The DU Lounge

Niagara

(11,249 posts)

58. Thankfully we had an artificial tree growing up

Fri Nov 28, 2025, 08:58 PM

Friday

Mom was particular about how it was decorated so I only pretended to help decorate the thing.

The last real tree I encountered gave me a migraine from hell and to decorate the thing I had to wear a mask. It was a client that I was care giving for and she had Parkinson's. None of the other caregivers would help her decorate it so I did it for her so she had a beautiful Christmas tree when her family came to visit her.

I couldn't put any type of tree up for the longest time because of a certain feline companion that liked to chew on the branches on trees and it made our feline companion sick. I finally got a artificial tree in 2023.

Our place is small and so I have a "skinny" or "pencil" artificial tree. Trying to find a certain height unlit pencil tree was a bit of a challenge but I managed.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

1 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

debm55

92 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

As a youngster, what kind of Christmas tree did you have. fake. or that silver metallic one with the light spinner [View all] debm55 Friday OP

I was never True Dough Friday #1

Thank you for sharing that information with us, True Dough. debm55 Friday #11

We had a fake silver one for a few years, then a fake green one BlueWaveNeverEnd Friday #2

BlueWaveNeverEnd. We had that one too, The trunk had holes with paint and you had to match the color coded branches. I debm55 Friday #14

silver, and we always put the branches back in their original paper sleeves bigtree Friday #3

HAHAHAHAHHAH. Thank you very much, bigtree. That is funny. debm55 Friday #15

live trees lapfog_1 Friday #4

That sounds beautiful, lapfog_1 and very earth friendly. debm55 Friday #16

How lovely! electric_blue68 Friday #37

Real ones when I was young House of Roberts Friday #5

Thank you very much, House of Roberts. Do you remember stepping on the real pine needles? The artificial was easier to debm55 Friday #17

We had a vinyl floor in the den so they were easy to sweep up. House of Roberts Friday #23

HAHAHAHHAA. Thank you House of Roberts. We had a rug where the needles would get caught. Mother had a Hoover. debm55 Friday #24

Real tree every Christmas when a youngster 🎄 anciano Friday #6

Thank you anciano for sharing--the needles, the smell. was great.from a real tree. debm55 Friday #18

Real ones as a kid. As an adult only fake green ones. Polly Hennessey Friday #7

Yes, and driving to relatives homes to see trees in the tree lots that no one wanted. It was sad. Thank you debm55 Friday #19

My mom loved the silver tree with the rotating color spindle that squeaked..we hated it and to this day.. Deuxcents Friday #8

thank you very much Deuxcents, My cousins had one. After awhile they stopped using the color spindle and just added blue debm55 Friday #21

Always real; fir or spruce, never pine. Pine needles are too long to hold ornaments properly. Ocelot II Friday #9

Thank you Ocelot II , Your tree sounds absolutly beautiful. I also loved the bubble lights. The tinsels with lead --who debm55 Friday #22

That same aunt & uncle with the bubble lights ALSO had the angel hair! electric_blue68 Friday #39

I hated the angel hair. If you weren't careful it would make cuts on you as it was spun glass. debm55 Friday #45

We probably had those glass ornaments. My favorite were the... electric_blue68 Friday #40

Yes, they passed down from family to family. Very beautiful. Thank you, electric_blue68 debm55 Friday #46

One of my aunts & uncles had those bubble lights! electric_blue68 Friday #38

Started out with real, went artificial, also had a small aluminum tree. 50 Shades Of Blue Friday #10

Thank you very much, 50 Shades Of Blue. I thought the tree looked better without the light spinner and with one color of debm55 Friday #25

I feel better now, LOL! Our had blue ornaments. 50 Shades Of Blue Friday #36

Blue ornamnets looked very nice on it. debm55 Friday #47

We always had a real tree. Diamond_Dog Friday #12

Sounds just like our Christmas tree procedures. Ocelot II Friday #28

Sure does sound similar, Ocelot! Diamond_Dog Friday #31

Thank you very much, Diamond_Dog for your wonderful post and sharing the delight of a child seeing the Christmas tree in debm55 Friday #48

artificial Eugene Friday #13

Thank you Eugene, we had the same tree with the colored coded branches to fit in the trunk. Worked fine until the as the debm55 Friday #49

Traditional cut tree. patphil Friday #20

Thank sounds beautiful. patphil. I loved those glass antique ornaments. Your tree of your youth sounds beautiful . Thank debm55 Friday #26

My mother was the first on the block to get an artificial tree & they didn't look all that great back then. CrispyQ Friday #27

Thank you CrispyQ, Arm still sore , but it will get better. We put our tree up the Sunday before Christmas and kept it debm55 Friday #50

Sometimes real ones until my dad bought an aluminum tree with the colored light wheel SheltieLover Friday #29

Thank you very much, SheltieLover. That's funny. I use to have a tree with a different theme in my house. I have 8 rooms debm55 Friday #52

That alum tree was an embarrassment to my mom, much like the leg lamp SheltieLover Friday #55

HAHAHAHAHAH, that is funny, Thank you SheltieLover. debm55 Saturday #88

Real live ones mostly (and I continued to insist even when the silver monstrosity appeared--sans spinner) hlthe2b Friday #30

I agree with you hithe2b. I have the artificial table top tree. and get a pine or balsam wreath for the living room. debm55 Friday #64

My parents had real trees until my brother and I were teenagers. My wife and I have always had live or real trees. NNadir Friday #32

"Just when I think I couldn't possibly love her more, I do." 3catwoman3 Friday #61

Thank you NNadir, you are a very sweet person. You and your wife are very lucky to have the love of each other. debm55 Friday #65

Taken to a justaprogressive Friday #33

Thank you very much, justaprogressive. Beautiful large tree. debm55 Friday #66

As a kid, always real. Always a floor tree, except when Dad broke his hip in '61. rsdsharp Friday #34

Thank you very much for sharing with us, rsdsharp. It was a hassle to have all the trees in my home. But as a youth , debm55 Friday #67

We had real trees. madamesilverspurs Friday #35

Very well said, madamesilverspurs. Thank you for sharing your feelings with us. debm55 Friday #68

Always live cut trees. Fir or ?spruce.... electric_blue68 Friday #41

Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories with us, electric_blue68. I enjoyed reading them debm55 Friday #69

My parents came from the country that had the first recorded Christmas tree Wicked Blue Friday #42

Thank you very much for sharing with us, Wicked Blue. debm55 Friday #70

We had a real tree LogDog75 Friday #43

Thank you very much, LogDog75. The sense of smell is most connect to memories. Thank you for sharing those memories. debm55 Friday #72

We had real trees until ... Dorothy V Friday #44

HAHHAHHAAHA. love you Dorothy V debm55 Friday #57

We always had a real tree, loved the smell and decorating them... wcmagumba Friday #51

Thank you very much, wcmagumba. The smell of a real tree is wonderful and the delight in decorating is magical to a debm55 Friday #56

After I left home, my folks decided they wanted a more orderly tree. They bought an atificial tree (a very good one)... marble falls Friday #53

Thank you very much, marble falls. What a wonderful post. They are treasures of years past. debm55 Friday #54

Thankfully we had an artificial tree growing up Niagara Friday #58

Thank you very much for your compassion for putting the real tree up even though it would make you sick. You are an debm55 Saturday #79

Real. My mother would never have a fake tree in her house. MIButterfly Friday #59

Thank you very much MIButterfly. Cats are like that. debm55 Saturday #80

Always a real tree. buzzycrumbhunger Friday #60

Thank you very much, buzzycrumbhunger. Sounds like your ex was an ass. I had the Charlie Brown Christmas tree too-bent, debm55 Saturday #90

Always real when I was a kid. 3catwoman3 Friday #62

Thank you so much 3catwoman3. Your tree sounds wonderful. I do the same with moving the ornaments around so they are the debm55 Saturday #89

It's not quite true that only God can make a tree PikaBlue Friday #63

HAHHAAHHAHHA. Thank you very much. PikaBlue, for sharing your sharing your funny Christmas memory. debm55 Saturday #87

LIVE Chanukah Bush elleng Friday #71

Sounds wonderful, elleng. debm55 Saturday #86

Silver Tip planted on a table Brother Buzz Friday #73

Thank you, Brother Buzz for sharing your Christmas tree memories with us. debm55 Saturday #85

When I was little we got real ones MustLoveBeagles Friday #74

Thank you very much for sharing with us, MustLoveBeagles. debm55 Saturday #84

We had a fake tree for my entire childhood. Aristus Friday #75

Thank you so much for sharing your memories with us. Aristus. debm55 Saturday #83

We always had live ones. Mad_Dem_X Saturday #76

HAHAHA. Thank you Mad_Dem_X. Cutting down your own tree sounds like so much fun.I have never done it , but I wish I had. debm55 Saturday #77

LOL! That reminds me of one of the last times my mother and I went out to get a Christmas tree. MIButterfly Saturday #82

real. AllaN01Bear Saturday #78

Thank you very much, AllaN01Bear. for sharing your memories. debm55 Saturday #81

I remember dad tying down the Christmas tree on top Emile Saturday #91

HAHAHAHAHAH. Thank you very much for the memories, Emile debm55 Saturday #92