Our tree is up! Is yours? I love hearing everyone’s traditions on how/when/where they get their Christmas trees.

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I recently read in Sunset Magazine how the West is changing the way we make our decisions about trees (piney-sweet smells or perfect branches). The dilemma of real vs. fake. They say more than 50% of people in the West display artificial trees, while 26% buy a live one.

“The choice of a tree is an emotional decision.” – Sunset Magazine

Here’s my Instagram picture of the beautiful trees on our way home from Bend, Oregon, a week ago (up by Diamond Lake).

New Costco tree
It’s a new season for us in our home for the holidays. Not only are we enjoying our new carpet, but we broke down and bought a *fake* tree (I hate using that word). Maybe *artificial* works better. :) Costco it was, after I shopped around for the best deal.

Our old artificial tree had bit the dust–gone to tree heaven, we all said our goodbyes–as we cleaned out our attic this past summer. It served us well for 8 years.

Having tall ceilings, I wanted a tall tree, too. Pre-lit (a big deciding factor). So, with money put into our new 9 foot tree, which we’ll use for many years to come, there wasn’t a budget to buy new ornaments, bulbs, etc. this year.

In the past we’ve purchased live trees, heading up to the mountains to cut one down. I couldn’t agree more with Sunset Mag … the “tree decision” is an emotional choice. It’s about priorities–which are different for everyone–for us, it’s how we want to spend our time. For our family, the boys are away at college, and we really don’t have 1/2 of a day to head up to the mountains. Everyone is okay with the simple decor in our home with the pretty fake tree. It’s true, the “scent” is not there, but the ambience is.

We always have Christmas music playing, the house is lit up with beautiful little lights, there’s a Christmas spirit in the air. It’s a lovely time.

I think we’ll be completely redoing the “look” of the tree in a few years when each child takes their own ornaments … (that will be a sad day).

Tablecloth tree skirt
So how about freshening up the colors around the base of your tree this year? This Christmas season I was happy to find this gold tablecloth at Good Will for $9.99, which works perfectly for a tree skirt (and probably a dinner party or two). Yay! I love a bargain and repurposing something I already have!

We wrapped it around the base of the tree. Wah-Lah. It saved me the money of buying a new one, plus I love the gold accent it added.

Now I need a new “something” for the tree top. Any ideas?

If you’re thinking of changing up your tree skirt, have you thought about reusing a tablecloth?

Here’s more repurposing tree skirt ideas:

Burlap coffee sacks
Beautiful basket in place of a tree skirt
Metal tree skirt
Tree skirt from a wedding dress

My favorite? A fur throw tree skirt.

And here’s a whole Pinterest page full of homemade tree skirts. Fun!