The Christmas Tree Experience

Welcome to this week’s post in A Love For Bargain Shopping.  Every week I will take you through my thrifty adventures.

This past weekend, my husband and I took our thrifty experiences to the extreme. Luke and I traveled to Rockford to find our first Christmas tree along with our friend Peter.

Now, Luke’s friend, John, has parents that live out there and last year they let him chop down a tree on their property for free. The tricky part is these trees are 30 feet tall, so to obtain a free tree the guys must climb halfway up one and chop the top off. It makes for a unique experience and interesting looking Christmas tree.

Unfortunately, this year his parents wouldn’t be at the house when we were. Last year our friend’s dad chopped the tree down for them, he seemed to have a lot of experience because he made it look effortless. So, Luke and Peter had to climb the tree to chop it down.

We searched through their property for awhile to find the tree tops that looked the most appealing, and were the easiest to get to.

To say the least, I was a bit worried as I stood and watched my husband saw off the top of the tree with one hand while hanging on to the tree with the other.

(I wish I could have gotten pictures. I forgot my camera in the car).

After the tree was cut and fell to the ground, he slid down the tree trunk like a fireman’s pole. I couldn’t help but laugh a little. I felt a little bad though because the branches did scrap him a bit.

I wouldn’t recommend obtaining a Christmas tree this way. However, if you know someone that owns property and is willing to give away pine trees for free or very little, you should try it out. Or research different places that sell Christmas trees and find the best price.

Luke and Peter with their Christmas trees.

This thrifty adventure wasn’t over. On the way to Rockford I had spotted a Goodwill and had asked Luke if we could stop in on the way back.

I’m glad we did because I found a ceramic nativity set for $4. Just perfect to set on the mantle top.

A nativity set works perfect for us because our religion is Christianity. However, Goodwill also had many other decorations you could put on your mantle, depending on how you celebrate. They had Hanukkah menorahs, cute ceramic houses/towns that light up when you put candles under them, Santa clause figurines and many others. I am sure they have Kwanza decorations too.

Now that all our decorations are in place, here’s what our living room looks like.

How do you decorate for Christmas? 

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