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Thursday, December 23, 2010

My Craigslist Tree AKA Our Grinchy Tree

I would be sad and remiss if the holiday season passed without me showing and telling the story of Our New Christmas Tree.

So here it goes.

For the past 13 years we have always had a real Christmas tree.  We have done pre-cut, but most of the time we have gone to a tree lot and chopped down one ourselves.  We live in the Northwest--and the live trees are just beautiful around here.

But for the last few years our live trees have given me nothing but trouble.  And lots and lots of this:

And we didn't even get our tree early.  Usually we put up our tree around the 10th of December and take it down a day or two after Christmas!!

But still--by the time it is Christmas--the tree is just a dried up twig just barely holding on to its little needles--and if you bump the tree in the slightest or even walk by the tree and create a slight breeze--all the needles come tumbling down!

Now before everybody tells me WHY my trees are dieing--let me just tell you that we have tried EVERYTHING to keep it alive.  We chop it down ourselves--and re cut the bottom when we get home to make sure it will soak up water.  We water it and make sure that it is well hydrated.  We have tried the sprite/sugar water concoction.  We have tried it without the sprite/sugar water concoction. 

Our trees never used to do this--but lately we just couldn't catch a break!  It has been really frustrating!  So last year after I single handedly took down Christmas at our house and had to haul the blasted tree into the back yard--and nearly got pine needle poisoning because of all the pine needles that got stuck into me--I decided enough was enough!

I searched on craigslist and found this tree:
(And the picture just doesn't do it justice--I think it is one of the most beautiful fake guys that I have seen)


It was fully decorated with a billion lights and ornaments--and the lady selling it was asking ONLY $30 but I had to take the whole thing--lights, ornaments and all.

So I asked my friend Tiffany to take me in her truck to go pick it up that night.

So there we are in the pitch black of night, literally stuffing the fully decorated tree into the back of her pickup.  It was Hilarious!!  We felt like the Grinch that stole Christmas--stuffing a fully decorated tree into our getaway sleigh while the rest of Whoville slept!

Then the gal started taking down all her other lights and decorations around her house and handing them to us to take as well.  We made out with several more strands of lights, a few more ornaments, and a blow up Santa for my front yard.  She just wanted to be done with Christmas for the year and not have to put anything away or store it for another year. 

But it seriously felt like we had taken her Last can of Who-Hash as we drove off loaded to the brim with our tailgate scraping the road.

So this year--we put up our new Grinchy Fake Tree--and are LOVING IT!!!


Not only is it beautiful--but it is PINE NEEDLE FREE!!!

No more Pine Needle Poisoning for me!

6 comments:

  1. Sharon, I so hear ya. We did the annual trek to our local woods/ tree farms and did the whole victorian Xmas deal complete with hot chocolates etc....the needles got to me too about 3 years ago. I love my Grinch tree but I did not get as good a deal as you! Merry Xmas Cindy-Lou.

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  2. OH YES, I do remember our Grinch get away night. It was night time too, and we parked in the back alley and loaded that puppy right up! It did seem a bit too good to be true, so I think we were hurrying a little bit more than needed! Thanks for the memories!

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  3. I used to be snobby about fake trees, but everyone in Illinois has them. I miss the smell of the real ones, but the fake are so much cheaper in the long run and so much less work. Yours looks awesome!! Way better than what you could buy at the store for $30 and I bet those ornaments would cost a ton!

    P.S. We're sorry about Tim's dad. That's really sad. I hope their family and Tim's mom are doing ok.

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  4. That tree is amazing! I've never seen one that full. You got a great deal! We had real trees when I was little then we found out the reason I was sick every Christmas was that I was allergic to them. Sounds like they are too much trouble anyway.

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  5. $30???? That's crazy!! I love your tree, it's looking beautiful. We have been back and forth on getting an artificial and as I sit here looking at our real (fire hazard) one, I'm realizing that artificial is the way to go. Maybe I'll find a deal on Craig's List or at Walmart after the holidays sale? Crossing my fingers I find a deal half as good as yours.

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  6. I think I'm going to make Neil read this post and see if it will influence him at all. I am constantly picking pine needles off the carpet, the couch, my kitchen chairs, my children, the stairs, the bottom of my socks, and even my bathroom floor. I married Mr. Christmas so I don't think there's an end in sight for me. I'm so happy for you, enjoy it enough for the both of us! :)

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Thank you for your comments!