When I was a kid we always took them down on Epiphany after the sun went down; I gather the Dutch have a supersi- er, tradition that it’s bad luck to have the decorations still up on Epiphany itself so they take them down on the 5th.
I never got waited on, though. Maybe I should have held out for an Irish guy instead of a Dutch one.
There should’ve been an option of “I always faithfully take them down on the night of January 5th, the end of Christmas season”.
I took down the outside lights on the 5th this year, but didn’t get the tree down until yesterday afternoon.
January 6th is the beginning of Carnival season, so in New Orleans, a lot of people put up their purple, green and gold Mardi Gras decorations up when they take their Christmas decorations down.
I visit family for Christmas so I don’t put up decorations in my own house.
I didn’t. The tree is still up. I don’t go back to work until Tuesday, but I betcha that Friday will be the next time I think about it.
I take mine down the day after New Years. This year we had a little artificial tabletop tree, taking off the ornaments, putting the tree in the box, stowing it all away in the basement didn’t take half an hour. Easy Peasy!..People are still displaying their outdoor lights on their houses around here, though it’s the kind of street where any outdoor lights (lanterns, on posts or mounted on the houses) are always on. I think little white twinkling lights inside or outside are wonderful to look at in the winter…And finally: I SWEAR the neighbors across the street still have their tree up. I can make out flashing lights of some kind but my daughter said it’s just their big screen TV. Those lights are in a triangular shape. I may have to dig out the binoculars…
Putting away Christmas decorations is traditionally my New Year’s Day activity. Many years in a row I did it reliably on the 1st. This year I didn’t feel like it and swore I’d do it the next weekend. Didn’t happen. I’m going to do it this evening while everyone who lives with me watches a football game. I still don’t feel like it…
All it is is a 6’ tree and a nutcrackers and knick knacks. We don’t do any outdoor decorating.
I always sign up for the Boy Scout to pick up my tree on January 2. It forces me to take care of it pretty quickly. I took down the outdoor lights at teh same time, except for one strand thats high up and the snow is causing ladder unsteadiness. The snow is almost gone now.
My neighbor is taking his down today. They’ve been fully lit every night since Thanksgiving, including the tree in the front window.
Same here, so none of the options.
They come down after an epiphany, which is generally followed by “Dammit, I knew I was supposed to do something on Saturday.”
We faithfully take ours down before January is over - this year it was last weekend. We have a fake tree.
When I was growing up, we used to have real trees, and as I got older it stayed up longer and longer and longer. My junior year of high school, I stayed home from school the day before my birthday (Dad was out of town) to take down the tree because I had friends coming for a sleepover the next day. My birthday is May 1.
PUt me down for another of the decorations are down, but the box isn’t put away yet.
Tree is down. It was getting crispy.
The outside lights are still on, and we took the lights from the tree and hung them over the curtains for that soft night-time glow. Maybe we’ll take them down by Easter.
BTW, I’m never eating Rice Krispies again. Ever.
I don’t insist on the decorations being down immediately but they must be down by my birthday (1/13).
Last week was particularly strange for me because we were in Disney and they still have the decorations up, and the temp was in the 60s to 70s.
There was no snow or cold and the decorations were up as I was turning 30.
It was a bit confusing.
Anyway, we ran out of pinecones just after Christmas so we’ve been using our Christmas tree to start fires.
Here in NE, we face the bleakest period of the year. The stretch from New years to Washington’s Birthday is the coldest and darkets time of the year. I like to come home to a lit Christmas tree-I would keep mine up till St. patrick’s day (March 17) if my wife would let me!(The outside lights are still up).
Honestly, we need a longer Christmas season-till the end of February would be about right!
Gah! I had asked the folks at home to bring in the bins (from out in the unlit spider filled shed) while I was at work. That never happened, and by the time I got home it was dark. Yesterday it poured rain and I didn’t want to go out there, and I try not to ask anyone to do things for me that I wouldn’t want to. And tonight well, I’m just not feeling like it again…maybe my husband will already have brought in the bins by the time I get home…maybe.
They’re down! They’re down!
That’s the outside stuff. The bins aren’t all away, but they’re not in the way, so that’s no big deal. Also the tree is still up inside, but it’s on someone else’s desk, so I figure it’s their decision.
Put my fake tree away today. Outside lights (just white ones) still up, still turning on at dusk. Hey, it’s still cold and dark!
I took the Skald option. The tree came down around the 2nd. We usually have it up longer than that but this tree started dying early.
Turns out I was wrong. It’s warm now and the lights are still up there. It’s not that it’s cold, just that I’m lazy. Who knew?
I took the tree down a day or two after Christmas (it was depressing me, too - I gotta find a better way to deal with Christmas next year). Thinking about it, I realized that I have a few decorations left, though - I put Christmas tree balls in my silk tree, and they looked so nice there I left them (and added a few sparkly birds). We have a Christmas tree ornament that looks just like the Squiddies from The Matrix, so I put that on my dining room light fixture (yes, we ARE massive geeks, thank you for noticing). I also left the green bulb in my front door light outside - it makes it easier to find the turnoff for our house at night.
And all the boxes aren’t put away yet.