Here we are entering the first weekend in November and guess what I feel like doing. Putting up our Christmas tree. We usually put it up the weekend of Thanksgiving but this year I want to enjoy the tree longer. Sometimes that small window of about a month’s time just isn’t enough.

Our Tree

This is our tree. It’s an artificial tree. I’ve always had an artificial tree for Christmas. I do recall a handful of years when I did get a real tree or one year when my dad actually cut down a tree from some wooded area near our house for Christmas. Real trees are nice but I just like the idea of using an artificial tree. That gives me the freedom to decorate early, too. 😉

We just got this tree a couple of years ago. Before that we had a tree that lasted us about 17 years! Yep! I still remember buying that tree, too. My husband and I bought that tree from Kmart for our first Christmas together and then three kids later, and two cross country moves and it still held up. It was such a pretty tree! The shape of it and how full it was. When we decided to replace it because some of the branches were finally starting to droop, we couldn’t find anything out there as full as that tree. They just don’t make them like they used to.

But, our new tree is nice, too. It’s one of the fuller ones we found and what I like about it the most is that the lights are pre-lit and both multicolored and clear. See, I love just white lights on the tree. I think it’s warm and classy. My husband, though, and my kids for that matter, prefer the colored lights. I mean, I don’t mind the colored lights but if given a choice, I would choose all white. The tree has so many different settings, too. It has many different colors. You can choose just one solid color or have it run through all of the colors. The lights can also flash, pulse, move up and down the tree or stay steady.

The tree is super easy to put up, too. Our old tree we had to fluff each branch and then hook them onto the base. There were probably 8-10 branches on each level, too. It just took a lot of time. Then, after the tree was finally up, we had to string the lights. Then, the ornaments, and so on. It was a long process. With this newer tree, there are just two sections. You put the base section into the stand and then place the top section on and voila, they both light up and you’re done. You do need to fluff a little but for the most part it’s not a big deal. It just saves so much time.

What kind of tree do you have for Christmas? Do you prefer real or artificial trees? When do you put your tree up? Do you put it up around Thanksgiving or earlier or do you prefer to wait until closer to Christmas?