Comments on: An Alternate Christmas Tree

By: Keith

Keith — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:54:32 +0000

A bit late finding this for this year, but will use it next Christmas. We went treeless this year due to the urban sprawl of the wife’s miniature Christmas city.

If you cut the base round and set it on a table while you strung the lights you could remove the table to create a hanger that would tighten the strings of wire. This would give clearance for presents under the tree. I would suggest screwing the hooks horizontally into the base edge to gain strength. One could even coarsely serrate the base edge to add some depth to the lights by attaching them at both points and valleys..

By: Jody

Jody — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:11:02 +0000

We do something similar every year. So far, we have decorated: our ladder, a wheelbarrow, a large patio umbrella (folded up to resemble a tree), etc. Our neighbors grow bamboo…so this year, our Christmas tree is a decorated tee-pee made out of dried bamboo. My 3-year old son helped with the construction (zip-ties) and decoration. He camps out in the middle with the Christmas lights on and checks out the ornaments.

By: AJ

AJ — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:23:26 +0000

Thanks everyone for the plaudits.

Julian, I did originally want to use a large, heavy metal ring for the base… except where do you find one?

A friend did suggest a Hula Hoop. I’ll quote him verbatim…

“Maybe just buy a Hula Hoop – I suspect that’s around the diameter you’re looking for? Or make one with thicker plastic irrigation tubing and fill it with sand, if you’re concerned about it needing to have more weight. If you didn’t glue it up you could take it apart again and empty it out for more convenient storage. I actually found a site that tells you how to make your own Hula Hoops.”
http://www.jasonunbound.com/hoops.html

I could go with a sand-filled hoop (it does need to be weighted so the light cords remain taut). It would sully one neat aspect of storage though… I theoretically can unhook the ceiling hoop, lay everything on the board, slide it under a bed, then open it up ready-to-go next year.

By: Diana (Ladybug Limited)

Diana (Ladybug Limited) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:53:57 +0000

Awesome– and fairly baby proof in terms of no precious heirloom ornaments…

I’m glad we’re lucky enough to have an insecticide-free tree farm close by :)

By: Julian Devlin

Julian Devlin — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:51:15 +0000

Looks good – except for the base. How about a hula-hoop for the base, a little less obtrusive. Or maybe a wreath, so you would have just a hint of greens…

By: PsychMamma

PsychMamma — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:40:51 +0000

I love it! And thanks for the heads up about lead in lights. I had no idea.

By: PAUL

PAUL — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:50:36 +0000

Cool! Reminds me of those drawings we used to make connecting lines on an X and Y axis and then coloring in the funky checkerboard shapes – any chance the missus would let you screw a second hook into the wall and maybe a third into another wall, allowing you to experiment with a myriad of creative shapes?

By: Hope

Hope — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:33:10 +0000

I love it!
I dont have a tree this year, because the thought of ornaments with a one and two year old made me shudder, but plan on getting one next year.
When I was a kid, we always bought live trees, about 3 feet tall, from the nursery. They stayed inside all winter and we planted them in the spring, in a crazy uneven line. The trees are all still there on my parents farm.
Not sure how well this would work in the city…