Amazingly, we got our tree up this year on the day after Thanksgiving. I have been enjoying it a lot. I am not tired of it in the least. Here are my questions:
When do you or your family put up your Christmas tree? How long is too long for it to be up? Do you use colored or white lights? Is it eclectictically decorated or does it have a style? My answers are:
1: Shortly after Thanksgiving.
2: More than one month is too long.
3: Colored lights (for the first time ever in my adult life).
4: Eclectic (ever since the children arrived).
p.s. If you are one who does not celebrate Christmas, please don’t slam me for talking about Christmas trees. Just pass on by my blog.
Our tree:
My dear husband & I are terrible procrastinators – both of us. It’s a sad combo if ever there was one. Plus, my work gets really busy at the end of the year. We don’t seem to get our tree up until a day or two before Christmas. BUT! I was reading somewhere that this isn’t all bad because the days of Advent should be separate from Christmas and the lit tree belongs more properly to Christmas and Epiphany. (Great excuse if I ever heard one.)
We cut our tree at a farm so it’s fresh and leave it up 2-3 weeks after Christmas.
Colored lights! We have two toned mini bulbs that are really pretty. For a few years we were using bubble lights. They are fun (and always got comments) but they are a pain in the caboose so we quit using them. Instead, we take night light holders, screw in the bubble light bulb, and plug them in all over the house (not a good idea with babies around).
Decorations are eclectic. We have a variety of bulbs and trinkets. I’m afraid I also have a collection of Santa ornaments (ducking and running).
1. I prefer to put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving. It still isn’t up. Maybe this weekend. We buy one from a lot.
2. The day after New Year’s it goes away (we have New Years Day activities, or it would go down then. I, like Barb, have been thinking about putting the tree up later and taking it down after Epiphany. That might be nice.
3. Colored lights! I like white lights outside, but many colors inside.
4. Eclectic. My parents gave us each an ornament every year for Christmas. Jason had some. We’ve bought one every year we’ve been married. It is fun as many of the growing up ones my mom made.
This year I’m going to try stringing the tree with Christmas ribbon (I found a country gingham that has dark green, and red, and blue on tan background.) I hope that turns out well.
Not only do we celebrate the holiday by putting up a tree, but this year I purchased a Winne The Pooh Christmas CD at Half Price Books which the children are listening to. It has as one of its selections, “O Christmas Tree”. So we’ve even gone so far as to start raising our voices in song to our now-deified tree!
1. We bucked tradition last year by giving in to the practicality of purchasing a manmade tree. While it does not smell nearly as wonderful as its fresh predecessors, it drops very few pine needles, does not require watering, and stays green through the duration of the holiday season. We think it
I think it is interesting to hear different people’s ideas about decorating for Christmas. It helps spur the imagination for future Christmases and helps us to appreciate our differences. Thanks for responding and Merry Christmas!
I’m a little late commenting, but my answers are very similar to those above:
1. As soon after Thanksgiving as possible.
2. Two months is not too long, though 6 weeks is more our average (I want to enjoy as long as possible, after the hard work of decorating).
3. Colored lights.
4. Definitely eclectic.
I have another question: How early is too early to start listening to Christmas music?
Before Thanksgiving dinner is over. (we do, however, often set up the CD player so the music starts as soon as we get up from the table. [grin])
[1] We usually put up the tree sometime during the weekend after Thanksgiving. We have an artificial tree because I’m allergic to pine. It’s a small tree and sits atop a corinthian style plaster pillar to be inaccessible to both the cat and the toddler.
[2] It comes down on Epiphany.
[3] We use only white lights on the tree and stair banister, windows, and porch.
[4] The tree decorations are largely gold, dark red or burdgundy, and deep green.
The primary decorations are various miniature musical instruments, clumps of artificial berries, tiny deep red and off-white roses, strings of wooden beads resembling cranberries, various balls (either solid color or with a tiny gold-vine calico print), and a number of victorian era angels and Christmas scenes.
The tree is topped with an egg-shaped ornament with a antique-style picture of the holy family on it. Right under the tree-topper we have a large bow of burgundy and gold wired ribbons, the ends of which trail down among the branches of the tree.
The ribbon didn’t work so well 🙁
But we did get some cranberries on branches instead of strings. They’re really pretty. I like it a lot.
We put it up somewhere in mid or early Advent. I’d like to wait until just a week or two before Christmas, but the kids are eager beavers and able to do most of it themselves anyway (strictly plastic in our house) so I don’t fight that battle.
The last couple of years we’ve decided to keep it up until Christmastide officially ends at Epiphany. I think this really helps with the feeling that I remember from being a kid, that Christmas is “over” once all the presents are opened and the leftovers are eaten for supper Christmas night. It seems to make Christmas more of a time to celebrate than a goal to get ready for. Already, though, I’m seeing articles in the paper about the funny people who still have their outside lights up.
Today is Eastern Christmas, and I must say I’m thankful–I’m ready to take down our tree!
This year we bought a live, potted tree, that we will be giving to our building to plant in the front yard. We had white lights, gingerbread cookies, a few silver bells, and a silver garland the boys made from aluminum foil. After American Christmas, we ate the gingerbread men. So we bought some red balls to put on the tree instead. Then, when a package from the States arrived with candy canes, those went on the tree! (And are slowly being eaten off. . .)
After my comments that a month is “too long” for keeping up the tree, I finally got ours taken down yesterday. I am glad to finally have this chore complete. Now it’s time to do a little pre-spring cleaning. Yeah!
We just took ours down last weekend.
1. We put it up as close to Christmas Eve as possible. This year it went up on Christmas Eve and the older children decorated it, while I kept the doors closed and the younger ones occupied. Then when we got home from the Christmas Eve service around 8 pm, we opened the doors with a flourish and the younger ones got their fist sight of this year’s tree! It was so fun.
2. Well, Christmas Eve to the weekend after Epiphany.
3. White.
4. Liturgically directed eclectic. 🙂 I mostly only use silver, gold, white, and purple. I have several angels made of crochet or battenburg lace, a few different nativity scenes, doves, and musical instruments – all of these are either white or gold. We also have some fruit – grapes, apples, pomegranates. There are also lots of glass balls of the boxed variety, since my interesting-meaningful-and-unique collection is still too slim to cover the whole tree. Finally, it’s wrapped with garlands of “pearls” and gold stars, and topped with a big gold Moravian star with a light inside that shines out of star-shaped cut-outs.