Last year (and every year since 2001) I have put up the same small artificial tree. I bought it when I was in college and we never thought to upgrade until last year when all our ornaments would not fit on it. You can see our old tree here.
So, about 3 weeks ago I set out to find a new artificial tree that was not too expensive. I heard Menards had great ones so I went there. I heard right. They had tons to choose from and the price range was from $59-$269 for 6 and 7 foot trees. They all came in boxes so you really didn't know what you were getting yourself into, but I went for the $80, 7 foot one.
Then I needed to shop for lights. The green cord box of 250 lights was $30 and the white cord box of 200 was $9.99. I grabbed the white cord ones to do it on the cheap, not realizing that I would now have white cords all around my tree!
When I got home and opened the box, my new tree came in 100 plus pieces! Okay, I can do this, I'm a carpenter's daughter. After the first hour went by and my hands were bruised and only half the tree was done I came to this realization: A Christmas tree is not something you should cut $$ corners on. I then grabbed me a hammer and got the rest of the tree together in less then an hour.
Sadly this tree will not ever break back down. I will be dragging this bad boy out to my corner at the end of the season (and probably buy a nice one on discount at that time).
Now time for the lights. To be honest, it looks nice when the lights are on. When the lights are off/pictures are taken of it, it looks awful!
At the end of the day I don't hate it enough to redo it for this year. It's a lesson learned and my tree will be the best next year! ;) Here's what I'm left with for this one:
15 comments:
You are too funny! I agree, I wouldn't buy another tree either. Not until there are major discounts after Christmas is over! At least you have your tree decorated!!
The best day to buy that stuff is December 26th. But get there early, because the good stuff goes fast! I got my tree, lights, stockings, and various decorations last year for about 40 bucks...would've cost 4-5 times as much before Christmas!
Awww I'm sorry you were a little disappointed with your tree but it looks great! The white looks like hints of snow :) I've had my tree up since the day after Thanksgiving and still have yet to decorate it, ugh!
Right after I got divorced I bought the saddest little artificial tree. I put it up when the kids were gone and cried over how awful it was. When my son came home, he hugged me hard and told me it was the best tree ever! We've had it ever since. Merry Christmas!
Oh my! Lisa this story is too funny! I know it was not funny at the time, but I am glad you found the humor in all of this! It looks pretty, even with white lights ;) I am sure your kiddos love it anyway! AND I am so excited to see you on TV tomorrow!! Whoo! :)
I think it looks nice!!
thanks you guys! I like the "the white lights look like snow" concept. I'm going to roll with that! and I'll totally go on the 26th!!
Really a beautiful Christmas tree, I love your blog this Christmas very nice-
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Your tree looks amazing! <3 I love the huge letter ornaments! Gorgeous!
x
Lost in the Haze
haha...you make me laugh! I think it came out so good! But yes I agree with you, sometimes it's better to spend $$ on things that you know will last. My sis got one from Costco and it already came strung with lights and looks and feels so real! x
What a beautiful tree. Can't wait to decorate mine this weekend.
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I'm a freak about trees :-) but then again, we always do a real one... helps that we live in an area where they are abundant. :-) And the best part about the tree is that it's YOURS and your family's. Alone. Take lots of pictures and in a few years you will look back and giggle.
This is so funny :) Your tree still looks cute! For our first 2 Christmases living together, my boyfriend and I had this tiny like 2- or 3-foot tall tree that would always fall over, so we had to prop it up in a corner, and we had way too many ornaments for it too. We finally upgraded to a 4-foot artificial tree from Target (we don't have enough space to put up or store a full-size tree in our tiny apartment). I think when we have a house I want to try a real tree first. But if it's a pain we'll get a nice fake one. Thanks for writing about your adventure in Christmas tree shopping so I can learn from it, haha! :)
I have a quick fix for the lights!
Buy some wide sheer ribbon (A glittery silver or white looks best) Fold the ribbon in half and use a hot glue gun to glue the sides together... Now it's a long tube-like shape. Once the glue dries, you can pull the lights through and boom... lighted ribbon.
The ribbon is sheer enough to hide the white, but thin enough to let the colors of light shine through.
haha! If you still don't like it, you can go to Walgreens and get the Charlie Brown tree to put next to it. That will make it look awesome by comparison.
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