All my decorations came down as soon as we got home and Christmas was over for our family on 12/27. Our tree was ceremoniallly placed in our burn pile outside, of which its ashes are now contributing to the organic growth of the ecosystem we call our backyard.
My neighbor said she's keeping her tree and decorations (and outside lights which has been strongly and brightly shining through my kitchen window and office window since Thanksgiving) for another week or so. Wow, that's a loong time for decorations to be kept up. to each his own I guess.
Christmas officially ends today so it's quite okay to leave it up which is the Epiphany.
FYI...back in the old days when my grandparents were growing up they put up the tree on Christmas Eve..so it would stay up until the 6th...which was the 12 days of Christmas.
This year, on the 29th (because we had some things going on the 30th-1st). However, I always have everything down and put away by New Years Day (often I do it on NY day).
I took it down Tuesday. The outside decorations are still up because im too lazy to go take them down :(
I usually wait until Epiphany. This is one of those areas where I really do try to follow the liturgical calendar, and as my kids get older it will become even more important to me. The 4 weeks before Christmas are the Season of Advent. I do want them to focus on that season, especially amidst all the hustle and bustle around them. I have found that coming home each night to a house that remembers advent can really help you to relax and enjoy the season. Liturgically speaking, Christmas begins on December 24th and culminates with Epiphany, which this year is January 8th.
I start work again January 17, so I know I'll be less stressed if we take everything down this Sunday.
Still up and it probably will be until February. But mine's artificial.
Can't bear to take it down, as I feel it just went up and let's face it, it's a pain in the rear! Sometimes I pray for the Christmas Tree Taker Down Fairy to visit.
I like to keep mine up until January 6, or Epiphany, when Christmas officially ends. We are in the process of takIng decorations down this week. Because we had time, we started 2 days ago and I felt a little guilty for beginning before Epiphany, especially when we'll be celebrating it in church on Jan 8 this year. I like to follow the liturgical calendar because so much of the religious aspect of Christmas is lost in all the shopping, Santa stuff, etc.
My parents take theirs down on the 31st each year because they have a New Years brunch and they decorate with a blue and silver snowflake theme, not red and green. If I were in that situation, I might consider taking it down early.
We celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas and typically take down for Epiphany. But, I had surgery and am not mobile so it will come down when we get to it! Each day we take a few more ornaments off and the kids and hubby help me put in ornament boxes. Tonight we will tackle the Christmas Village but I really like looking at it, so if it gives you joy, keep it!
The city's recycling program had the pick-up day be on the 3rd. Since we live in the city, I value having our live-cut tree recycled into mulch.
If I could, I'd wait until Epiphany or the weekend after. The only other condition is whether the poor tree hasn't been watered correctly and is about to be a fire hazard!
We were so busy we never got the tree up! I guess that's less work for us now...
i put up my christmas the first weekend of november and take it down new year's day!!! i guess you wouldn't like living in my house!!LOL!!!
Ugh Mine is still up as we speak LOL
I work full time and with kids and all just haven't had the energy when I get home.
I normally take it down Jan 1st.
I am def taking it down this Sat.
My tree is still up. I like it and my 2 year old loves the lights. I think we will take it down this weekend and put a string of lights in my DS room.
Took mine down the day after Christmas. I love, love, love Christmas, but when it's over I want my house back in normal order! LOL!
My personal pet peeve is when outdoor decorations are left out for too long. Here in a couple weeks I'll start getting annoyed if I still see decorations on the houses/yards! =)
New Years Weekend is the tradiont at my house - mainly beacause I'm off work. Also I refuse to start a new year with last yrs tree up.
I just took everything down except for the ornaments that my son made or likes to do so he can finish it after school. I meant to do it all earlier, and took a few decorations down to make more room for our NYE party, but time just got away! I just aim for the first week of January each year. If my son didn't like decorating the tree each year, I'd just put it downstairs as is for storage like my parents do!
Outside decorations came down on the 6th. Inside decorations still shining!
(We have the tree up in a "sunroom" that never gets above 55 degrees or so... so we're not even losing needles yet. Tree is nice and green and smells yummy. I see NO REASON to take it down yet.... :)
I would take it down as my daughter is unwrapping her gifts if she would let me!!! Usually the 26th but since it was a "holiday" from work we went to Sea World instead. So it didn't come down until the 27th....latest for me in a loooong time. I like everything cleaned up and start the new year all clean.
Our outside stuff came down over the weekend. I just got done UNdecorating my tree. It will all be in the attic by this evening. I've had enough. I want the house back!
I was told it was bad luck to take it down before Jan 1. Truly I just dont have the energy to take it down before then! Christmas is exausting for me~ It finally came down around the second or third
Next year why dont you toss that tree into the mulch / compost pile??? sounds like you have a property that you need to burn things so i imagine some land around your home also.
I took our stuff day the day after Christmas... grinch, I know... but with all the new stuff, I was sick of tripping over everything!! My house can breathe again!
Generally speaking, we keep our Christmas tree and other decorations up until at least after New Year's. The tree came down yesterday. I really like Christmas, and it's sad to put the paraphernalia away for another year - except for the fact that the tree has definitely checked itself out! I think I'll be vacuuming needles for a while....
Took mine down the 27th also!!
Tree and all the decor came down this past Tuesday - as soon as our daughter was back in school. Some people like to keep things up until Jan. 6 (Epiphany).
LOL........ I will be taking my Christmas tree and decos down today. I usually do it sooner, but we have 2 daughters in college this year, and I spent ALL of the week after the holiday getting the oldest ready to move to college (off campus apartment) and then the second daughter leaves tomorrow. We will be going with her and staying overnight to make sure she is settled, etc. (she is in a dorm) I want to have it done today so I can come home to a clean and decoration free house! Plus, one of our other kids has a birthday on the 13th and will be 9 yrs old, and we don't want the decos up for that. LOL! SO much going on this year!! UGH!
My tree (life like fake tree) is still up. The plan is to take it down this weekend (1/7) or next weekend (1/14), really depends when we have enough time to properly pack everything away.
The tree always stays up till atleast 1/3, to me it helps ring in the new year. Christmas is such a wonderful season, it is too short of a season, so I like to put up the tree the first week of Dec and keep it up till the first weekend in January.
According to all the Christmas trees I see on the side of the road, ready for the trash, we are not the norm. Then again I think my hubby would be fine taking it down the week/weekend after Christmas but the earliest I would take it down is the Jan 7th.
took it down jan 1st only because it was almost 50F (unusual for our area) so instead of doing it two days later when the temps were down to 11F figured 50f will do. and i don't miss the needles either.
Took my stuff down on new year's day and the outdoor lights came down on Monday.
It goes up the weekend b/f x-mas, and comes down the weekend of the epiphany, artificial so it doesn't look any worse for the wear.
Christmas BEGINS on December 25, goes for 12 days, and ENDS on January 6, 12th Night, then Epiphany begins on January 6 when the 3 Wise Men arrive. The traditional Christian celebration has always been this way, and has been distorted to the current way of celebrating lately. We always keep all the decorations, particularly the creche, until the 6th and perhaps a few days later whenever we have time to undecorate. I fail to understand why you would cut the celebration short :)
January 2. Hubby disrobed the tree and dragged it outside. Then went out and removed the Christmas lights and window wreaths from the house and moved the lighted snowman and tree from the porch. The wreath is still on the front door until Friday (Epiphany). Hubby works all this week and was off on Monday, so that is when he did "his" part. I still have to pack up all the ornaments all over my dining room table, the stuff scattered around the house (door hangers, small Xmas trees, stockings and hangers, mantle decorations, etc) so he can load it all back into the attic.
The tree will be taken on Friday for our church's Epiphany service where we burn them. :)
My tree is still up at home but that's only because I haven't had a chance to take it down yet. I usually like to have everything put away by New Year's Day or the day after. We took the lights off of our bushes but my husband hasn't been able to get up on the roof to take the rest of the lights down because it was too windy last weekend. The lights on the house and the tree will come down this weekend and everything will go back into the attic.
We didn't put up our Christmas tree until the 17th of December. If my husband has his way - it will be up until Superbowl Sunday - If I have my way - it will be down this Sunday.
We unplugged the outside stuff. And will be taking it all down this weekend. The tree in the formal living room has been stripped of ornaments and lights and will go out to the garbage pick up tonight. Tree in the family room is still standing in all its glory. It will be taken down this weekend. I will leave up all the snowman stuff in the family room till the weekend before valentines day. It will all be packed away till next year that weekend. Will pull out the easter stuff that weekend and will be putting it up on fat tuesday.
Generally speaking it all goes up the day after Thanksgiving and comes down on New Year's. After CHristmas I pack up everything little by little so it's not such a big chore. By New Years the lights and tree are all that's left. Hubby gets the lights and I get the tree.
Just plugged my Christmas tree lights in this morning. They will stay up til the end of the month. We were out of town for Christmas so I haven't had my fill of lights or Christmas music at home.
We love Christmas so much that everything goes up the day after Thanksgiving and comes down around January 6th. This year, I decided to put up some white lights on the bushes and around our front tree and put some snowflake lights in the windows after the Christmas lights were taken down to stave away the darkness that seems to be around all winter here in the NW. Our neighbors still have the colored lights on their trees and house, so I think everyone has their own timeline. I say enjoy the happiness the bright lights bring to these dark winter days and nights!
We always keep ours up until the 6th, it will probably get taken down this weekend. We are supposed to have really nice weather here tomorrow, so I may do the outdoor lights then.
This week we will be taking them all down.
I wanted mine down the day after Christmas - but we did it all on January 2nd this year.
However, my giant nutcracker guy is still hanging around :). He missed the box so now I've got to put him in there and I just haven't had time.
When I drove home in the middle of the night last night I saw so many people still had lights up and it caught my attention as odd - but I know a lot of people on here said January 5-7...
Mine came down on Monday it always comes down around the 2nd I just cant take it any longer than that. It is an all day task to take it down each ornament in it's box all the other stuff that goes with it that just sort of takes over my house it is exhausting but so glad to have my house back
Some people do the whole Old Christmas, which is not usually until the second week of January. Some people think it's bad luck to keep your tree and decorations up past the New Year, as you are bringing old baggage into a fresh year. I am with the latter...it all needs to come down to make room for the onslaught of Christmas presents the kids received. :)
We took down the tree and inside decorations last Sunday. This weekend we will be taking down all the lights outside and my husband will chop the tree up to put in the recycle can.
L.
Jan 17th as it came down traditionally that night as my grandma's birthday had to be done first(she loved the tree) it is not put up however until a few days before christmas.
My tree is always up late. It's artificial, so it can't catch fire or anything.
Since my son was little, dad and I alternated Christmas and the vacation. One year, one parent had the kid the first half of Christmas vacation and the other parent had the kid the second half.
This year, my son was with his dad for the first half of vacation. They had their tree and all the nights building up to Christmas. I had our tree and all the nights building up to New Year's. That's one week of a tree being up, basically. That always feels too short to me as far as us enjoying the lights, etc together.
We know someone very eccentric who leaves up ALL her holiday decorations ALL year round.
I guess if you think about it, you drag stuff out, put it away and before you know it, it's time to drag it out again. She saves herself all that hassle.
I'm still undecorating all the stuff at work so I'll probably work on mine at home this weekend.
As long as it's down by Mardi Gras, it's good.
Our living room is small so for a month the tree was really in the way...I was ready for it to come down the day we returned from our trip...But I was do tired to do 12/26...it came down 12/27.
Tree is still up, but the decorations on it are down. Christmas Village display is also still up - too lazy/busy to put it all away. I suspect that it will all be gone by the end of this weekend. Lights are also still hanging on the house outside - will have to get on husband about taking those down (maybe by Valentine's Day he'll get around to it). I wish I could leave it all up ALL YEAR. I love Christmas.
We took all our outside decorations downabout 5 days after Christmas. We put away the decorations on the inside of the house around the same time. But as of this minute, BOTH of our christmas trees are still up! They are pre-lit and decorated so technically, they just need to be put in their boxes and put back in the garage. Normally, everything would be put away by now and I don't know why we procrastinated this year, but we did! Our kids went back to school today so I think we will finish putting everything away this weekend.
Anytime I have time after JAN 6th...for the reasons listed below.
This year, I meant to take the tree down today, but did not have the energy to.
So maybe next weekend?
ha! I took my stuff down on 27 too! We rolled in around 8 pm and the house was boxed up and sitting by the attic by 10pm.
I was talking with my MIL over Christmas and she shared with me it is an old NORTHERN superstition that to have good luck you leave your tree up through the 12 days of Christmas. . . BUT the SOUTHERN superstition to have the same luck you take down before New Years. . . I thought it was interesting and fun to share.
