New Year's holidays are, perhaps, one of the most positive, kind and bright periods of the year. And, of course, in addition to Santa Claus, the main component of these festive days is the Christmas tree. The first question is artificial or alive? Second - how much money will you need to spend on such pleasure? Even if there is an opinion that people mostly on the New Year's day move away from calculating finances and focus specifically on the fact that the holiday was fun and satisfying, but we believe that calculations are a necessary thing.
We choose a tree
This year, the windows of hypermarkets have been decorated with the appropriate decor since the middle of November - but it is clear that 2020 has "wrung out" each of us so much that we want to start something new and good as soon as possible. By the beginning of December, the living trees had also matured. Decorated is also dark: from ecological wooden to minimalist monochromatic layers.
How much does a New Year's decoration cost? Let's start, perhaps, with the Christmas tree itself. If you take an artificial one, the average price for it varies from 250 to 1500 hryvnias, depending on the height and "fluffiness" of the product.
— A Christmas tree may be short, but fluffy, and it costs the same as a tall and "bald" one. The most optimal option is to take a medium-sized spruce, approximately 140-170 cm tall: it is both visually fluffy and compact, and you can dress it up beautifully and inexpensively. - tells us the seller of one of the stores in the city. As for the prices of living trees - here is how the map will be; last year, prices in the city ranged from 100 to 2500 hryvnias - and on December 31, they dropped very quickly. Now the starting price for a live pine is 300 hryvnias, ale is 270 hryvnias, and fir is 400 hryvnias.
An important detail that you should pay attention to is the marking! A special bar code will hang on a tree that is grown in forestry and is absolutely legal - by scanning it, you will be able to find out where the tree came from, when it was cut down, and its species. In the Odesa region, for example, several forestry companies - Savranskoye, Slyusarevskoye, or Osychanskoye farms sold green symbols of the holiday already at the end of autumn. And here is an interesting price - it depends on the height of the tree. Yes, for a Christmas tree from 0,5 to one meter you will have to pay 54 hryvnias. The option from one meter to one and a half meters will cost 90 hryvnias. Trees up to two meters high cost 102 hryvnias, and even taller trees cost 114 hryvnias. As we can see, the prices in forestry are closer to reality. The maximum height of Christmas trees is about two and a half meters.
- It's a pity, it's a pity that he cuts down trees. I am a supporter of not cutting them off - it is better to dig it with the root system, or, as you say, give preference to an artificial one. Fortunately, people began to pay more attention to ecology - more and more buyers take a tree with a "clod" of earth, then transplant it. There is always information on the chip and barcode, - says Sergey, a forester of the Dalnytskyi Forest in the Odesa Region.
What do we decorate with?
Let's move on to the next one - an outfit for the Christmas tree. We take the basic decorated set: "rain", small and large Christmas balls, a top for the Christmas tree. Everything is simple here: small shiny plastic balls with sequins, fluff and drawings cost anywhere from 20-30 hryvnias. The same story with the prices of "rain" - thin on average costs about 20 hryvnias, thicker - about 30 hryvnias per piece. A set of ordinary single-tone Christmas tree layers, it turns out, is also a difficult task. A set of 12 pieces costs approximately 70 hryvnias, a set of 8 pieces (attention!) – 60-65 hryvnias, and a set of four – 20-30 hryvnias. Single-ton balls cost an average of 12-15 hryvnias per piece - we can conclude that, of course, "wholesale is cheaper". Even cheaper - on the market: as practice shows, the sets are slightly worse in quality, but they are not inferior visually.
The most interesting detail is the top for the Christmas tree - it costs about the same on the market and in stores. A plastic top will cost you 70-150 hryvnias, a glass, wire or ceramic one - from 100 to 300 hryvnias.
— On average, as experience shows, people use at least 20 layers, beads, a garland (one or two - it depends on the size of the tree and the client's desire for a festive mood), a top to decorate the tree. The "rainbow men" are leaving. As an addition, there are artificial candles, but they cost about 40 hryvnias per piece and are not very popular. Recently, a popular trend of one-tone or two-tone decoration of the Christmas tree, - designer, artist Yevgeny Velichev tells us. That is, if you calculate, the tree itself plus the basic decorated set will cost us a total of 650 to 2000 hryvnias - depending on the number of layers and the price per tree. Note that 2021 will be under the auspices of the White Metallic Bull, so white, silver and/or gold - the best colors to please the host of the future year.
"Herringbone of the mountain!"
When choosing decor, you need to be careful - and this applies not only to toys, but also to garlands, which are an integral attribute of the New Year. Remember that not only your safety and the entire course of the holidays depend on this, but also that of your loved ones. Therefore, garlands have a special approach!
According to Iryna Mazepa, head of the department of control in the field of trade of the capital GU Gosprodpotrepsluzhby, among the dangerous "there may be a New Year's garland or New Year's toys - without information or of poor quality."
It is worth remembering simple rules - when choosing a decorated watch, check whether there is a smell, if you take the same Christmas tree toy, garland, decorations - does the paint remain on your hands. The toy must be tasteless, colorless, and odorless. An ideal option if it does not fit in the mouth of a pet or baby. Recently, more and more handmade toys have appeared - pay attention to the fact that all the parts are fixed so that they do not accidentally come off, get lost, or be "eaten" by a child or a pet.
And finally ...
It is worth noting that in the United Arab Emirates, in the lobby of the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, in 2010, the most expensive Christmas tree in the world was installed. According to the director of the hotel, Hans Olbretz, the Christmas tree was decorated with 181 precious stones. The height of the spruce was 13 meters. The cost of the tree itself was approximately 10 thousand dollars, but its decorations: diamonds, pearls, emeralds and sapphires - cost 11 million dollars. Odessa is not the UAE, but it is also possible to get creative with New Year's beauty decorations - now there are many sets with New Year's layers that you can decorate yourself: come up with a picture, paste it, paint it. Everything is in your hands!
