thinking of all the ones cut and not used...and what really brings pangs of anxiety are those huge beautiful trees used in the cities and our houses of government. So sad to me. ~Robin~
ReplyDeleteThinning is important, I agree...but, when too many are cut each year, the forest isn't recouping quickly enough.
DeleteThanks Robin.
We always cut a small cedar tree during our early years. Since they were a nuisance no one seemed to mind except for maybe the birds that liked to take refuge in them during winter. But, we finally gave up on even the cedar and bought an artifical one. I love your browns and golds and greens. Reindeer is the perfect theme, and your pictures are oh-so-wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary
DeleteI really like Christmas bird header.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
Thanks Dora
DeleteI once had a German feather tree, but it was white. I love your tree. You missed your calling as an interior designer of the highest caliber!
ReplyDeleteI never heard of feather trees before this week's research. They sound pretty.
DeleteYour tree is so lovely!! I like the idea of a themed tree but when the time comes to decorate I go back to the ones we've used for years. This is the first year we only have one tree. It's all part of 'simplifying life' I suppose. No more need to move furniture around etc..
ReplyDeleteI've done those kinds too.
DeleteYour tree is beautiful! We got a real tree for as many years as the kids wanted to go cut them down! My mom's friend owned a Christmas tree farm. When the kids got old enough to not want to go anymore we bought them from a corner lot for a few years. Then decided we didn't want to bother anymore and have had artificial trees ever since! Those sprays that make the tree smell like pine work just fine!
ReplyDeleteYep...same with us. Kinda. I don't ever remember it one from a lot tho. And the scent of pine works wonders.
DeleteThanks
A beautiful tree so ornately decorated in all of its splendor! A great medley of photographs. Growing up, I think we had two or three real Christmas trees. What then became popular are the pre-strung artificial trees. That sold me once I moved into my first house. Bud's reindeers remind me of the ones Dad made for all relatives that was like a plant holder and would be outfitted with many poinsettia. We took down the Thanksgiving decorations and have put up the Christmas decorations. Next weekend we'll probably start with the tree.
ReplyDeleteHave fun decorating the tree. Hope you will share some photos!!
DeleteThanks Steve.
We've always had a real tree... love the smell and the inside cats loved a little of the outside coming in for them! But I will admit that for a few years we had an artificial one. It was when I was pregnant with my second child and was having some problems so the doctor told me we couldn't fly home to Louisiana that year. It was a few days before Christmas so we went out and bought an artificial tree. That tree lasted for many years and even went off to college with my daughter. But then we returned to real trees... and love them too much to change! (I've tried - just not the same) I would hope that these days when a tree farm cuts down a real tree, they plant another or 2 in it's place....
ReplyDeleteExactly. Replenish what we take? I agree.
DeleteYour tree is beautiful and I love your new header.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend.
All the best Jan
Thanks so much Jan!
DeleteWe cut our own tree for 35 years, but we always chose one in an area that needed thinning. They weren't the greatest looking little trees, but we loved them.
ReplyDeleteHave a great rest of the weekend!
I bet they were perfect!
Deletedon't know how I missed this post.
ReplyDeletelove the tree. we use to put up a real tree, but we don't
many more. I do decorat the house up.
Sometimes when I post later, it gets lost in the shuffle
Delete😊
It's beautiful!! I like the way you theme your trees.....I have a hard time leaving things in the storage building. As in not using everything every year. It's like I'm afraid of hurting the ornaments feelings or something. I probably need a therapist....
ReplyDeleteROFL on their feelings...and need of a therapist!
DeleteThanks for stopping by...I know you're busy.
What a beautiful tree! This is my favorite time of year, and I love decorating trees.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, we had fresh trees maybe when I was real young, then I remember an aluminum tree my parents had with a light reflector behind it. Many years ago, my husband bought me one so I'd keep the memory of those young days alive. I didn't put it up last year, not sure if it will come up this year yet or not, but either way our house still has other trees and decor.
~Mary
I enjoyed your decorations!!
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