My CCC Christmas Tree

Tim Walker - Vogue U.K.

Before artificial Christmas trees became popular and realistic looking, I of course always got a fresh cut Christmas tree. The garden center I bought my trees from in Alexandria, Virginia interestingly carried Noble Fir trees although they are from the Pacific Northwest. I was drawn to their very architectural look with lots of space for ornaments. I got Noble Firs for many years.

Noble Fir

I was in the market for a new artificial Christmas tree this year and looked in person at lots of trees at lots of places. All the Christmas trees I found were very generic and frankly seriously ugly. Then I read a review in Architectural Digest on The Best Artificial Christmas Trees of 2022. Their first pick was the Noble Fir by Terrain.

"Terrain’s design team modeled this cutie after a real specimen in the woods, so you know it’s going to look more natural than any other artificial Christmas tree. Call them spindly, twiggy, or even occasionally scraggly—but we think some of the most charming artificial Christmas trees are these nearly bare Noble fir beauties."

Terrain's Noble Fir

 

To make a long story short, I ended up buying this unlit 8' one from Grandin Road shown below (no longer in stock). The Grandin Road version reminded me more of a real Noble Fir. Both the Terrain and Grandin Road have sold out.

I wanted a tree that is unique, looks real, has space between branches to show off my beautiful ornaments, would not block my gorgeous view, comes unlit, that I could easily put up myself, and that I could hang ornaments and put the tree topper on without hanging off of tall ladders. This checked every single box. Bingo!

I prefer doing my own lights for several reasons.

Most trees come with LED lights and I prefer the warmth of incandescent.

I can put on as many lights as I want. Most prelit trees do not have enough IMHO.

Tip - I use 100 light strands as opposed to strands with 200 or 300 lights. If a strand goes out, it is much easier to remove and replace a short strand.

I find that with artificial trees, the lights are the first things to go bad.

The Grandin Road tree below unlit and undecorated.

Grandin Road Noble Fir

I spent a couple of months finding ornaments online - a combination of chinoiserie, seashells, and sea creatures. I really had fun hunting them all down. I had purchased the fabulous gold glitter coral tree topper from Pottery Barn last year at the end of the season.

Here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC