PirateFoxy I hope Mom is well and I'm glad you're keeping Christmas for her.

We've had a heck of a month -- my son, just recovered from a concussion, hit his head and broke his arm two weeks before the holiday, my husband totaled my SUV five days before we were hosting family (they're both fine, thank goodness), I had to shop for and buy a new one, and both my inlaws were in the hospital, one planned, one not -- so lots of trips there and now to their home to help out.

We'd brought home our beautiful Concolor fir and put it in a bucket in the corner of the great room the morning of the broken arm, and there it still was two hours before our guests arrived Christmas Eve. We put it in its stand and displayed her in her birthday suit, calling her Lady Godiva. Although we'd talked about turning our night into a tree trimming party in addition to a birthday and holiday celebration, she was so beautiful on her own that we didn't carry down all of the plastic boxes and make a big mess of dressing her -- we just enjoyed each others' company.

Easiest cleanup ever. :)

PirateFoxy & Barnhart Gallery I pray your loved ones will have a speedy recovery. Happy belated Christmas! Can hardly wait for Christmas 2014!!!!

armipeg, Good for you!!!!

re: isabelle's Jan. 03 comment, we left our holiday decor up for a celebration with good friends which was held in January, best then as everyone can come! www.luminosodesign.com

thanks for liking our comment! www.luminsoodesign.com

Wow...Barnhart Gallery and others have my sympathy. Everything comes down at our house the first week in January. There's NOTHING fun about taking a Christmas tree down. I'm still seeing outside Christmas lights lit up and it's January 22...time to put them to bed!

It seemed Christmas came and went so quickly, I'm surprised how so many stores on December 26 had stuff out for Valentines Day already.

My Christmas tree tipped over on Christmas Eve - two hours before all were due to arrive - just as I placed an ornament on the 90% decorated tree. I live alone and was stuck holding the tree full of my ornament collection. Finally I realized the only option was to strip the tree of all the ornaments - with one hand as I held it. We had a bare tree for the holiday and I've yet to put away all the remaining ornaments (only lost a few treasures) since I don't want to think about it. Though truth be told I usually put off that task for weeks and weeks. Here's my tree from another year - when I was smart enough to tie it up with string.

Elizabeth B, a lot of work and time goes into creating a tree as beautiful as this. I don't blame you for losing heart with last year's decorating after the tip!

I am still working at taking mine down - it is a big project to put up and to take down but will finish this weekend and it will be great to reclaim the room again!

Growing up, the first weekend in December was dig everything out and decorate the house. My parents had a 'tree inna box'. It was nice on some years that we could take a few lower back branches off to get all the presents under it (the year of mom's crystal chandelier I had to take three rows off the back) It took two solid days to put stuff up too, even the fridge magnets got replaced and there was a little ornament to hang off the pull ring on the adjustable hanging light over the kitchen table. Stuff got taken down the first weekend after January 3rd.

In our house it's a little more flexible, my hubby's family celebrated Christmas eve night; when they got their stuff before going to midnight mass. So he gets his 'tree and present' sometime around supper usually. Some years that was it, other than me stringing some lights outside, roughly around Thanksgiving and taken down sometime early January. A few years it's been a full tree, tree inna box (we have a campaigner 4' that went on the coffee table for about a week every season) then a few years of a full sized artificial one; and one year a real tree when his mother came to stay with us. That one was up for about 2 weeks; decorated before she arrived and went out right after New Year's after she left.

This year it was his gift arrived via Amazon and UPS on Christmas Eve, and I dug out a weighted base 8" tall decorated tree and stuck it on top the just delivered box. I was in the throes of major construction zone--sawdust, leveling compound, and drywall grit just doesn't mix with décor. With the remodel we might actually get into a regular decorating seasonal schedule.... heh.

Out the day after christmas...

So nice reading about everyone's traditions and how their Chrstmases went. Full of warm fuzzies..................I think I will skip reading the paper this morning so I don't ruin my peacful feeling.........everyone, THANKS FOR SHARING!

Wow Elizabeth Bolton it sounds like you have a very interesting Christmas season. :D I hope you were ok, I can't believe that happened to you!

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YAYYYY!!!!!!!!! Christmas is back! How long will we keep up the decorations this year?

We took the outside decorations down January 4th.
We will take the inside decorations (window-candles and Christmas tree) down January 11th.

It's January 2nd and I think I will take the outside decorations down between the 3rd and 6th.

My tree and décor go up on Thanksgiving Day. They will stay up until the second week in January. I have a lot of people coming and going this year. So it will be up longer than January 6th; the Epiphany. I just love the Holiday Season, and get excited from Halloween till Mid January. I love the Spirit in the air. And during all of these months I listen to favorite Christmas music beginning in September. I suppose that I am a Holiday Junky. But I just love it. I also begin early; in Spring; to begin making a lot of my gifts. But once we have our New York State Fair during the last week of September, it is time to get ready for Halloween; and all of the Holiday's just come up so fast after Labor Day.

As a matter of fact, last years tree came out so beautiful that I kept it up for the rest of the year, covered it with a white material. I had painted my living room a beautiful Turquoise color to match the tree; this spring I will be changing the color of the living room and adjusting the color of the décor for the tree next year.

I packed everything away Dec 28 ...headed south for couple months

It took my husband over a week to build the new stand for our new house and another four days for us to put all the ornaments on and houses around -- not coming down for a few more days....

That is a beautiful surrounding...love that village around the tree

My live tree will stay decorated until Mid January at least. All my grandchildren were away for Christmas so we will have a family Christmas here when some of them return.

Our granddaughter helped me take down the tree, lights and wreaths today. Then we went for a girls day, shopping and lunch. She is so much help and a sweetheart besides. Now I can relax a bit.

Mine came down today. Everything cleaned up before everyone goes back to school/work.

Our childhood tradition (not so green in retrospect) was to go with our Dad into the deep woods most often in the New England snowfall, chop down the years favorite white pine, and leave it by the back door for Santa. Then in a combination of the secular and the religious, Santa would decorate the tree and bring presents and eat his cookies after we were in bed on Christmas Eve, he'd hang a sheet across the foyer entry, and we woke up to a bountiful Stocking on our beds...and that was IT until after church and breakfast! All the decorations came down on the eve of Epiphany.

Impossible to accomplish all that in today's world, but we've comprised and wait to put our tree up until the fourth Sunday of Advent (the season of anticipation), and follow family tradition on January 5.

Does anyone from New England remember Jordan Marsh's Enchanted Village from the 50's? As kids we were treated to two Christmas shopping trips on the train to Boston each year, one with my mom to shop for our father, and the other with my dad to shop for mom. Two visits to the Enchanted Village with lunch and a milkshake at Bickfords.

Memories are sweet, grandkids appreciate it in our home BUT not in theirs LOL!

Jordan's Furniture in Avon now has that Enchanted Village. I like that the village is now at the place that used to advertise, " not to be confused with Jordan Marsh!"

Thanks for the info ladma! Will make that a Christmas trip with the kids next December for sure...and try to resist all the new furniture.

While I find it creepy, I keep meaning to get my MIL to the Enchanted Village because she loved it back in her day. (She also thinks "It's a Small World" is the best ride at Disney, LOL)

I always feel the holidays aren't over until after New Year's. I'm in the midst of working on it now. The tree went out to the curb this morning for pickup. Nothing fun about after-holiday cleanup.

our tree had to be on the curb at 7 am or own it another year; i undecorated it yesterday and we carried it out in the dark and very pouring rain, happily the tree's arrival was much pleasanter.

i keep my other decorations up til epiphany (this friday). i'll stop turning my outside decorations on then, also.

i have a tall cabinet that i decorate for 'winter', that will stay til early march.

They always stay up through Epiphany. I can't pack up the three wise men if they haven't made it to the stable yet:)

First, I use decorations only in the outside, I hate all the sparkling things flying through my home. Will stay forever it's too cold to go outside

jhmarie, my daughter and i have a date for friday to bake the camel shaped peanut butter cookies.

My wife and I are die-hard Christmas fans. We LOVE decorating for the holiday. I had our lights up outside (not on, but close) by the first week of November. We decorated the interior of our house thoroughly by early December. Our decorations will probably stay up until at least February. We have two 8ft. shelves on a wall that got emptied and refilled with Christmas decorations. We did it tastefully so it can stick around for as long as we would like. I'll post a pic later to share the joy!

I used to love it all... this year just a little bit up and all put away before New Year's Eve. Maybe next year will be more decorated.

I always keep my Holiday decor up through the Twelve days of Christmas. I don't understand why people act as though Christmas is all over after Christmas day.

"The twelve days in the song are the twelve days starting with Christmas Day, or in some traditions, the day after Christmas (December 26) (Boxing Day or St. Stephen's Day, as being the feast day of St. Stephen Protomartyr), to the day before Epiphany, or the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6, or the Twelfth Day). Twelfth Night is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking."

Finally got mine all done...whew!!!

My dear, dear Everest is near the end of his storied and eventful life and will be put to rest this Saturday. He really believes in Santa and adores Christmas, so it stays up until then. (Sob!)

Barnhart, my heart aches for you. We've been there, too...just hope it helps a little to know others understand. He looks like a very special and beautiful dog.

Everest is beautiful. It's heart-wrenching for us when the end comes. I'm sure he's had a fabulous life with you. My condolences...

Thanks chloebud and tgb1.

Heartbreaking. He is a beautiful dog. Will say a little prayer on Saturday, but he is going straight to heaven, for sure.

Thanks JudyG. Two days left and spoiling him like crazy.

Barnhart, I will be thinking about you on Saturday. Please come back and let us know how you're doing. It was a Saturday when we had to say goodbye to our sweet boy.

Our decorations go up gradually through December with the tree up before Christmas Eve, and everything stays through orthodox Christmas (Jan 6) or slightly later. We are not religious, but developed this practice when living overseas, realizing that our daughter and husband had multiple Christmas events to attend...a nice break and later Christmas with us, far less busy and challenging for a fit into multiple family traditions. Now, we're finding that Rob and I are invited to all the gatherings which rather defeats the "less busy" purpose. Might reassess! Tree down yesterday, decore in our suites removed today...planning for Spring ;-)

It's always a Saturday, isn't it, so the whole family can be there? (Now a family with a gaping hole in it.) I left the tree up until his passing the 14th, then solemnly took everything down.

Today is his birthday; 7 in heaven...O{:o)

And while the timing feels a little too soon for us, our other dear dog is alone, so we're in the process of getting a new friend for her. By the time we get him, I think we'll be ready.

(For ransacked recyclables, chewed up household items, going outside every fifteen minutes, poop everywhere...;)

I totally understand. He'll be with you always. Try to console yourself with all the love and caring you gave him...and vice versa. Really sweet to think about a new friend for the other dog. That should help everyone. Happy Birthday, Sweet Everest.

Thanks so much chloebud.

Happy birthday Everest! I hope you're having a grand time with my precious fuzzy angels....