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Christmas sans Christmas Tree?


floridasun5

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I've been debating over the last week or so whether I wanted to get a Christmas tree this year. Money is tight, I'd need a new tree stand and I'm not really home that much anyway. I'm a single mother of a teenager and will be having Christmas breakfast at my house, but then we are going to my boyfriends familys house for the day.

 

I'm considering just doing something else like a poinsetta plant and stacking presents around it, making a "tree" out of stacking presents, getting a small table top tree, etc. but I can't decide on whether to go without and what to do instead.

 

So, I guess my question is....has anyone gone without a Christmas tree any year? What did you do instead? If you did go without a tree, how did it go over with the family? I need more ideas. Thanks!

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Walgreens had a 6 ft. prelit for 19.99 (not a BF sale) but I don't have the current ad, however they could still have it. Also I have seen little ones --2 ft. at Walmart and Target for 8, and 10 dollars! and they sell small (not mini) ornaments in the dollar bin at Target, so you could probably get a string of 35 lights for 2-3 dollars many places and a string of garland for 1-4 dollars at dollar tree, Walmart.

 

It could end up looking really cute for total of 20 dollars or under! And when you have more money another year, you could just use it in your bedroom/kids room .... I don't know if you have a son or a daughter, but speaking for myself, back to when I was a 10-16 yr old girl, I know I'd want a tree of some sort, I wouldn't feel like it were the holidays without one, even a small one would mean so much to me, but just my opinion :)

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My impression is the OP is asking how it felt to go without a real tree for Chr-stmas, if your tradition is to have one.

I have a question for the OP: how does your teen feel regarding not having a tree this year?

I ask because although we are Jewish, my mom was a fan of English-style Chr-stmas celebrations, and as a child we always had a tree and a secular Chr-stmas.

When we moved from New York to south Florida the summer I was nine years old, my mom asked my sister and me if she should pack up the chr-stmas decorations to move with us, or give them away. She had a beautiful collection. My (younger) sister and I decided to not bother moving them, so they were given away...

 

And when the holidays rolled around, we begged my mom to get a tree and start collecting again. It just seemed wrong to not have the tree in our new home.

And it wasn't even our holiday.

 

So, just my experience.

 

If an artificial tree can fill in, they can be gotten inexpensively. And you would have the tree up longer than just Chr-stmas morning anyway.

I feel, do what you can to share traditions with your teen. S/he will be grown and out of the house soon enough.

Try to enjoy the season together when you can, even if it is in small moments of quiet in the evenings watching the lights.

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I think you should go with your nifty idea of stacking presents to look like a tree. I think the teen is old enough to realize it's a waste of money and space. I also think he or she will remember your homemade "tree" for years to come. You never know, this could turn into a tradition of trying to come up with a new "tree" every year!!
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I'm married without children but live about 700 miles from our relatives. I have a younger sister and brother who are still teens and I actually don't put up a tree anymore for a few reasons. My main is I have cats and they think it's a toy and ruin it everytime. My family has came down to visit and we just put presents in the corner and divide them out. It doesn't seem to make it christmas just by having a tree, it seems to make it by the feelings for us. Hope you figure out what is best for you!
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When DH and I were younger we were going through a really tough time. Not married yet and just started living on our own. We were literally buying gas on credit b/c we had no money - grocery shopping with a calculator kind of days. We didn't put up a single decoration that year for the holidays because we didn't have any - certainly no money for a tree. Even though we were not at home for Christmas day (we drove down and spent it with my mom) I still remember it being one of the most depressing holidays that I can remember. Seeing all the decorations everywhere and coming home to our void of holiday house just made me so sad. It just kept reminding me how broke we were. We didn't exchange a single gift, it was all we could do to buy a few small things for family and not max out our credit. Now I look back on that Christmas when I'm going crazy shopping and I truly appreciate that fact that I am able to buy gifts for those I love. Even if you can only get a small tabletop tree I think you should. :)
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Where I'm from you can get a tree at a garage sale for a couple of dollars. I would never not put up a tree if there were any children in my house or coming to my house. That's the most depressing thing I can imagine. Even the salvation army may have one. You can get a real one for about 10.00 and the stands are just a few dollars if you don't want artificial. I always get a real one, the kids may say it doesn't matter, but without decorations and a tree, the spirit isn't there.
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wonder if original poster has ever checked back again. Tonight someone post in the ONLINE HOTDEALS THREAD, a tree that is 12.80 ! from Kohl's and I think shipping is free! It is only 4 ft. but you can pick white or green or pink and it is PRELIT with lights... would even be good for a new renter who has a super small budget... it doesn't have a great review, but I'd take it over no tree. Hope this helps someone/her :)
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I go over board when decorating, Take down to put up kind of decorating. This year I wasn't going to do half of what I normally do. So I took a poll from all four kids, the two that live at home and the two who don't. I can tell you what the answer was yuppers the house is decorated.
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wonder if original poster has ever checked back again. Tonight someone post in the ONLINE HOTDEALS THREAD, a tree that is 12.80 ! from Kohl's and I think shipping is free! It is only 4 ft. but you can pick white or green or pink and it is PRELIT with lights... would even be good for a new renter who has a super small budget... it doesn't have a great review, but I'd take it over no tree. Hope this helps someone/her :)

I just ordered a white one, I want to do a tree in all Flamingo, beach themes and thought the white would be nice, we have green trees....

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Hi all, thanks for the suggestions. I just yesterday made the decision on what to do and after speaking to my daughter. I'll post pics as soon as I can, but we decided to go without tree this year. I hate fake trees for one and my daughter didn't mind, so I went a bit off the mark :P

 

I have 2 large poinsettia plants ( a red and a white) in the corner of my home and I have birch branches that look like they are covered in ice sticking out the top of each that I wrapped with white lights. Presents are stacked around the base of the plants. It actually looks very nice! As soon as I can, I'll post pics, but we're both very happy with how it came out.

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We quit doing a tree last year. Felt so good, we did not do it this year, either.

We both work in retail and that sucks the spirit out of you about the first of November or so.

No one comes here for christmas, we go to the parents' house. So, the only ones it affects is us.

Call us Mr. and Mrs. Scrooge, we don't mind. :tongue1:

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