Make a Fake Christmas Tree Look and Smell Real

3 Parts:

Tree Setup is Key

Additional Tips and Suggestions

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For many people, a Christmas tree is the most iconic and important feature in their homes for the holidays. In most homes where Christmas is celebrated, the Christmas tree is the decorative focus. While some people will choose a real fir tree, spruce tree or pine tree to decorate year-after-year because it's a family tradition, others choose an artificial tree, for convenience, because of allergies or due to their commitment to the environment. While we're on the topic, according to David Suzuki, it's more environmentally friendly to get a real tree...just in case some of you feel guilty getting a real one. Artificial trees are getting more and more realistic looking, but if you have one that doesn't look as real as you'd like, there are ways to help it look genuine.

1. 1
   Find a realistic looking artificial tree

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   Ideally, you may want to select a tree that has short needles combined with longer needles. In nature, trees don't have needles all the same length, and the best artificial trees are those that don't focus on absolute perfection. Keep in mind, that larger trees will also look more realistic compared to smaller ones.

   

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2. 2
   Taking care during the setup

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   Make sure to arrange the branches in a way that gives the tree the fullest effect. This may take a while but is important if you really want your tree to have an authentic look.

   

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3. 3
   Camouflage isn't just for the army

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   The base of the tree needs to be either camouflaged look like a real tree trunk, or hidden well. Of course you can always do both.

   

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4. 4
   String the lights first

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   Always hang your choice of Christmas tree lights, whether tiny twinkling lights, or bigger traditional lights, before any other decorations. Try to stay on the outer most branches away from what would be the trunk on a real tree. The closer you place the lights to the trunk the higher the chance will be of accentuating what you are trying to conceal. Fake trees almost always have thinner 'tree trunks' than a natural tree would.

   

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5. 5
   Decorate your tree

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   You may want to ensure that any spaces or open areas are been hidden by ornaments. It may be a good idea to use some of the larger bulbs to hide these areas, and remember that you should not only be placing your ornaments on the ends of the branches, but hang them on the inside of the branches as well. This should help to further create an authentic looking tree by helping to conceal the tree trunk and make the tree look fuller than it is. Try to hang the larger ornaments near the bottom, and the smaller ones near the top.

   

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6. 6
   To achieve the fresh pine scent that people expect, you can use Christmas tree spray that is designed for artificial trees, light some pine scented candles, or find some pine diffusers and strategically place them in the room

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   If you want to get really creative, you can take some real pine cones and drop some evergreen essential oil onto them and hang them on your tree.

   

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• Hollow out a piece of a tree trunk and slip it over your fake tree's trunk before you attach it to the stand. This way if looking from a distance they'll assume it's a real tree when they don't see the typical thin wiry trunk of an artificial tree.
• Use a thick tree skirt to cover up the tree stand and as much of the base as possible.
• Wrap the tree base in newspaper, to make it larger, and then wrap a tree skirt around it.
• Print out a realistic looking picture of tree bark to place around the tree's base.
• The less lighting you add towards the base of the tree the less likely it'll be seen.
• Wrap your presents early, and place them under the tree - which will also work to hide the unrealistic looking trunk.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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