A Real Tree

A real tree. 

It's been over twenty years since we've had a real Christmas tree. Once we switched over to an artificial one it became much easier to just drag it out of the closet each year. However, this year after spending a month purging our home, the thought of storing another tree didn't sit well with us. 

One of the drawbacks of a real tree is the fact that it can dry out easily, and end up being a pine needle mess as well as a fire hazard. So when the decision was made to get a real tree this year we knew we wanted to get the freshest one possible. 

With a little research we located a local Christmas tree farm, and took off on our adventure. After we arrived we picked out the perfect tree, and my husband cut it down. As we waited for our tree to be bagged we sipped on some complimentary hot chocolate, and watched the children visit with Santa. It was a fun afternoon. 

When we returned home we were quite pleased at how pretty the tree looked. My husband assured me that the pine smell was quite pleasant as my olfactory senses are somewhat challenged. 

To keep with the naturalness of the tree we decided to decorate it with some homemade ornaments. We plan on stringing cranberry and popcorn garland, making cinnamon and applesauce ornaments, and hanging candy canes as well. 

The good thing about a real tree is that it can be mulched for future use so nothing goes to waste. I think we might have started a new Christmas tradition around here.