Let me say, straight off, this is a photo from last year’s tree. I do not decorate until the second week of December.
Christmas is wonderful, magical, full of meaning. To my mind, the season does not start the day after Thanksgiving. I need a little breathing space. I need to take in the end of November, the early days of December, the fading away of Autumn, before I start decorating. For me, the holiday season loses its magic if decorations have been up for weeks by the time Christmas day rolls around.
I also have a major issue with the way merchandisers and advertisers push the season on us earlier and earlier every year. So, as is often the case with me, I dig in my heels and do the opposite of what they want me to do.
I have a feeling many of us base the starting date of Christmas decorating on what our families did when we were young. My parents didn’t decorate until about mid-December. We kept the decorations up through New Year’s Day. As a kid, I really loved the anticipation, the looking forward to that special day when we decorated our home, because it meant that Christmas was about 2 weeks away.
I do the same. We also buy a real tree every year and I want it to last through the holidays. So, we’ll go out this Friday and get our tree. We’ll let it sit for day, give the branches a chance to settle. then we’ll put on our favorite Christmas music and decorate. I may hang the outdoor lights earlier in the week. Maybe.
When my dad was a kid, his family didn’t decorate their tree until Christmas Eve. I know others who decorate right after Thanksgiving. Some choose not to decorate. Variety is the spice of life!
What do you do? Tell me. Have you already decorated? Do you count the days in November until it’s time to decorate for the holidays? Or do you wait? What is your family tradition?
When we got married we had lots of single friends who didn’t even decorate for Christmas so we started the tradition of having a party the Saturday after Thanksgiving and decorate our tree (artificial, so we don’t have to worry about remembering to water). We’ve changed over the years – adding friends with kids, new neighbors, etc., but we try to be faithful to that one happy day, so much so that my daughter chose that day as her wedding day. Turns out the Saturday after Thanksgiving was one of her favorite days of the year. That was two weeks ago and I’m no where near decorating the house for Christmas – there’s just a naked tree sitting in the family room. It looks like we forgot to close the back door and a fir tree has taken refuge inside.
Claudia, I am one hundred percent in agreement with everything that you wrote. The tree will go up next weekend and come down on the second of January.
I completely agree with u, it only seems like Halloween was 5 minutes ago. Christmas can be a very stressful time! I don’t think we need it for a full month!
Sam x
The inside gets done on the weekend closest to the 10th. Why? I don’t know.
The outside decorations go up at the beginning of December and are more pagan or “winter” than Christmas with only white lights that help brighten up this darkest time of the year.
I am with you on the merchandisers pushing everything too soon! One of my pet peeves!!
I have put our tree up over Thanksgiving weekend before and I have waited until December 15th too. It just depends on what is going on in our lives at the time. I have grown children, teens and grands so I have alot of age groups with busy lives! ;).
This year I have simplified once again and used many of my vintage finds and small vignetttes around our Home instead of a big tree. It keeps our small Home less cluttered.
I am looking forward to seeing your Home dressed for Christmas!
We put up our tree Sunday. We usually do the first weekend in Dec. My Dad growing up always got the tree on his birthday Dec 19th. I know the year our house was on the christmas house tour I had to put things up so early I was sick of it!
At my home we put up the tree the 8th December because it’s national holiday in Italy an we are all together. The tree stays up the 6th January, Epiphany day, then it disappears.
Yet till I was young there was a different timetable: since I was born on the 13th my parents didn’t want to mix up my birthday and Christmas and 14th was the appointed day.
I think it was very thoughtfull of them :o)
Best wishes, Rosanna
Here in The Netherlands (Holland) we celebrate Sinterklaas on the 5th or some on the 6th of December. I put on my Christmas decorations the weekend after that, so this weekend it is going to happen. My boyfriend and i don’t live together jet, i want to wait till my son goes to heighschool(in about 2 years). With the Hollidays we are at his house, because he has a bigger house and it is easier for his kids to come and visit. Last year i did take all my decorations to him including my fake christmas tree.(by train)This year i invited both our parents so that’s the first time they meet eachother. First time for me too cook for 9 persons.(his two kids are also with us at Christmas)I am very exited but also a little stressed!!
Hugs
Maria
I think all the “rush” puts alot of stress on people. I do decorate early so I can just enjoy and relax. It seems like the 1st week in Dec. is always stressful for me. I only use little trees now and that has been wonderful for me.
I knew parents that did all the decorating on Christmas eve. while the children were sleeping. When they woke up the house was full of lights and all decorated. I like that idea but would miss not having them up earlier.
That is exactly what my parents did…2 weeks before Christmas and then left up until the day after New Years day. I myself wait until the first weekend of Dec. depending on what I have going on. It seems to take so long to put everything up that I have and every year I want to simplify but I never follow through and then I feel stressed. I don’t know why I do that to myself. Oh well…there’s always next year. ~Hugs, Patti
After ThanksGiving I start taken decorations out, sorting thru the lights, and slowly start on the outside ones. That is where all starts, make the advents wreath about a day or 2 before the 1st, use fresh falling tree limbs and now and then a decor goes up, like table cloth/runner/topper, small simple items. Tree closer to the “day” which all will stay up until after the 6th of Jan., this is more my tradition from my “home”.
Claudia, We usually wait until the second week or so as well. Don’t have our tree yet! My son’s birthday is Dec 20th, so I used to do minimal decorating until we passed that day when he was younger. I didn’t want him to feel that his birthday was lumped in with Christmas. These days I just bring things out bit by bit and every year I do different things. Ann
I so agree! We also always have a fresh tree, which means it goes up much later than all the artifical ones I have seen twinkling in my neighbors’ windows for weeks.
The outside wreaths and lights go up sometime between Dec. 5 and 10. I can remember when we did not even think of putting them up until December 15, but peer pressure evidently won out.
I just hung the stockings my mother needlepointed for each of us, and the rest of the decorations are slowly appearing.
I will be putting my tree up today or tomorrow. It will be a chore because I don’t feel like doing it at all. Somehow, it’s different when you’re alone. I’ll put some Christmas music on to listen to while I decorate it. But, I know that after I’ve done it and I get the benefit of all those beautiful lights that I will be uplifted. I take it down the day after Epiphany.
As you already know, I’ve done my decorating. But I think I do that because the decorating is my present to myself. I don’t (as I just said in today’s post) go for actual presents in the form of wrapped gifts. I simply like the decorating and the baking and the enjoyment of that. That’s the tradition I made up for myself!
Brenda
I’ve been making ‘little’ scenes with holly, tiny pointsettia, red berry branches from the back yard all mixed with whatever is on my shelves. Its been fun and is more than I usually do at this time of year. Our tree goes up around the 20th and I take it down before the new year. Each year I seem to simplify the tree.
-Joy
I grew up with around the 1st December being the time to put up the Christmas tree. (My mum reads your blog, so I’m sure she’ll correct me if I got that wrong, especially as she hasn’t started decorating yet this year.)
My husband’s family start after Thanksgiving.
As for myself, I like to start when Advent starts as part of the “getting ready” for the birth of Christ…
Hi Claudia,
The tree went up right after Thanksgiving once we had kids. I guess I wanted them to enjoy it for the whole month! This year the tree went up a few days ago. I haven’t felt like decorating since the weather has been so warm! It doesn’t feel like Christmas yet! Although, I do like the warm weather and wish we’d only get a sprinkling of snow for Christmas day.
Happy tree hunting!
-Lynn
I’m just glad to be home to put the tree up and decorate whenever I want! For nearly two decades I was the retailer selling the Christmas decor, and it was a year round job. We barely had the leftovers sold on clearance, when mid January it was time to go the L.A. Gift Show and buy Christmas again for that year. It started arriving as early as March and was delivered, opened, priced, sorted by tree design and stored – all year long. Then come late Sept. / early October we became a winter wonderland. I can’t count the number of packages I’ve gift-wrapped! Makes me shudder ((: Grateful and thankful ~ Christmas Blessings xo
When I was younger and type A, back when EVERYTHING mattered, I’d schlep out the decor and start the day after Thanksgiving.
Now I’m older, wiser and type A- and my priorities have changed. A little each day, here and there and basically take my time…no rush. I stand still and enjoy my time with friends and family….that’s my priority now.
bunny
ps. still haven’t finished…lol
I have the front door done. I have greens on the table and in the bath. If it ever stops raining while my sister is visiting my Dad, we’ll go down and cut a tree out of his woods and get it up. If not, it will be an “iffy” thing I may not get done until the week before Christmas. We always had “real” trees – not grown and pruned for sale ones. I still like them best. :)
I start decorating when I feel like it. Might be before Thanksgiving, might be Dec. 15th. We don’t use a lot of rules in our house… I threw rules out the window when I was 18 years old. They do nothing other than cause stress as far as I am concerned, so why put so many limitations on yourself? Just decorate when you get around to it.
Hi Claudia–I`m much like you, about decorating!
Also we alwayes have a real tree-and it only comes inside on the 23/12 .
24/12 morning I decorate with my daughter and the grandkids- the years they are here with us- like this year.When we are visiting them for christmas I only have a little tree, but also real.
It stayes untill the newyear evening -morning- then I take away all the decorations, and the tree goes outside for the birds.
I wondered if your father comes from Schandinavia ,when I read about the late decorating of his childhood tree ?
Hugs,Dorthe
I do not remember any childhood traditions. I am happy just to have survived my childhood somewhat intact. Our artificial tree (I am allergic to live trees) went up the Saturday after Thanksgiving because that was when I had Joe and my daughter at our house to assist me. We also are not at that house all the time. We do not exchange gifts with anyone, or each other, but buy toys for children in a nearby neighborhood. Christmas, for us, is a spiritual holiday.
Same here Claudia!! This year I couldn’t stand one of my favorite radio stations playing Xmas music even before Thanksgiving. Why? I couldn’t stand it. I have no tree nor, wreath yet. It’s my plan for the weekend.
Stop over I’m having a Giveaway ;)
xxx Liz
Hi Claudia,
We usually get our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving from a small, local nursery…they have fresh cut trees from a small fraser fir farm in NC..they smell so good. This year my husband and I are trying to buy our gifts from locally-owned stores and I am cross-stitching ornaments. I will also decorate with cuttings from our magnolia tree.