As the rush for buying Thanksgiving turkeys winds down, the search for the perfect Christmas tree is just beginning.
You might find yours at a hardware store, the farmer’s market, or in a less common place like a cut-your-own-tree farm.
Christmas trees come in all shapes and sizes and to many families, the best part of the holiday is going with your family to pick out the tree and chop it down.
Joyce Alexander brings her family to Sandy Creek tree farm every year to cut down their favorite tree.
It’s a tradition passed down from her mother and it’s been going on for decades.
“I can carry on my mother's memory. Everybody is getting together on Christmas,” she said.
Christmas trees have been sold in United States since the late 1800s. While Georgia isn't a top state for tree producing, there are still local farmers like Sandy Creek.
"Cut your own tree" farms are rare too; the National Tree Association says 24.5 million trees were sold in 2012 and only 14 percent of them were harvested at cut your own enterprises.
People can come out and browse through options to pick out their favorite tree for their home, but a lot of people aren't buying real trees anymore because they're temporary and leave a mess.
The National Christmas Tree Association says more people are buying fake trees in recent years.
The Alexander family tried a fake tree one year, but says it wasn't the same.
“It was just not Christmas to me. A Christmas tree is a real tree [and] having your kids come out and pick it out and cut it down to decorate it as a family like families should every year,” said Alexander.
If you want to take your family to cut down your own tree this year, Sandy Creek is only open this weekend from 10 a.m. until dark. Its regular hours are Monday through Friday from 3:30 p.m. until dark.