What are your Christmas hacks?

[HNL2LHC]

Just spent the day with the family picking out the tree and decorating this weekend. Once all finished the wife asked me did i install the filler tube. So I went down the the tool shed and pulled out my trusty water level and a funnel. 5 minutes later we were done filling the tree. I leave the hose and just pull the funnel until water needs to be added. What have you all done in the past?

 

[BingerFang]

Bah Humbug.

 

[sintax]

haha i do a similar thing with a transmission funnel

 

[02HoWaRd26]

We don’t water ours, doesn’t smell as nice but also stays pretty year after year!

 

[RitcheyRch]

Artificial trees require no water.

 

[Taboma]

We don’t water ours, doesn’t smell as nice but also stays pretty year after year!

Best investment ever, plus no more watering worries when we take off for the lake.

 

[SKIDMARC]

Got a fake one last year. I was against it but I must admit way easier that the real one. Plus got a 3 year warranty. I'm sure it will break before that it up.

 

[mobldj]

we got the big fake fkr from costco.easy peasy in 5 sections.almost to tall.lol

 

[BHC Vic]

I bought a tube with a funnel last year when I bought me tree. My kids beat the shit out of each other with it year round. Great tool

 

[EmpirE231]

Have had a fake tree for 10+ years... hack #1 lol

Been paying someone to put up my lights for the last 3 years... hack #2

 

[samsah33]

My best hack was getting married, so now she buys all the shit for my side of the family as well.

 

[LHC Kirby]

Fake tree ☑

Drink in hand by 09:00 ☑ (Christmas day) (Can't drink all day unless you start in the morning)

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Tried to keep the ornaments on the fake tree when I put it away my first year living on my own. That particular hack failed lol.

 

[QC22]

Xmas trees at CostCo are $35. Easily 7'. You don't get to look at them un-string wrapped. A Covid thing I think. I'll let you know if I wasted $35 when the wife gets home...

 

[Terminal Velocity]

If i ever build a new house, i'm asking where the wife will want the Xmas tree. The hack will be a secret compartment in the wall, open it and that Fkr slides out and is DONE, Xmas over, open it slide it back in DONE!

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Damn..... what a bunch of scrooges in here. Real tree or no tree for me. My grandma had a plastic one. I HATED it. I've only seen a couple that look ok but they are pretty darn expensive, plus the smell of a Christmas tree is Christmas itself.

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[caribbean20]

I’m not a sophisticate, I just crawl under the tree with a jug of water every day or two.

I DO, however, pay to have the lights strung around my humble abode. No climbing on roofs for me. Trees I’m fine with.

 

[Havasu blue label]

Lights are done tree shopping

 

[jeteater1]

Only lights were putting up this year.

 

[Bear Down]

I save a 2 litter Bottle and use that to refill our tree. Fills it up to the top every time and no blowback when pouring.. easy..

 

[Dan Lorenze]

Xmas trees at CostCo are $35. Easily 7'. You don't get to look at them un-string wrapped. A Covid thing I think. I'll let you know if I wasted $35 when the wife gets home...

Costco is my place too.. They get truck loads of fresh trees all the time. I don't even unwrap it to check it out, just load it up and go.

 

[lakemadness]

My best hack was getting married, so now she buys all the shit for my side of the family as well.

so true.

 

[Go-Fly]

I water with an IV. Tree will take about 2 gallons a day. I've had trees start growing buds on the ends of the branches inside the warm house.

X-Mas Tree Watering The Go-Fly Way

For the last twenty years I have watered my X-Mas tree with an IV. This year my wife wanted a Douglas Fir. They have a small trunk but it will still work. I start out by making a surface cut of 1.5" that the IV will seat into. Then I drill a .625" hole all the way through and out the other...

www.riverdavesplace.com

 

[LowRiver2]

My hack is my neighbor/ off road buddy is high up at a major Xmas tree importer: 13’ fresh tree gets delivered, set up and taken down , away by his crew every year. One less holiday chore is nice

 

[Jed-O]

I leave my lights up on the eaves year round...

 

[SHEP]

Xmas trees at CostCo are $35. Easily 7'. You don't get to look at them un-string wrapped. A Covid thing I think. I'll let you know if I wasted $35 when the wife gets home...

My family has had this as a tradition for 15+ years. We'd go get the tree from a lot, Home Depot, Costco, etc. and not unwrap it. The only thing that was determined was the height and health of the tree. Once we got up we'd unwrap it and whatever it looked like we dealt with. Some good ones and some bad ones over the years but sure makes tree shopping easy which is why I think my Dad started it.

 

[Cole Trickle]

screw in hooks under the fascia boards for lights...First year sucked but after that makes hanging and removing a breeze.

We have a pretty good program and the wife and i can go pretty griswald in a short time inside/out.

First year with a fake tree and I think the wife is sold...lol

 

[calkid]

Not done with it yet, I let the grandkids go nuts decorating it. Doesn't have that Christmas smell but the wife has candles for that.

 

[RaceTec]

No family = No Tree, No Decorating... I offered to go out to my mom's shop to help her decorate but she said not to worry about it, she has it covered. One year she had an old digger chassis on the roof with Santa driving, she goes crazy!

 

[HNL2LHC]

Not done with it yet, I let the grandkids go nuts decorating it. Doesn't have that Christmas smell but the wife has candles for that. View attachment 947995
[/QUOTE]


That is awesome!!! I hope that you have an Elf on the Shelf up there some where.

 

[LowRiver2]

So here is the 2020 tree: not a bad trade for letting my buddy borrow my utility trailer twice a year, lol.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

View attachment 948515
So here is the 2020 tree: not a bad trade for letting my buddy borrow my utility trailer twice a year, lol.

Imagine what RD could get if he actually lent his out.... lol!

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[Flying_Lavey]

My family has had this as a tradition for 15+ years. We'd go get the tree from a lot, Home Depot, Costco, etc. and not unwrap it. The only thing that was determined was the height and health of the tree. Once we got up we'd unwrap it and whatever it looked like we dealt with. Some good ones and some bad ones over the years but sure makes tree shopping easy which is why I think my Dad started it.

I worked at a tree lot for a few years in high school and learned pretty well how to read the shape and fullness of a wrapped tree without ever undoing it. Still got a pretty good knack for it too.

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[Angler]

Some of you guys work way too hard.. Hack #1
Awe, the great smell of pine..

 

[CLdrinker]

Damn..... what a bunch of scrooges in here. Real tree or no tree for me. My grandma had a plastic one. I HATED it. I've only seen a couple that look ok but they are pretty darn expensive, plus the smell of a Christmas tree is Christmas itself.

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They make candles for that lol

 

[LowRiver2]

Damn..... what a bunch of scrooges in here. Real tree or no tree for me. My grandma had a plastic one. I HATED it. I've only seen a couple that look ok but they are pretty darn expensive, plus the smell of a Christmas tree is Christmas itself.

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My buddy the Xmas tree biz guy says based on their intel, over half the customers in so cal that buy fake trees switch back to real ones in four year His company doesn’t supply Costco as people can return trees after Xmas and his co. Takes a hit on the return. I’d be first to roll eyes at anyone returning a tree but not surprised.
He said the competition (various) will take on the Costco contract then realize it’s not worth it in the end with the return loss.

They do supply Home Depot.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

My buddy the Xmas tree biz guy says based on their intel, over half the customers in so cal that buy fake trees switch back to real ones in four year His company doesn’t supply Costco as people can return trees after Xmas and his co. Takes a hit on the return. I’d be first to roll eyes at anyone returning a tree but not surprised.
He said the competition (various) will take on the Costco contract then realize it’s not worth it in the end with the return loss.

They do supply Home Depot.

We would always get our tree from Home Depot when we lived in California. Always good trees, good prices, and the one in Atascadero had a pretty nice little set-up with stuff for the kids and everything.

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[Javajoe]

Hack is to buy all led everything and put them all on one circuit and a remote so...click on / get in bed...click off

 

[calkid]

Not done with it yet, I let the grandkids go nuts decorating it. Doesn't have that Christmas smell but the wife has candles for that. View attachment 947995

"Tree" progress. We never know what the grandkids are going to do. The wife is going to take them shopping for stuff that they want for it. I just sit back and watch with a cocktail and enjoy their enthusiasm. We'll see how carried away they get.

 

[RiverDave]

Fake trees are for assholes.. yeah I said it.

kinda dissatisfied that go fly has some way of watering via an IV treatment. That was gonna be my invention this year. Lol. (Seriously his is different though)

 

[mash on it]

Christmas hack? Hmmm.
Getting a live tree.
Not a fucking cut down tree.
Planting it in the yard in January.
First one was planted in '10 or '11, about 20' tall this year. 5 in the ground. One didn't make it.
Shade for years to come.

Dan'l

 

[havasuhusker]

I worked at a tree lot for a few years in high school and learned pretty well how to read the shape and fullness of a wrapped tree without ever undoing it. Still got a pretty good knack for it too.

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Please share. I have to unwrapped a decent amount until the wife finds just the right one! Sometimes this can be a painstaking process.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

My best Christmas hack is to Sous Vide the prime rib first the day before, one less thing to worry about for christmas dinner prep. Do the long cook day before, ice bath to rapidly chill, then on the day of the meal, set oven to 450+ for an hour at most, get the sear and texture on the outside and done. Better than baby sitting it all day while chasing nephews around or putting shit together or arguing with my parents, etc, etc.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Please share. I have to unwrapped a decent amount until the wife finds just the right one! Sometimes this can be a painstaking process.

Its more of a feel type of thing but look for the smoothest shape vertically. The wavier the sides are, the more bare spots there will be in the tree. Then obviously the bushier wide the wrap is the bushier they are. Also, squeeze the tree a little bit all the way up. Sometime there can be 1 or 2 branches that are larger that will hide a barespot from creating that wave like pattern that indicates a hole.

 

[havasuhusker]

Its more of a feel type of thing but look for the smoothest shape vertically. The wavier the sides are, the more bare spots there will be in the tree. Then obviously the bushier wide the wrap is the bushier they are. Also, squeeze the tree a little bit all the way up. Sometime there can be 1 or 2 branches that are larger that will hide a barespot from creating that wave like pattern that indicates a hole.

Thanks, I'll remember this and give it a try.

 

[Flynryan]

 

[Flynryan]

our tree this year