I have a confession to make — I’ve always faked it. Doesn’t matter if it’s a big one, small one, fat one, bushy one — it’s always been fake. The real thing just doesn’t do it for me. I’m talking about Christmas trees of course!
It’s true, growing up my family always had a fake tree. And since that memorable childhood I’ve always wondered why people chop down a perfectly good spruce tree to decorate, only to toss to the curb with the rest of Christmas past.
Yes, I understand there are tree farms whose sole purpose is to nurture and grow said spruce trees, only to hack them down to make $50 seven or eight years later. It pays their bills, I get it.
To be fair, the same argument can be made for fake trees. Mother earth is raped for her precious petroleum, which in turn is made into various things, one being Christmas trees. Last year in Vancouver we wanted to have a little Christmas spirit in the house. So we snagged a two ft. minimalist Christmas tree from a dollar store. It was “Made in China”, which does keep the Chinese employed and, in turn, keeps Vancouver’s real estate market red-hot. It did make us feel a little guilty for supporting the plastic system, though.
If you prefer a fake tree you’re using plastic, which is bad. If you prefer a real tree, you’re supporting tree murderers and the wasting of precious resources like water (and negating the carbon dioxide absorbing effects that those cut trees were providing).
So what’s a family to do? Here are a few options…
NO TREE!
What? That’s blasphemy! Jesus and Santa wouldn’t have any of that. There must be a tree for Christmas!!!! Okay, okay, you win, have a tree. But instead of a plastic or murdered tree, how about…
How About a Rosemary Tree?
This year is no different for us in that we’d like to have a bit of Christmas spirit in the house, but we’re not going to go out and get either a real or fake Christmas tree. We’re going multi-purpose this year!
Rosemary trees are the PERFECT minimalist Christmas tree. They’re a rosemary shrub shaped as a mini Christmas tree and they stand about 2 feet high. You can find a small strand of lights if you want to so you can light it up, too. But the best part is when you’re done using it as your minimalist Christmas tree, you can dry out the rosemary and use it for cooking! I like rosemary and red wine marinated lamb myself. And if you’re worried about the size of the tree being too small, don’t worry, every woman I know insists that size doesn’t matter!
But I’m allergic to Rosemary…
Okay, never heard of that allergy but let’s go with it. If you don’t want Rosemary (or her baby) in your house, why not decorate one of your indoor trees/plants, like a Benjamina, or a cactus like this one from Sugar and Cloth, or an indoor palm tree you might be caring for. String up some light lights around the trunk (wow, no wonder English is so hard to learn) and away you go!
But my house doesn’t get much sun, so we don’t have any plants 🙁
Wow, that sucks. Plants are awesome. Okay, you don’t have plants, you don’t want a fake tree, you couldn’t live with yourself for having a real tree murdered for your own temporary enjoyment, and you don’t want Rosemary (or her baby) in your house. What’s Plan E, you ask?
What about making something out of scrap wood? I’m know Pinterest has a few ideas (I’m just too lazy to find and post them). They do exist though. In fact, my sister made me a decorative tree many years ago that was just that – a decoration to enjoy along with our existing Christmas tree. But there’s no reason we couldn’t have used that alone as our minimalist Christmas tree. Okay, I just got un-lazy, here’s an amazing minimalist Christmas Tree for you, courtesy A Pair and Spare DIY.
If you’re still stuck after all these minimalist Christmas tree suggestions, well, I’m afraid I can’t help you, and you’re probably on Santa’s naughty list anyway and are likely to just get a lump of coal in your minimalist stocking. But if one of these minimalist Christmas tree ideas was right up your alley, then it’s now time to explore some ideas for minimalist Christmas gifts!
Now go sell all your stuff and find your version of a minimalist Christmas tree!
