Or if Christmas isn’t part of your background do you decorate for any other holiday this season? And I’m particularly curious as to whether single Dopers who live alone decorate.
Since my kids moved to the US, I’ve not really bothered apart from maybe putting Christmas cards on the windowsill. Don’t count those as decorations.
I was nagged about it last year, so put up a tree for a few days to appease the source of my earache.
I wasn’t going to since it would be just me seeing it, but my brother’s coming to town and my son will stop by for a few hours on christmas.
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. This year I haven’t. When I decorate, the centerpiece is either a teeny weeny Nativity (each figure is about half an inch tall) or a Baby Jesus.
No kids, no grandkids and two misbehaving cats mean no tree or lights for us.
Some years yes, some years no. This year we just couldn’t be bothered. Thank goodness.
I wouldn’t do it for just me. Well, maybe a wreath on the door or a string of lights in the window, but that’s it. But my husband really likes some sort of recognition of the holiday, so I put up a tiny potted tree, put lights on it and prettily wrapped presents around it. I have a more or less homemade wreath on the door (looks very nice if I do say so myself!), and lights around the door and in the kitchen window.
Besides the fact that I’m basically a curmudgeon who does not go in for big celebrations, having between 6 & 9 cats & 2 large dogs in the house at any one time means that a big tree would be in constant danger. Also, any decorations would have to be no lower than 3 ft off the ground to be even remotely safe, which would look silly.
Hrumpf.
Just my husband and me. We have a wreath on the door and a Christmas tree in the lounge. That’s it.
Me and my SO always do, a seven foot tree at least. I also had a tree when I lived alone. I think I would be particularly miserable living alone at Christmas in a bare apartment when everywhere else is heaving with twinkly lights.
Christmas ain’t just for the kids. I’m having a lovely day tomorrow with just adult friends. We’ll still have the full works – games, crackers, presents, Doctor Who Christmas special.
Married, no kids - most years we put up some minor lights on the house and a tree. This year we got sick of the heat leakage involved in running an extension cord outside, so we have a few wreaths and “candles”, all with battery packs, on the front of the house. We usually put up a tree but were just too busy and distracted this year to bother.
Three adults here, one of them a young adult. No one cares much any more if we decorate or not, and guess whose lot in life it is to DO all the decorating??? I have three big vintage-looking brass (decorative) bird cages that I used to put plants and silk flowers in, according to the season. Hydrangeas in summer, sunflowers in the fall, beautiful silk and velvet pointsettias during Christmas. But they had to be arranged JUST SO in order to look good, and it could take over an hour, and other than me, no one cared. So I don’t bother. We just put up our fake tabletop tree a week ago because tonight is Christmas Eve when we open presents, and it just doesn’t seem right to have no tree at all. Someday I can see buying an enormous pointsettia plant and stringing it with tiny white lights, that would be pretty! (only I have and always will have a cat, and I wouldn’t want them to nibble on a real plant, so…maybe I can stop in AC Moore next week and take a look at what they have, for future reference.)
my parents well my mom was a big decorator so when I moved out I had my owe fake tree so I do put it up on Christmas. My b/f could careless but that is the only thing I do. I almost didn’t put my tree up this up this year but my mom was upset so she came over and helped me. And I will go over their house and help her make cookies. But that is it. She makes so many that it is crazy but that way I can give them out to my boss and my b/f relatives as well so it works out.
My wife and I usually have a tree, a wreath on the door and some lights on the front porch. If we are hosting a Christmas party we have more stuff.
I said “single - some decorations no tree” but technically I do have a tree. It’s akin to a wreath on the door tho. Just a 2’ pre-lit jobby on which I put like 8 ornaments. It goes in the front window and serves as the outdoor lights too.
I also have these super cheap felt bear ornaments from my grandma (deceased) who was a crazy old bat, and I put them up in my fake ficus. That’s the extent of my decoration.
My folks put up a tree but it’s nothing special. I don’t know if mom even puts any of her personal ornaments on it, or just gets matching colored balls and throws them up. It looks nice but it’s not even in the family room - just off to the side of the dining room.
We’re somewhere in the middle on this issue, and do more some years than others. I didn’t get around to putting up the fake tree this year, and won’t bother now. I will pull out some more ornaments and get it looking a little Christmas-y around here (we’ve had lights up outside since Halloween - I like the lights outside because December is a very dark time around here).
We have a tree in the living room, a tree in the family room, and some lights outside. I also scattered a few other decorations around, because many of them are from my childhood and remind me of home.
This is our first married Christmas, and our first in the new house, so despite being very stressed out and tired, I really wanted to decorate at least a little. Left to my own devices, I like to decorate a lot for Christmas, especially if people are coming over. I’m not as into it as my mother (yet) with her set of Christmas-themed dishes and coffee mugs. I will admit to the Christmas dish towels, though. My husband can take it or leave it - the only “must” for him is the tree, and the rest is extra.
me, SO, no kids, three cats… only one of which is the Destroyer of All.
I put the tree on a table and only durable ornaments on the low branches. So far, no breakage…
When I lived alone I’d put up the little tree I had, but in the 3 years I’ve lived with my SO I’ve only bothered once. We don’t have a ton of room and he just doesn’t care.
I usually don’t decorate at all (single, live alone), but this year I’m dating someone, so I put out four decorations so he won’t think I’m a complete curmudgeon. My decorations: small (about 18 inches) fake tree; glass bowl full of white red, and gold ornaments; small Santa figurine; and one Christmas candle.
My wife actually leaves some Christmas-y decorations up all year long! (Two nutcracker statues and a wreath-type thing.) She’s originally from China, so she doesn’t really associate nutcrackers with Christmas.
We also have a fake tree we put up.