Is it really already Christmas tree time again!?! Man, is time flying by as I get older. Sounds so cliche', but so true. OK, well let's accept it and move on. The time has come to put up a tree.Again.
For those of us who are allergic, have family who are, or have animals that just love lapping up a real tree's water, it always seems slightly discouraging to find a really great tree to pop up in the corner of your apartment and decorate. Heck, some apartments won't even allow real trees. You could always go with one of the old trusty "fake-o-trees", but they just seems to be made of cheap plastic and don't seem to spread the holiday feeling and cheer that you're looking for. So, what can you do?
I'll tell you what you can do. Get creative and have fun with it. Be different and flashy! I've dug up a variety of different alternatives to the traditional tree and "fake-o-tree" that will not only put a fun twist on your apartment's Christmas theme, but also make you look like a creative guru as well.
Authentic Whoville Tree
Whether we know the whole story or not, we have all heard of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and the small town of Whoville. Dr. Seuss was known for the interesting, cartoony, and whimsical illustrated stories that have lasted from generation to generation. At about 2 feet tall, this tree which is modeled after the classic Seuss illustration, could feasibly be put either in a corner of your room or up on a counter with your gifts tucked underneath. So if you want a fantastical, original, and timeless Christmas theme, this may be the way to go. And on sale for $20...the price can't be beat.
The 7-Foot Upside-Down Pre-Lit Christmas Tree
Although, quite a bit more expensive than the Seuss tree, the 7-Foot Upside-Down Pre-Lit Christmas Tree from Hammacher Schlemmer can serve as another really neat option to Christmas Treeing your apartment. Inspired from the 12th Century tradition of hanging your tree from the ceiling this one comes fully decorated with lights, so less work will need to be done in putting it up. Another awesome benefit of this 54" tall piece of PVC, plastic, and wire comes from the fact that it's upside down conical structure lends itself to easily being used in an apartment with tight footspace. You can place it in between two arm chairs or in a corner that a normal tree would never have a chance to fit in and with its heavily weighted base, you will have no problem with it leaning or falling. This fancy tree is surely worth the money on it's creativity alone.
LED Ice Tree
Now this, is a really cool tree. The LED Ice Tree creates a cool blue glow with it's 200 replaceable LED lights in whatever room it's placed. The perfectly shaped and hinged transparent plastic branches allow the glowing light to resonate within the tree and create a wonderfully original visual effect. One of my favorite features of this tree is the fact that you can even place it outdoors, so it could piece of your elaborate porch-light decorating schematic. How sweet is that?
There are a vast variety of alternative trees out there for you to choose from, but these three are a few of the ones that really stood out as original to me. And none of them will create an allergic mess on your carpet or be hard to dispose of after the holidays. All you'll have to do is collapse them down and store them away.
