do you put up a Christmas tree... (Page 2)

We haven't had any kids at home for several years now, so we stopped putting up a full size tree and now we have a 3-footer, pre-lit that sits on a table.  But then my wife goes crazy with her "Christmas Village" stuff, arranging the fake snow on a 6-foot table, adding the railroad, the houses, all the little people and cars, yadda yadda.  Then there are the lights in the windows, and this year an inflatable polar bear outside the front door.

It would look better with a little snow.

(RS_Polar Bear 004.jpg)

Cute bear, max, but he's crying for some snow!!

I like to hang boughs of pine and holly branches and place pine cones all around the window ledges, which of course have a single white (electric) candle on the windowsill.  Our home is rather small to have a tree -- it'd mean putting a couch in the basement this year -- but we did have one last year.  I guess the verdict is still out for this year, but we probably will go with other evergreen decor and skip the big 6-8 footer.

Cheers, -Sunny 

When it was just me at my place for Christmas, I had a perfect little tree that I put up every year and that was it.

However, with little bro & grandma, I don't much have a choice - everything goes up...  But, I make my brother do it.  

This thread reminded me of the light display that was widely commented on last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmgf60CI_ks

I'm probably not doing a tree this year since I'm going to go visit the family for the holiday and it would simply die out.  I should go get some decorations for around my apartment though.  Its time to start getting a little decoration going on in here.

i'm kind of crazy about christmas...we will go out this weekend and do the annual tree hunt-sledding, hot chocolate, christmas cd's in the car ride. We always go with the same 4 or 5 families and we have done it for over ten years. We take the dogs, sometimes the snowshoes...its a blast.

then we come home and decorate...

Our front porch is already decorated with real garland, lights and really big ornaments all the way around.

We have 2 young kids so we "have" to have a tree.  We moved into our house 4 years ago in mid-december so we just had a 4' tree on a table to stay in spirit.  We kept that for the next 3 years since we realized it was perfect to keep little hands away.  This year we finally went back to a big one.  Bought a 7.5' artificial one a few weeks ago and putting it up tonight!!!

We also do the outdoor lights, etc.

Oh... and I find it hysterical that the marketing folks have eliminated using "fake" or "artificial" and instead call them "Permanent" trees.  Good spin....

For our family there's nothing like having a real tree in the house at Christmas time.  I love the smell of fresh pine all over the place.  We got a 12 footer this year.  There is so much history in all the ornaments and for weeks the kids are occupied with the "find the ornament" game.  This year, my oldest helped drill the hole in the bottom of the tree as well.  Its something they will remember and carry on with them for their entire lives.  Plus, when they move out, they'll take with them a portion of the ornaments for their own trees. 

Normally, yes - a Frasier fir.  I'm intoxicated by the smell of a fresh tree.  Plus, I think I'd be physically harmed by my dad if I tried to put up an artificial tree. 

This year, however, we've decided that we're probably not going to do a tree because we'll be on vacation in Kauai for the middle of December and trying to find someone to care for it would be so inconvenient.