Nor does it have to be perfect, even when it is a pine or a fir... Where we live now, in the Idaho forest, we have lots of trees that need to be cut (i.e., the forest around us needs thinning for greater fire safety). We look for a tree that’s crowding others... Maybe only the top several feet of a tall tree will make its way into our home in December - that works fine! And we’ve done the other trees some good by removing their sun/nutrient competition.

In our earlier days, when we bought five acres in the woods in redwood country, we moved there in early December after many months of negotiating. All we remembered was that there were lots of firs as well as redwoods - so we were excited at the prospect of being able to cut our own Christmas tree! ...When we got around to actually searching it out - it didn’t exist! All of the firs were either tiny or enormous. We ended up wiring three several-foot redwood sprouts (they grow like weeds from old stumps) together to form our "tree". ...It was pretty! (Though I do far prefer a tree that will showcase ornaments rather than camouflage them.)
  

Non-traditional "Christmas tree" ideas...

• For some people, a bundle of branches will do - if they can be made to stay upright, anyway.

• Just a selection of evergreen boughs wired together in a spray might suffice, though, if you aren’t too attached to the idea of an upright tree. It could hang on the wall or across a corner of the room; it could even be suspended from the ceiling and allowed to twirl!

• And why not simply a branch? Friends of ours (with allergy and room problems) use a beautiful dried, twisted branch to hang ornaments from. (There’s plenty of green for them to see outside.) Angle a focal branch across the corner of a room, or above the mantel, or even over a window so that its decorations and lights can be seen from outside.

• Many people prefer to bring small live trees indoors to serve as their Christmas trees. Some use the same potted one every year - others buy a new one each year and then plant it! (or give it away to someone else to enjoy, planted or not). (A tip: If you’re going to use a live tree indoors, keep it inside no longer than 3 weeks so it doesn’t acclimate itself to being in a different atmosphere. A tree can be kept in a cool garage with only a little light until it can be planted in Spring.)

• There are, of course, many evergreen trees that aren’t pines and firs... (And it does seem a little strange to think of traditional northern Christmas trees being sold to people in the tropics - ! Surely there are some lovely palm frond confections devised at Christmastime, for instance.) Some people simply decorate a houseplant; or, again, purchase a plant that they want to add to their landscaping anyway, and use it for the nonce as the Christmas focal point.

• No matter what cut green tree might be brought indoors, some people wish to make it appear snowed-on... See the Recipes/Ideas section for "Christmas Tree Snow" you can make. (I don’t know, snow-flocked palm fronds sounds pretty fun, actually.)

• Allergic to trees? …You could set up a floor-to-ceiling, size-graded pile of red-wrapped and beribboned boxes - and poke holes into the sides at random for hangers, if you’d like to decorate it with ornaments.

• How about a wall hanging tree? - a fabric tree stitched onto (or woven into?) a fabric background rectangle that hangs on the wall... ornaments hanging from the tree.

  
Then there are any number of different types of table trees...

• Pine cones glued into a pyramid (perhaps in graduated sizes from bottom to top) might do for a tree - especially if you aren’t an ornament collector.

• Wooden dowels glued into a larger dowel "trunk" (set into a square of wood as a base) can make a simple table tree that will show off ornaments very well. You can angle the holes you drill into the "trunk" and spread the "branches" around to emulate a real tree... Or perhaps you’d prefer the Scandinavian-flavored version that’s more stylized - just graduated lengths of dowels sticking out uniformly on both sides in a single plane (which fits nicely at the back of a table, if you’re trying to save room).

• 20 or 30 "trouble dolls" (or other tiny human or animal forms - Christmas ornaments?) can be spaced apart on a flat pyramid frame or conical tree frame or form.

• If you can find some dried Indian corn ears that are long enough (some to be at least 10-12 inches), you can fairly easily make a beautiful and unusual table tree in some glorious colors... See "Indian Corn Tree" in Instructions.

• How about a Crocheted Christmas tree? See Instructions.
    

I can’t leave the subject of Christmas trees without mentioning theme trees... Though in a potpourri of ornaments there’s fun in discovery, a motif is a delight too.

Some families like to have a kid tree and an adult tree. I know a couple of people who set up many Christmas trees in their houses! This certainly leads into the ideas of thematic differences - though the themes might change from year to year rather than from room to room (or tree to tree in one room - these people have big living rooms).

Since I have a large collection of Christmas ornaments, I’ve got to select from them for the tree each year. I’ve had critter trees, bird trees, nature trees (leaves, shells, flowers, icicles, etc.), woodland trees, people trees (including dolls), childhood trees (toys, storybook characters, and the like), and a celestial tree (angels, stars, planets, etc.).

Some people simply choose their ornaments to match a theme or color-scheme and stick with that - Victorian, folk art, a kitchen tree hung with prized teacups, a family memory tree (with souvenirs, photos, kid-made ornaments, etc.), or just maroon to go with their decor... Anything that gives pleasure is worth considering, after all!

(My favorite part of the tree, though, when it comes down to it, is the little white lights - especially when all the other lights of the house are out. To me, a Christmas tree makes the loveliest nightlight in the world!)