When should you put up Xmas decorations, and take them down?

Wife loves to decorate for holidays. She starts taking down the fall decorations the day after Thanksgiving day and immediately replaces them with Christmas decorations. The Christmas decorations come down within a few days after the new year. For some reason she much more enjoys putting out the decorations than she does putting them away.
 
Whenever you want.

I start putting my stuff up right after Thanksgiving. Since I no longer put a whole lot up, it doesn't take long.

Taking it down? I usually do it Dec. 26. When it's over, it's over. I'm ready to move on.

I have no personal objection to anyone leaving it up all year, if it pleases them.
 

You should put up a Christmas tree and decorations when you want to and take them down when you want. I generally put up a Christmas tree the first of December and take it down, the 1st of January. It might stay up for New Years Eve. We have a real tree and by that time itā€™s dried out completely and the needles are everywhere.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
You should put up a Christmas tree and decorations when you want to and take them down when you want. I generally put up a Christmas tree the first of December and take it down, the 1st of January. It might stay up for New Years Eve. We have a real tree and by that time itā€™s dried out completely and the needles are everywhere.
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Given where you live, do you go to a place that sells "Christmas trees " or do you "do it your self " ? We don't celebrate Christmas, so no decorations or outside lights. Same thing for Halloween, our house is dark with no decorations . JIM.
 
jimintoronto said:
Given where you live, do you go to a place that sells "Christmas trees " or do you "do it your self " ? We don't celebrate Christmas, so no decorations or outside lights. Same thing for Halloween, our house is dark with no decorations . JIM.
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We could cut a tree off of our property but we actually purchase a tree from a Christmas tree farmer. He grows trees specifically for this reason. We usually buy a 9 ft tree for about $40. Heā€™s a really nice guy to deal with so thatā€™s another reason to purchase from him.
I love the smell of a nice Douglas Fir during the end of the year.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
You should put up a Christmas tree and decorations when you want to and take them down when you want. I generally put up a Christmas tree the first of December and take it down, the 1st of January. It might stay up for New Years Eve. We have a real tree and by that time itā€™s dried out completely and the needles are everywhere.
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Do you water your tree? It's been so long since I've had a real one, I can't remember how often is good. Crawling under to water it was a PITA.
 
IMO, at least after (American) Thanksgiving, or around Dec. 1st. Reason is, I don't want to get sick of looking at them before Christmas even arrives! I leave them until New Years Day.

BTW, I no longer put up a tree but I enjoy my wreath and lighted star on my Alberta pine outside my window. Also some candles and pine branches from the woods in a vase of water indoors.
 
I don't rush the holidays, so Christmas decorating can start anytime after Thanksgiving.
Things can come down after the New Year, but usually everything stays until Epiphany (you know, the twelve days of Christmas....). Never understood why people 'undecorate 'right after the 25th. That is the first Day of Christmas!
A live Frasir fir always lasts over the season with little needles falling, as it is watered twice a day.
 

The custom has a very interesting history.
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In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.
 
I have a few things.. don't put up very much now, and not even the tree because its big and it's in the loft all dressed, and its not possible for me to get it down, much less put it back after.
I dress the fireplace, and the grate, and a couple of Christmas ornaments on the sideboards, but nothing much more... and then it gets taken down on NYD
 
I stopped decorating for any of the holidays a few years ago.

The decorations have all found new homes.

I have less work and more storage space.

It felt strange in the beginning but the holidays came and went as usual.

A bowl of seasonal candy, some cookies, or other holiday treats are all I need to set the mood. šŸ˜‰šŸ¤­šŸ˜‚

At Christmas, I usually buy a poinsettia and start an amaryllis bulb.

When I did decorate for Christmas I started the weekend after Thanksgiving and put things away on the Epiphany.
 
Back in the olden days, when I was much younger, we didn't put up our tree until Christmas Eve. It came down on January 6 (Epiphany). Now that I think about it, nobody else did, either. There were folks who decorated outdoors, and those lights usually went on on Thanksgiving night.

As I got older, the tree went up the Sunday before Christmas, or if Christmas was on the weekend, it would go up on Wednesday. Still got taken down on January 6.

DD said that this year she's putting up her tree the day after Thanksgiving because it's so much work to put it up and take it down that she wants to admire it for a while. As long as I don't have to do it, that's fine by me.
 
That is up to the individual or family. When my parents were alive, we'd put up the tree about a week before Christmas. Dad would put it in the stand and hang the lights. I'd do the ornaments and mom did the tinsel. On New Year's Day, everything came down and put away. Now I only hang a wreath on the front porch about 10 days prior and take it down a few days after New Year.
After dad passed, I got a 4 foot tall tabletop tree and decorated it myself. Also, mom and I started to make Christmas last by just opening a few gifts every day between Christmas and New Year.
It still makes me sad to see all the trees laying outside after Christmas waiting for the trashman to get them. Not as many now that artificial trees have become popular.
 
For years, we hosted Christmas for the family, and decorated a artificial tree shortly after Thanksgiving, and took it down a few days after, In recent years, the daughters have done the holidays, so our tree and decorations are just occupying space on a shelf in the basement.
 
My decorating is minimal. A setting and some lights in two windows. A few miscellaneous ornaments in the LR. A wreath on the door and a couple of bows. Not sure weā€™ll even do that since it seems weā€™re going to visit family. Iā€™m doing this for DH. My preference would be to stay home.

Any decorations will come down January 2nd. Iā€™m sick of them by then.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I used to know a couple that kept their Xmas tree up till every needle fell off. And stores are getting all Christmasy right now. What do you think is the time to put up a Xmas tree/decorations, and when should you take them down?
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Officially Advent begins this year on December 1 and ends on Christmas Eve.
Advent is the time of preparing for the coming of the Christ child.
It involves a lot of cleaning, baking and celebrating.
It is also the time for decorating the house.

Christmas begins on December 25 and ends on January 6.
More celebrating throughout the 12 days of Christmas.
Traditionally, all decorations are taken down on Jan 6.
 

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