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Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Adding Evergreen Fragrance When Using Artificial Trees and Greenery

I love using an artificial Christmas tree. They don't need watering nor do they drop needles, and they can be exceptionally economical. We've used our tree for so many years that each year is now averaging about $9.50 from the original purchase price. That's a bargain compared to the cost of freshly-cut trees. The one drawback to an artificial tree is the lack of evergreen scent.



To address that issue, I use these oil-infused wooden sticks, designed to hang from the tree branches. However, I get the most bang for my buck in the scent department not by hanging the sticks from the branches of our tree, but by placing one or two of the sticks on the heat vent cover in the room where we place the tree. Two sticks really fill a large room with fragrance, while one stick is good for smaller rooms.



When the oil has mostly dissipated, the sticks begin to look a bit dried out. And if left on the heat vent for most of the year, as has been known to happen in my home, the color also fades. When not in use, I keep the leftover sticks in the plastic vial that they were originally packaged. 

The brand that I prefer is Scentsicles. You can buy them on Amazon, of course, but you'll get a much, much better price at a place like Michael's using a coupon or when on sale. (Michael's currently has them on sale for $4.99, compared to Amazon's price of $7.99.) Each tube has 6 sticks and comes packaged with small wire tree hangers. I bought 2 tubes five years ago, thinking I would need a lot of them in my house. I am certain that I could have bought just 1 tube and had enough scent for all of the rooms that I may want for my house. 

The sticks just keep on delivering fragrance. I've used some of these for 5 years. The faded and least fragrant of the sticks are used on the heat vents in the smallest rooms, such as the guest bathroom and the entry hall. I save the newer ones for the room where we set up our tree or use other faux greenery.

I originally paid about $4 for each vial, or $8 total. I expect the vials will last at least another 3 years, yielding a per year cost of about $1. When added to our annual cost for our artificial Christmas tree, it's roughly $10.50 per year for our tree and its added scent. This figure will continue to come down with additional years of use. 

8 comments:

  1. I have been disappointed with real trees. Some we have bought started to wilt after a week at home and eventually the ornaments began to slide off. After Christmas one year, we went to IKEA and I saw that they had $99 artificial trees (a frasier fir design) on sale for $10. I scooped one up and we have enjoyed it since.

    Midwest Girl

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  2. I have also missed the scent of pine when using an artificial tree. Although I have never had a real tree, I believe my parents did when I was very young. I use candles to get that smell but I think I might go look for the sticks you use.

    Alice

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  3. It's always good to hear about a product from someone who has used it frequently. Thank you! While growing up, my parents always bought a real tree and I confess that I don't have warm, fuzzy memories of the experience. Trying to get the tree in the stand and to not be crooked, keeping it watered, dealing with falling needles .... nope, not my thing. We are still using the artificial tree I bought back when I was a single girl. It's an "apartment style" so, tall and skinny to fit into a narrow space. I get a lot of ribbing about my slim tree but I dislike having a large tree take up so much of my living space (while our living room is good-sized, our house is not huge). The kids don't mind the thin tree and my husband couldn't care less what kind of tree we put up, so there it is. Maybe now if I get your scented sticks it will seem perfect! At least, to me it will. Ha.

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  4. Hi Midwest Girl,
    What a deal on your tree! Ours was not nearly the bargain. But even so, it's turned out to be a real money-saver for us in lieu of buying fresh-cut trees each year. Enjoy your holiday season!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Alice,
    I know what you mean. The smell of pine or fir completes the decorations, I think. I like both candles and these fragrance sticks. But I think I get more mileage from the fragrance sticks that I do candles. And there's no fire risk, so there's that, too. If you can find them on sale or with a coupon, they're a pretty good deal. If you have Michael's near you, that's where I see them every year.

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  6. Hi Kris,
    Oh, what a good job you've done! Keeping your tree all of these years. I hope to keep ours for many more years. I like the skinnier trees, myself. They don't take up as much room, and yet they still look just as festive. no need for something bigger if this is working just fine.
    I put the sticks on the heat vent in the living room, yesterday. The house smells like there's a tree inside now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. We just bought our first artificial tree this year and thought about candles. I will look at Michaels this week and get some scentsicles. I will need to put on the tree though our vents are not on the floor.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Cheryl,
    I hope you find the Scenticles at your Michael's. In my experience, I've gotten more evergreen fragrance from these sticks than candles.
    Enjoy the holiday season, Cheryl!

    ReplyDelete

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