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Not Your Traditional Christmas Trees: 15 Trees That Will Make You Scratch Your Head

Not everyone has or wants the traditional tree that the term Christmas tree brings to mind. Check out some of these alternatives to the regular standard trees. They don’t all scream Christmas to me but they’re definitely different!

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This intellectual’s answer to the Christmas tree was created by Frank Visser of IJM.  Really cuts down on decorating costs and fuss.  Plus, there’s no giant box to store at the end of it all or even worse, a sadly decomposing tree.

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This Christmas tree created last year was dubbed the world’s most expensive Christmas tree.  It was created by Soo Kee Jewelery in Singapore and is worth over $1 million US dollars.  There were almost 22,000 diamonds on it totalling more than 900 carats.  It is truly a tree that looks like what it is worth — outrageous and gorgeous!

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This modernist take on a Christmas tree was displayed at a Snow Festival in Sapporo, Japan.  The huge branches look a little bare to me.  Definitely a minimalist’s Christmas tree.

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This is a picture of one of the biggest Christmas trees that I could find.  It is made up of 350 fake trees, each with decorations and lights.  These trees were then all placed together on a steel stand to make up this giant monstrosity over 60 feet tall!  All this to draw attention to a new company in China — promoting the Yellow Pages of all things.

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So this is what $12 can buy you… a 6 foot, blue LED and fibre optic tree!  The tree itself is transparent purple, of course.  This just does not say “Christmas” to me somehow…  It actually looks more like some strange underwater creature than a Christmas tree!

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This conceptual Christmas tree was found in Toronto, ON Canada.  It consists of large light balls that are lit up at night.  I guess it looks better and more like Christmas when it’s lit, as in the second picture.  It’s still different than anything I’ve ever seen before!

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Here’s the bachelor’s answer to Christmas — layers of empty beer bottles!  It actually looks surprisingly good considering what it’s made of.  If you start drinking now, there might still be time to get this done!

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This one is a spinning Christmas tree that changes colors as it goes.  I had to attach two photos to show some of the different colors that it goes through.  It is apparently very mesmerizing.  I can’t imagine how far it could shoot off ornaments though.

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Here’s another weird conceptual Christmas tree made out of different colours of plastic tubing.  It’s, um, well, unique.

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Instead of getting one of those weird upside down trees, why not just hang a regular tree from the ceiling?  You could use it instead of a light fixture in the stairwell.  I know this shot looks totally fake but apparently it isn’t.  The light switch actually turned the tree lights on and off.  Clever.

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Okay, this looks like one of the creepy trees in the forest that Snow White takes off into when she’s escaping from the Queen’s hench man who was sent to kill her.  It does not say Christmas in any way at all to me.  Maybe more like the Nightmare before Christmas.

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And this is definitely the weirdest tree that I would find!  I like how her bright red lipstick actually matches the red ornaments.  I wonder how long it took to wire up her hair like this and twist it all into shape…  Sorta cool though in an artsy way.

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  1. John McDonnell

    On December 5, 2008 at 7:10 am


    Wow, these are amazing. I thought I’d seen everything in the way of Christmas decorations, but I guess not. I like the bicycle tree and the one with plastic tubing the best. Good job!

  2. Jasin

    On December 5, 2008 at 9:34 am


    Great article, I loved the outside tree’s.

  3. Debra.

    On December 5, 2008 at 10:47 am


    Excellent article, Paula! Some of them were just so outrageous and others were remarkable! The work and skill they required! Well done again, Paula!

  4. Blue Buttefly

    On December 5, 2008 at 11:38 am


    Fabulous! I like the book on the shelves…lol easy to make hahaha.

  5. Will Gray

    On December 5, 2008 at 2:04 pm


    Crazy and cool. Great article and great pics!

  6. Joie Schmidt

    On December 5, 2008 at 6:41 pm


    I like the one from Canada the most – it’s so pretty!

    Blessings.

    Sincerely,

    -Liane Schmidt.

  7. Packyourbowls

    On December 5, 2008 at 6:58 pm


    Those blue glowing ones made me think of War of the Worlds.

  8. John Heiser

    On December 5, 2008 at 7:23 pm


    Name for Book…well…concept and trees, mostly great.

  9. Ruby Hawk

    On December 5, 2008 at 10:01 pm


    Your article is well written and your pictures are beautiful but I must say those Xmas trees are not my cup of tea. give me a green springy tree with all the bells and whistles. i am old fashioned and like the trees I know. Merry Xmas, Ruby

  10. sue mcverry

    On December 6, 2008 at 8:07 am


    What a great article. I loved it.

  11. Mark Bentley

    On December 6, 2008 at 9:11 am


    Wow, great trees! I love them. Now I want something interesting like that for our house.

    I think I have a friend at work who could do the beer tree.

  12. R J Evans

    On December 6, 2008 at 1:09 pm


    Love the beer bottles (but then I would!). This article makes me want to go out and be creative with my hands!

  13. SAC

    On December 6, 2008 at 3:27 pm


    i can make the beer bottle one in one day/..

  14. Nelson Doyle

    On December 6, 2008 at 10:25 pm


    My favorite is the bicycle tree. That must have took forever to build. Great article.

    God Bless,

    Nelson Doyle

  15. eddiego65

    On December 7, 2008 at 2:53 am


    Wow! Great but unique Christmas trees! Enjoyed the article. Thanks!

  16. James DeVere

    On December 8, 2008 at 9:25 pm


    The pictures are supurb. The upside down ones are very Salvador Dali.
    Thanks . j

  17. Mary Patricia Bird

    On December 12, 2008 at 8:22 pm


    Great! Now my daughter wants to drive down to Toronto and look for that Christmas tree of balls. It does look better lit up. We’re looking at the landmarks in the background… Hard Rock Cafe. But I told her we don’t even know what year this was and whether it’s there this year. Not worth the hour drive. LOL! Thanks for another great laugh.

  18. Catelin Hoover

    On December 15, 2008 at 10:51 pm


    Wow! Talk about hi-tech innovations. And I thought the toothpick tree I helped construct in 9th grade home ec (as a table center piece for a mother-daughter luncheon) was super.
    But that was too far back, it seems like antiquity! Paula these pictures are great…enjoyed seeing all the innovations, and reading your comments. Yeah, that blue tree does remind me too of the haunted forest Snow White ran through.
    Thanks for a very entertaining article. Catelin

  19. Rookie Expert

    On November 13, 2009 at 2:13 am


    Dunno if the bicycle sculpture tree was made with that message in mind, but i do like it! The spinning tree is my fav from the lot.

  20. roger

    On September 22, 2010 at 2:56 pm


    A lot of these trees (or “trees”) are really very cool. I know that the title of the article implies that the trees will be, um, interesting, but it sucks that the writer seems, himself, so stuck in what is traditional that he can’t appreciate the fun and funky nature of the trees. Odd that he needed to dis most of them. Get out of your hole or box or wherever you’re stuck. My favorite is the bookshelf tree.

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