It looks like more people do fake trees than real trees these days? I keep saying I’m going to go fake, but so far we’ve stuck with real.
It’s fun to see how people decorate.
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I grew up with real trees but my H is allergic so it’s been fake trees for us for the last 30 years. I will say, it is nice to not have to worry about falling needles and we can have the tree up longer.
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My mom was allergic. I am allergic. And H had cats that would pee on real ones, so his family went to fake. We’ve never tested it on ours! But I also like putting it up early and am deathly afraid of fire - we turn off all lights before bed. So I’m much better off with fake. And we keep them forever. even when the prelit on the big tree died, I stripped them off and just added my own regular.
I love looking at the pretty coordinated ones, but I could never make one look that pretty no matter how hard I tried. So I just embrace the hodge podge.
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I decorate a tree annually for a charity that gets donated to a non-profit and is silent auctioned off. That is always a themed tree and it’s different every year. It’s fun to do, and the trees are only 3-4 feet…my choice. It’s off topic but I can link some pics here that I have from a couple of years….if you want.
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Ours is definitely a hodgepodge, with ornaments we’ve been collecting individually and together for probably 50 years, so we have way more than we use each year. I used to collect dated Hallmark ornaments and H collected wooden ones. Together it’s been mainly gifts, ones kids made, and from our travels. We’ve always had real trees, but H has just started hinting that it might be time to invest in an artificial tree. I’m not happy about that, but he puts in more work hauling it in and out, dealing with the lights, etc., so I’ll give in if he is serious. Hoping he changes his mind!
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Next year we should have a Christmas tree decorating contest :).
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Honestly, I can’t tell which trees here are real and which are artificial.
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We are all allergic to so much. When we were all ill one holiday season 2 decades or so ago, I felt least ill, of course, so I went to try to get us a Christmas tree. By the time I had stamina to leave the house, all the “real” ones were sold out and/or really expensive. I happened upon a sale at Macy’s where trees were 50 or 75% off so I got a 6’ fake tree for $50 or so. That year we all had a much less allergic holiday season so we’ve always used fake trees since.
Our noses are much happier that we aren’t constantly reacting to allergens from the trees. I like healthier holiday seasons!
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I grew up with fake trees (I think my mother still had silver trees from the 1960s in storage when she died, I’m sure my brother just tossed them in the dumpster, and I’m sure they were worth a fortune).
I started with live trees when I moved out on my own in NYC.
Now, 40 years later, I’m so so sick of them. I don’t even do all the grunt work - hauling and setting up the actual tree - but the cleanup is brutal, and I am still cleaning needles out of rugs and baseboards in the summer.
And now that the kids aren’t around when we take it down, it has become a huge chore that I dread (especially this year).
In the fall, I broached the subject of getting a fake tree to the kids and you would’ve thought I suggested roasting the cat for dinner.
Then I asked them what they wanted for gifts, and my son’s list of a few things had, at the end, “A REAL TREE.”
He said he would not come home if there was a fake tree.
Sigh.
I will still make us change over at some point. But I guess not for a couple more years.
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@Gatormama the reason we finally got a fake tree was that we were at a holiday open house at the neighbors one year in early December. We hadn’t gotten our tree yet, and I asked what tree farm they got their tree at. They politely told me…the tree was more than several years old! Honestly, it looked totally real to me.
As I said above, in these pictures, I can’t tell which trees are real and which are artificial. The decorations make the tree, in my opinion.
And just scroll up and look again at the beautiful trees here!
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Our’s is a hodge podge of ornaments we’ve collected since we’ve been married and ornaments from our childhood trees mixed with a few from my hope chest. It’s the story of us. The tree looks pretty from a distance; it makes us giggle up close; there are 7 “new home” ornaments and several fandom ones as well 
I can’t have live trees either; took one trip to the ER as a kid to figure that out. I love this tree. I bought it off FB marketplace 7 years ago for $10. Not sure how old it is; it drops a lot of needles when I set it up, but it still looks beautiful.
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My Survivor tree is up and pretty! This tree is a Canaan fir that lived in a pot on our deck for 3 years and survived 2 Christmases and a couple of really brutal summer heat waves. Hence, Survivor. 
i wish it was a bit fluffier, but my husband really likes its Charlie Brown-esque look. I had to pare down my ornaments since only 1/3 fits… and we will have a bunch of little ones visiting us, so no fancy ones on the tree this year.
ETA: the lights are “candles” by Balsam Hill and can be either white, yellow, or multicolored.
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We always had a real tree until one year when S had an asthma attack a day or two after Christmas and the doctor said he was likely allergic. So for years it was the artificial tree only. Then we decided to put the artificial tree in the family room (where we spent a lot of time) and try a real one in the living room. Surprise, surprise! Turns out S was fine with the real tree.
The artificial trees have come a long way and I the newer ones are so easy to put up/take down. Pre lit is great. I love a real tree but so much bother.
I saw a pink tree in someones window yesterday when i was walking! I loved it, but H would draw a line…
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I love real trees but we bought an artificial one about 25 years ago after my police officer brother was the first on the scene of a family of seven who died Christmas morning when their tree caught fire and all were asphyxiated. My brother told us to burn our tree that year to get an idea of what you’re up against if it catches fire. The whole thing went up in seconds and the smoke was unbelievable. I still love real trees best and enjoy them at other’s houses, but we limp along with a couple of balsam candles to provide the missing fragrance. I think of that incident every year. It took a long time for my brother to move on from that one.
It sounds sort of my me and my classmate who died xmas eve due to the faulty dishwasher. Some stories just never leave you. I am very sorry. Police and emergency personnel see so much. I know I couldn’t take it
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We are definitely hodgepodge. My parents gave our kids ornaments every year, we give them ornaments every year, we get one when on vacation (wish we had gotten 2 so each kids could have one when they move out!) You can tell which ornaments my mom gave me - lot of angels, cats, stockings, cats in stockings, angels on stockings… 
We have always had a real tree. Spouse wanted fake - they got stuck watering the real one. And we used to go away the day after Christmas, so it would get dry.
But I just couldn’t pull the trigger…until last year. For 2 years trees were small and expensive. I just didn’t want to spend $150+ on a 7’ tree, so I broke down and bought a Balsam Hill on sale after Christmas and we have it up this year. It looks good/real. I wish it was a little bigger (1 foot) but they didn’t have any of left. But they were on sale before Christmas this year! Made me wonder if they are the Kohls of Christmas trees (everything is always on sale…)
I am loving seeing everyone’s trees - thank you for sharing!
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If I were to buy a fake one, it seems like after christmas is the time, right?
What’s the biggest and most realistic one? Is there one manufacturer that’s better?
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Here is our real, dried out, white pine, hodge podge tree and house. My husband, the Wildland firefighter, left it outside for several days without water before we put it up. 
It’s up on the table because we can’t trust our animals, and this year the ornaments are sliding off the branches of the pine so they’d all fall off if they even brushed up against it. Never again, Abies (Latin genus for fir - forestry talk) for us from now on! I think we’ll be unplugging it whenever we leave the room now after reading the last few posts (we do unplug at night). Fire danger level is red!
Pics of my two fave ornaments on the tree.
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We bought ours from Balsam Hill–they have a range of prices and features.
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