Faking It for The Holidays: Why We Have a Fake Tree

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It’s a quintessential Christmas picture:

The family walking through a tree farm, trees frosted with snow, looking for the perfect Christmas tree…tying the tree to the top of the car, bringing it home, and setting it up in the front window. 

Unless you’re allergic to evergreens, that is. In that case, the quintessential Christmas picture quickly becomes sneezing, hives, and a headache. Ah, the holidays! My family has had a fake Christmas tree for as long as I can remember, partially due to my allergy.

In fact, one of my favorite childhood Christmas memories is related to our fake tree.

My brother and I would help our dad get down all the boxes of Christmas decorations from the attic while my mom would sweep the dust off before they were allowed inside. 

The last box to come down, but the first to go into the house, was always the box with the tree. This was before the segmented fake trees that are so common now, so the box was as tall and wide as the tree itself.

We would set the box on its side, open the bottom, and my brother would hold the top while I crawled into the box to grab hold of the trunk. Then my dad would grab my ankles and pull me and the tree out of the box!

Me, circa 1987, in front of our fake tree.

Fake trees have come a long way since then. They come pre-lit, dusted with snow, and with pine cones. Still, fake trees tend to get a bad rap. If you don’t share my allergies or nostalgia of holding onto the trunk and being pulled out of the box, here are some reasons to consider a fake tree anyway:

You can get a pre-lit tree.

Let me repeat that: You can get a pre-lit tree! You want more reasons than that? Fine, next up…

Your tree is perfectly green all season long, year after year.

Even if I wasn’t allergic to real trees, we’d probably have to go the fake route because I excel at killing house plants. Having to remember to water a tree so it doesn’t turn into a festive fire hazard?  No, thanks.

It allows you to get decorating sooner.

I love decorating the tree; it’s one of my favorite parts of decorating for Christmas! Having a fake tree means I don’t have to look at our family’s schedule and figure out when we can all go to the Christmas tree farm (or Home Depot…) and have the pressure of recreating that quintessential Christmas scene. We just get the tree down from the attic, pop the pieces together, fluff, and 30 minutes later I’m putting ornaments on.

You don’t accidentally throw away ornaments.

I have a small ornament that I’ve had ever since I was probably 7 years old. Last year when we put up the tree and were fluffing the branches, I found it still attached to the tree! I was so thankful we had a fake tree and that I didn’t lose one of my favorite ornaments.

My beloved kitty-sleeping-in-drawer ornament.

It’s less expensive in the long run.

If you’re only looking at this year alone, sure, the $50, 7.5-foot, fresh tree from Lowe’s is more economical than the $200, 7.5-foot, fake one. But look at the long game: my fake tree is free in 2021 and every year thereafter…and it came lit. If you buy it on sale after Christmas, it becomes free even sooner!

You can get a pre-lit tree.

Did I already say that?

Whether you’re on Team Fake or Team Fresh, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, full of joy, love, and no hives.
 

Joy, love, and no hives.