When Do You Take Down Your Holiday Decorations?

[DVC-Don]

January 2.

 

[RedAngie]

Until the Epiphany on January 6. While the RETAIL Christmas season is over, the HISTORIC Christmas season didn't even start until yesterday, Christmas Day and ends after the 12 Days of Christmas on January 6, the Epiphany. So ours will no longer be turned on after January 6, and weather and time permitting, will come down on the 7th or 8th.

On the other end, Christmas decorations should not be put up more than about 2 weeks before Christmas, and NEVER on the after Thanksgiving.

We still have 2 more Christmas celebrations ahead of us NEXT weekend due to travel and work considerations of family members.

I more or less agree with the bolded second paragraph. While I actually put up one of my two trees on the first weekend of December, it didn't get decorated until the second weekend, December 12-13. None of the other décor nor outdoor lights was up before then either. My Thanksgiving décor usually stays up until then, so no way could I put Christmas stuff up with turkeys looking at me. And T-giving decorations go up late because Halloween stuff is still there.

OP said this was 30 years ago, and the woman was around 70 then. She's probably not feeling anything now, if she starts talking...RUN

Yes, it was long ago. I've been out of that apartment for about 28 years, and I doubt the woman is still alive. The next time I saw her, perhaps two weeks later in the laundry room, she was back to her cheerful self. I suppose I just caught her at a bad moment that Christmas Day.

 

[sk!mom]

Now

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Down and packed away until next year. Had a real tree up since day after Thanksgiving, it was getting dry. We go on vacation next Friday so I needed it down.

Seems like everyone is different. I almost took mine down yesterday. When we were younger it was after New Year, but not as long as some of you have up.
I'm glad mine is down.

 

[jevs]

Anytime from now until the 1st January. Will probably start today and do it slowly over the next week.

 

[AustinTink]

I just started back to work teaching after about a decade as a SAHM. The tree will be coming down before school is back in session. Those kids wear me out. I wouldn't have the energy to pack all the boxes after I go back.

 

[Chelley00]

I take everything down New Year's Day, only because I know we are always home that day and can get it done

However this year I'm taking the tree down tomorrow. It's been dropping needles like crazy and even though it's not dead (still takes water, branches bend and not break) I'm really sick of vacuuming every single day.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I take mine down my first day off after Christmas. Which this year happened to be today.
My husband and I both work supermarket retail, so we are busy preparing for the next holiday at work, and at home, I like to decorate for New Years Eve, my favorite of the holidays.

 

[KarenB]

We went to visit our son on the west coast for four days and flew home Christmas Day. Tomorrow we are doing a small celebration with brunch at our house. DH wants to watch the Patriots play at 1:00 so I will probably start taking things down. I like to have a few days with a fresh clean start before heading back to work.

 

[justgrace]

We've had our tree up since November 5th (fake tree). I'm not sure how I feel about taking it down - it's so pretty in the living room! If I could, I would leave up Christmas decorations all year long! I love Christmas!

We'll probably take the tree down the first week in January, then take the outside lights down during a warm weekend sometime in January.

 

[ronandannette]

Everything stays lit up until after Epiphany then I'll dismantle and put everything away the following weekend so this year that'll mean Jan. 9 & 10. (They went up the week of the 15th.)

 

[tvguy]

Nope, ours go up November 1st. We were late this year because I had emergency surgery with complications but they stay up through all of January so we still have plenty of time to enjoy them. Our outside lights will be up...and on... through Valentine's Day. Most of our neighborhood keeps the outside lights on until it at least then. If the weather's bad they'll stay up longer & we'll turn them on for St. Patrick's Day, too.

What about your Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving decorations? Where do they go if your Christmas stuff is already up before THOSE holidays?

Only partly kidding, there is a house in our area that is decorated for many holidays, most with lights. Valentines Day, Easter, Memorial Day July 4th, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Halloween Thanksgiving and Christmas. Red lights for Valentines day. Yellow and red lights for Easter. Red, white and blue lights for July 4th. Orange lights for Halloween White lights for Veterans Day, And multi-colored lights for Christmas.

 

[Jennasis]

The weekend immediately following New year's Day.

 

[Meriweather]

Starting Tuesday. Hope to have it all down and back in storage before the 1st.

 

[disneychrista]

We didn't decorate this year. But when we did it was always the Weekend after the holiday. So if we had decorated, I would be taking them down tomorrow.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Right after New Years. If they stay up too long I start to get depressed. Feel like a lazy bum.

This. I keep the outdoor lights on until NYE but then they are turned off until its warm enough to take them down.
The tree lights are on today but its Boxing Day here so still holidayish. Probably last day we will turn it on and will take it down within the week.

 

[DebbieB]

I always go out of town to my aunts for New Years, so after I get back (Saturday). Last year I took my lights outside down right after I got home because snow was expected that night. My HOA requires outside decorations be down by 1/15.

 

[tzolkin]

After the Epiphany (January 6th).

What happened to the 12 Days of Christmas?


In our culture, we have moved to the idea of Thanksgiving to Christmas Day as being the "Christmas Season." But (traditionally/ religiously) Christmas Eve is just the beginning of the Christmas Season. Now it's all over the day it should just be getting started.

 

[disney world dreamer]

we don't take ours down until sometime in march.
no joke.

we have a large real tree in our family room.
we leave it right there and chop it up in order to get it out because the needles start falling off so easily after we undecorate it.

we have xmas lights above our kitchen table, a manger scene on the buffet in the dining room, a small fake tree in the living room, along with several decorations hung upr or sitting on tables throughout the house.

we also have christmas lights outside which we keep on nightly into march.
we figure its dark and snowy so why not light up the depressing month of february lol

the 4 years in a row that the bills went to the super bowl we had the tree down by super bowl sunday because we had people over to watch the game.

 

[tvguy]

Of course, Orthodox Christmas isn't until January 7th. A few years ago our local grocery store got a new manager who marked down all the Egg Nog to half price on January 2nd, cleared the shelves that day. He didn't know there were several big Orthodox churches in the area. He then spent a lot of time on January 4th and 5th trying to get 100 gallons of Egg Nog to fill special orders from the area Orthodox churches for their Orthodox Christmas celebrations.