I typically go to the beat of my own drum, but I’ve been a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas trees. Every year, I either get over to Home Depot, a tree lot or do the fundraiser for the high school. All the while, I complain about the time, effort, cost, and the latest compromise on the tree shape, but always sticking to a real tree.
For whatever reason, this year I decided to look into an artificial tree. After reading the reviews, seeing the pictures and the reasonable cost, my wife and I decided to do it. We went with the National Tree 7.5′ Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir Tree. At under $250, the payback is just over two years versus real trees. Just like the 4.5 star reviews stated, it’s beautiful and looks so real. The “Feel Real” part is the last 6 inches or so of the branches that are made of a material that is very realistic. The shinier acrylic material that we associate with artificial Christmas trees is reserved for the inside which is not as visible.
The set up was a breeze. The National Tree 7.5′ Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir Tree comes in 3 sections, a base, a middle and the top. The base and the middle have branches that hinge down. You have to “fluff” the twigs and smaller branches. This means you separate them from the main branches and fluff them out. This creates the fill and makes the tree more realistic as the branches and twigs will look more random. This process took about an hour and a half. I assume it won’t take as long in future years. For being such a traditionalist, I’m jazzed about how the tree looks. And, although I did it last minute again this year, I expect that I’ll get the tree out earlier in future years as I don’t have to plan that trip to the lot that I put off to the last minute. The tree will get taken apart and stored in the box it came in.
Tonight, my twin boys helped me decorate it. One thing I noticed was that there were fewer dropped and broken ornaments since the branches are a little firmer than a natural tree so they hold the ornaments better. The tree looks just as beautiful as the many natural trees we’ve bought over the years. My smart a** teenager did ask, “where’s the pine smell?” We do need to address that. My wife will be out tomorrow to get that pine scent spray to complete the picture.
BUY NOW: National Tree 7.5′ Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir Tree
