I love large Christmas trees – the bigger the better! But not everyone has the room or budget for them. They take a lot of space and are very expensive, seemingly more so every single year. Do you have an enormous amount of room available and a big budget, as well as a small army of men to cut, carry, and place the tree where you’d like it? Maybe you only aspire to a 6 or 7 foot tree, but that is a lot of work and money as well. Many of us need to be far more practical and go for a smaller Christmas tree. Fortunately there are lots of options available so read on.
A tabletop Christmas tree is a catch all term that means a smaller tree of any type regardless of whether it’s on a table top or not. It could be an eighteen inch bonsai tree that is festooned in the Christmas style, a potted topiary plant, or even a ceramic tree, but more often is some kind of pine tree as most natural trees are. Most smaller trees I ve seen are artificial and are reused year after year, but natural trees are common as well. They could be a smaller tree or the top cut off of a larger tree instead. A good quality artificial one will look so real that unless someone examines it extremely closely they will not be able to tell that it’s not real! They come in various styles imitating different trees like Monroe Pines, Aberdeen Pines, Mountain Firs, Alberta Pines and many others. The better ones have numerous variations in their colorings just like natural trees do. They’ll have everything except for the wonderful aroma and mess of falling needles.
Some artificial trees that don t remotely look natural are popular as well. They range from space age shiny aluminum trees, to red, blue, and other festive colors and styles. The silver or aluminum tree was introduced in the late 50s and became popular in the 60s, often with a rotating color wheel which alternately shined different colored lights on it creating a pretty neat effect. They are very popular once again and perfect for many people! Do you want a natural or natural looking tree? If not then one of these colored trees may be perfect for you.
We have a natural tree at home as well as a couple of tabletop ones. No way I could fit a full size one in my office, and the little one I m enjoy here right now is awesome! The natural tree is rather large, and a lot of work. From buying it, carting it home, getting it centered in the tree stand, watering and picking up needles daily, decorating, and finally disposing of the tree, it’s a lot of work. The artificial tabletop trees however are almost zero work at all. They setup quickly, take down quickly, can be reused for many many years, and are economical. Many of them even come predecorated and sometimes with fiber optic lights built in!