12/06/2010 Open Mike Monday (OMM)

It's time of year where we consider one of the most fundamental question of the Christmas season. . .

Question: Is your Christmas tree real or artificial? And, when do you put it up?

Amy: Our tree is artificial. That is what I grew up with so...why change? I've often thought about having a real tree for a change but I have a preconceived notion that it would be messy and dirty. We usually have to leave the bottom few rows in the back off because it's so big it won't fit in the corner. The weekend after Thanksgiving is always our goal but.....

Cammy: When our artificial tree starting falling apart, we went back to a live tree. Each year we debate going to cut our own tree down until we again realize how many of these "farms" in NJ are looking to make a very big & quick buck. So we go to a local garden center and get it there for a pretty good price -- plus, if our neighbor is working when we go, she gives us her discount. :) Hopefully, we'll be getting the tree the first weekend of December.

Catherine: Our Christmas Tree is artificial. We used to buy a real one but our little cat Sukie is too much inquisitive and there were needles all over the place ! I normally put it up mid-december : I put some Christmas CD's on, burn some scented candles (it has to be cinnamon !), have a glass of mulled wine and try to do it quickly while Sukie is in the garden !

Jackie: Our tree used to be a real tree, I love the smell and the look, unfortunately a few people in my family have allergies to some trees and we had to switch to an artificial tree a few years ago. It usually gets put up at the beginning of December, when we all get together and decorate it.

Jan: Our tree is artificial, we live in a very small town in Arizona and I'm not sure you can buy a real one here anymore. My husband and kids usually put up the tree about a week before Christmas and it gets taken down a day or two after Christmas. Here's a photo of why, her name is Inky!

Jenny: Artificial all the way! I would hate to have something more to worry about around the holidays. We usually put it up Thankgiving weekend, but this year it is going up one weekend late.

Joy: artificial for sure! too much trouble to get a real one- why go get a new one every year, spend money on it, have to water it, blah blah blah-would take up too much crafting time and money! I usually put mine up either on Thanksgiving or the day after.

Lesley: We went to artificial after the Christmas we had to cut-off the bottom of our 12ft tree in our living room because it was standing at an angle. Thank goodness we have tile flooring but it was still a big old mess.

Lola: We have an artificial tree tho my husband says every year that he wants a real tree...but never goes out and gets one. I used to put my tree up the day before Christmas (finals and life just got in the way), but now I try my darndest to get it up early for Bean. She's been asking since Thanksgiving "when are we decorating the tree?" with that 3year old whine. Maybe tomorrow....

Lori: Usually artificial. I prefer real and we've done real a few times, including one time of cutting it down ourselves (which I loved and everyone else complained about. :)) It's been a few years since we've had a real one so I think it's time to get one this year. We don't usually put it up until mid-December. My husband's bday is the 13th and I like to wait until after that so his bday doesn't get lost in the Christmas chaos.


Melissa: Artifical and I usually start in on the day after thanksgiving but this year I just had a ton of other things get in the way so that's what I am doing today.

Michele: I used to have a real, but I would be cleaning up pine needles for the entire year. We bought a PRE-LIT tree and it's the best thing ever. We just got scented candles for the tree scent. We usually put it up on Black Friday. We don't go out into the mob scene.

Min: Growing up we always had a live tree, but then the cat would climb it and the dog would pee on it, so my folks switched to an artificial tree. My dad would have to NAIL the tree stand to the FLOOR so the cat wouldn't tip the fully decorated tree over!!! Ah, Memories of Christmas Past!

My hubby and I have an artificial tree, which is fine (see above for cat climbing up tree problem with live tree). :D But man, there's NOTHING like a real tree! All our Christmas decorations including the tree usually go up Thanksgiving weekend - JUST in time for our annual cookie exchange!

Peggy: Most of the time we have a real tree, but the last few years we have been using an artificial tree. Our tree normally goes up the first week of December.

Rae Anne: We have a pre-lit artificial tree, and we put it up on the day after Thanksgiving.

Sandye: Sadly, the answer is artificial. It is more economical and easier--but I LOVE real trees! I do like to put our tree up Thanksgiving weekend however, so that last time we had a real tree, it had no needles by Christmas. We usually travel over the holidays anyway--so we decided to take the easier route!

Scrappy: Growing up we almost always had a real tree! The smell of the pine was wonderful, and we loved it. That is - until we got cats when I was a teenager. Then the pine smell was diminished by the smell of cat pee - as they apparently got territorial over not only who could make it smell worse, but also apparently over who could break more of grandmas heirloom ornaments. We'd usually forget to water it most of the time and end up vacuuming up all the needles around our then very 'Charlie Brown-ish' looking tree.

So now we have a fake one. I hate putting it up every year, because I end up putting it up alone and scratching myself everywhere with the 'beautiful, realistic looking' branches. Our cats LOVE to climb it - but at least they don't pee on it! However; once I wire all of the ornaments we've collected over the years onto it, I can't help but stand back and smile. Every year my husband and I get an ornament commemorating how many Christmasses we've been together. We also do that with our daughter now as well, and it really is so special to us!

We still haven't put it up yet though. We had thought of putting it up around Thanksgiving but we all got sick. Then we decided to wait until after we have a playdate on Wednesday for our daughter - complete with 17 screaming kids (all under the age of 5!) running around the house! So maybe on Thursday I'll start the yearly grunting and grumbling job of dragging it all out! And honestly - I can't wait!

Dee (GD for 12/2010): Our family tradition is to put up the tree on December 1st and I usually take it down after Epiphany - as much as I would love a real tree it would be a fire hazard if it was up for that long. Thank goodness for scented candles to bring in the scent of evergreen! Being the control-freak that I am, I love having the lights evenly spaced and not having to fuss with lights that don't work.

Michele has created some seriously Christmas-cool projects for you for ABC Monday on our challenge blog, Catch the Bug. :D