xmas decorations

Oh my - that's an awkward one etheltbags1. How mysterious... A few houses near me have switched their Christmas lights on already. Although I do love the build up to the big day, Dec is plenty time enough I think.

I talked to a neighbour today, who has his decorations up and a wreath on the door that plays music when you ring the bell. To the tune of jingle bells, I said 'ooh you are early with your decorations' and he replied' yes its because my wife died yesterday'. He must have seen my horrified face and amended by saying ' I mean she died 3 years ago yesterday so I put up my decorations'.

Does this mean the wife was a Christmas fanatic and would be happy he has the decorations up or did it mean that he was so glad to be rid of her that he celebrates every year ???
It takes all sorts.

Our town`s lights go on in time for the first of 2 late night shopping nights, usually the first 2 Thursdays in December. We don`t put the tree up till mid December, likewise the few Christmassy doo-dahs, but I hate when they come down on January 6th , because the room looks so dull and drab for a couple of days, till I get used to it again.

We still put up a large tree - I just can't seem to imagine Christmas without a tree dominating the living room. Not a real one, though, can't face all those needles. I absolutely smother it in decorations - no, not all stylishly toning but a wonderful eclectic mixture of colours and styles.
It never, ever goes up until the second half of December, often not until the last few days before the big day itself. Everything, the tree, the cards, and the little Christmas ornaments I put around the hearth and on the mantelpiece, is down and back in the loft by the 29th at the absolute latest as I'm sick of the sight of it by then

Many people here seem to use 1st Dec as their starting point but as a town centre we are probably later than many other towns. Town Centre lights are not lit until the first Friday in December (4th this year) with fireworks and a Victorian Christmas market (100 stalls) which lasts three days this year (visitors to Melton Mowbray please take note). There is also the largest decorated and lit Christmas Tree Festival in a church in St Marys (the church where Sir Malcom Sargant was organist). It is a really good weekend for Christmas shopping and getting in the mood generally.

At home about 2 weeks before Christmas is fine for me but they all taken down on 1st January and the house cleaned from top to bottom to welcome in the New Year.

I have to put the brakes on DH who loves Christmas and would have the tree up now if I let him. He will have to wait until a couple of weeks before the day. I tend to decorate the fireplace but keep everything else to a minimum. And I can't wait to get rid of it all when the festivities are over! GS and I made decorations out of clay last year and painted them. It was great fun (if rather messy!) and I hope he'll want to do it again this year.

I just have a small but convincing fake tree as I'm usually away at Christmas. Of course the cards go up as well, but that's about it. I was brought up not to take the decorations down until 12th Night, so I don't.

Ours have got less over the years. I couldn't imagine not putting up the tree. We have a garland of holly and pine cones with lights intertwined that goes across the fire place a couple of tasteful stag and santa figures and that's it plus the cards. Decs get put up about the 15th Dec and come down 2nd or 3rd Jan.

Ours go up first weekend in December and down on Twelfth night. They've got less indoors as years have gone by, but have more lights outside! DH's fault....he loves his outside lights. Our house used to overflow with cards/decs and parties when they were younger - all 5 of us have birthdays from mid Nov to mid Jan, 3 of them in December!

Oh, it's Santa's grotto here when they do go up. We have a small house, but always have a big tree (this year I'm hoping for two, as the garden centre did a buy one, get a small one for a fiver deal last year). We have lots of holly and ivy harvested by OH, strings of lights. Ornaments, both the classy and expensive, and the cheap and tacky (DH's musical big wheel with the flashing fit-inducing lights has to get a mention here) and Christmas characters, all the cards on display. It all goes up in mid December and comes down on 6 January, and I always feel a wee bit depressed when it has to end. I love Christmas

I posted on my FB page on Saturday that I'd seen 2-3 houses in town with their decs up and that it was way to early.

I love putting up all the Christmas decorations, mainly greenery and berries, of which my garden has plenty. We buy the Christmas tree several weeks in advance as if you leave it too late the choice is very limited .

The decorations go up a week before Christmas and come down after 1st January.

We decorate the house around 15th December and take down around January. Any longer and everything just gets too dusty and shabby looking.

If I decorated outside the house I'd probably do that at the beginning of December as I love to see houses lit up.

I hang up Christmas cards, end of.

I don't do much in the way of decorations. A few days before Christmas I get out my 18" fibre-optic tree, which I put away in the loft completely decorated each year. I add a door wreath and garland twisted around the banisters, and that is it, apart from Blu-tacking the cards to internal doors in the shape of a tree. The DGCs are more or less grown up, so don't notice anyway. By Boxing Day I am anxious to take them down, but wait if having visitors after then.
I shall be glad when it is all over! Bah Humbug!

You do all realise that "every time a Christmas tree is decorated before December, an elf drowns a baby reindeer", don't you?

We put them up about a week before Christmas and they are usually down by 3rd Jan. Too soon and it takes away the 'specialness' . Having them up any longer would drive me mad even though I love them over the christmas period.

When the children were small we always put up the tree and decorations on the 21 Dec, my daughters birthday, one year younger son whose birthday is in August wanted to know why he did did not have a tree on his birthday. I can't remember what the reply was but he didn't get one!

As we live in the middle of our village we have become the first to put up our outside lights for Xmas. It's really funny as we are asked when will they be going up and then everybody does it. It's lovely to see the Square all lit up. However, a newbie family across the way already has a decoration on the door and lights in their bush. Shock horror! The other neighbours are a bit annoyed. I hope they don't ostracise this couple because they are very nice people. I love living in our village - there is never a dull moment!

Oh I do sound a bit ...bah humbug.... I'm not really.

I don't put up a tree, there is a 6' tall grape ivy in the porch and that gets adorned with lights. Several very nice Christmas garlands with beautiful berries make the place festive and are put up in minutes. Also a few Christmas wreaths go up indoors and two outdoors. Close family cards are displayed and the rest go into a wooden bowl on the hearth.

I've stopped putting out the dozens of bits and pieces that take hours to wrap and put away.

I am starting to do the whole christmas thing earlier as dec gets busier nowadays.
But I do not have any intention whatsoever of decorating the house anytime soon.
I agree that it is too early for children to wait.

I was talking to a guy today who has all his Christmas cards written and ready to post.
I haven't even thought about buying mine.

Ours have always gone up the first weekend after the 12th December. I came home from hospital with baby one on Dec 12th, and we put the tree up the following Saturday. We don`t really have decorations, just a few Christmassy ornaments, plus the cards on strings.

I love Christmas and all the paraphernalia. It marks the season's. I decorate the whole of downstairs even if like this year we will be out on Christmas day. I start the weekend before, they come down twelfth night.