Christmas Decorations - When is the time

When do you put your Christmas decorations away for another year? 

I think we're going to take the tree down and put the Christmas stuff away on Sunday. I'll keep the Winterberry dishes out until the end of February or so; they're pretty much an all- winter thing, not necessarily just for Christmas. Rick will take the outside stuff down on Sunday, too.

It's really nice to have the Christmas decorations up, but it's always kind of nice to get the house back into shape, too. Our house is pretty small, so taking the tree down makes our living room seem bigger. The problem is that the house always seems so plain once everything is down! (And then the winter doldrums usually set in....)

Usually they come down between January 2 and 5, though this year I took the tree down on December 30, figuring Mogli would have it completely destroyed by New Year's Day at the rate he was going. While I was at it I took down the other decorations.

I decorated earlier this year, and was actually getting tired of everything, so put it all away yesterday.

We still have it all. It never comes down before the end of New Year's Day. I have been know to leave it up all of January. It depends on how long it has already been there. Also, our schedule gets so hectic the two weeks before Christmas we are never home to enjoy it.

Sunday sounds like a good idea, Winchester, that's when I'll take mine down too! The temperature is supposed to be in the 40's then, so those trips back and forth to the shop where I store them won't be so bad. I feel so sorry for the three cats that I have heated pads for (Thank goodness for those!) It' still so cold,  single digits and low teens at night, I worry about them. But they look fat and sassy, and are always playing with the toy mice I give them. One of the 'herd' ,Tommy, or 'Yam" as my husband calls him because of his color, looked so miserable that he is now staying in my husband's shop. 50 degrees all the time. He too has a heated pad and a litterbox. His hair never did grow back very thick after it fell out after a topical flea treatment, he is still scratching months later. My husband is SO afraid I'll have the whole 'herd ' in there soon, and I probably would if I thought he wouldn't yell. Tommy is even coming in the house for a few hours for companionship!  

I started to slowly remove them the other day. In my family, they always came down on New Years Day-a ritual. 

I usually keep to that. It seems they start getting 'old" after that.

This year, I am really loving the strings of lights on the crown molding. I am going to miss them. 

I also put things in storage, so I am trying to pick a day which is not too cold or messy outside..

I just hate to take them all down. I am lazy also..very lazy and hate the mess it makes...   extra work

Any time after New Year's Day for us. It's going to be time to get the totes out and start filling them up.

totes are all filled up...why is it I always forget one or two items??

too lazy to repack things; so I leave it out all year.. It is usually an angel or a ceramic house or an evergreen tree. 

Just finished. I like taking them down on new years day. We put them up right after Thanksgiving so I feel like it has been long enough.

I have a friend who leaves her tree up until Valentine's Day.  

In England it's traditional to leave decorations up until January 6th. That's what makes the 12 days of Christmas

They go up the day after Thanksgiving, and come down on New Year's Day.  My dad was very emphatic about that, and I've just kept the tradition going all these years.  Tree came down about 3 this afternoon, wreath off the door, everything packed away.

It's all down.

Rick still has to go outside to take the lights off the trees.

Boy, the house looks forlorn with no Christmas decor!

My outside decorations are down, but I still have to take down the inside ones. We've got to get the totes out. I've been grabbing things here and there and starting to pile them on the dining room table. Abby LOVES to sleep under the tree and since she has her annual exam tomorrow, I don't want to take it away just yet.

Never. What does not go up does not need to come down. 

Mine are all down as of Saturday the 2nd. I love how much less cluttered my house looks without the Christmas trees, but it also lacks that fun holiday "sparkle." But the cats are getting a brand spanking new cat tree tomorrow in the corner where the big tree was, so I knew I'd want to get all the stuff put away before that arrived. Taking down a Christmas tree, while putting together a wooden cat tree did NOT sound fun. 

It's hard enough to get the trees down without accidentally packing a cat or two (they LOVE the tree and ornament boxes.) I can't imagine trying to do that with the giant cat tree boxes/parts sitting out. 

Winchester
Guess what? My windows outside still have the wreaths with the burgundy bows, and the burgundy wreath beside the front door. The spotlights are still in the yard. The wreath on the door by the garage is a grapevine wreath with berries and white snow looking stuff. I am going to leave it until spring. The Christmas tree still sits in the living room fully decorated and the winter/Christmas throws are still on the sofa, loveseat and rocker. I am enjoying them.

The other thing is my husband said if the stand was on rollers, we could take up the runners in the hallway, roll it into the first bedroom up in the corner and cover it with a bag or sheet, making it easy to access for future use. I asked him to rig it up and invent one. The funny thing is if you search "rolling Christmas tree stand" on E-bay you can buy one. Now I want. :nod:

We took our tree down last week.,  Last night we finally returned the small shelves to their rightful homes.  Eclipse was not happy, he doesn't like change.  Fluffy is happy to have her cube shelf back in front of the window.

I finally did it. The Christmas tree came down yesterday. My husband was being funny and said, "Leave it there," On Valentine's Day we can hang a heart on top. Then change the topper for Easter, Fourth of July, and other holidays to make it appropriate for each holiday. I have the decorations repacked and the boxes waiting to go back into the side closets upstairs. It is too cold here now for hubby to get the outside things down. The screens in the windows are one piece and he has to take them out to get the wreaths off the windows. I want it to be warm enough to open the windows and wash out the window sills. They get very dusty because we are surrounded on three sides by fields.

blueyedgirl5946 said:

I finally did it. The Christmas tree came down yesterday. My husband was being funny and said, "Leave it there," On Valentine's Day we can hang a heart on top. Then change the topper for Easter, Fourth of July, and other holidays to make it appropriate for each holiday. I have the decorations repacked and the boxes waiting to go back into the side closets upstairs. It is too cold here now for hubby to get the outside things down. The screens in the windows are one piece and he has to take them out to get the wreaths off the windows. I want it to be warm enough to open the windows and wash out the window sills. They get very dusty because we are surrounded on three sides by fields.

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My mom does that.  She has a small white artificial tree that she leaves up on a table in her living room, and decorates it for each season.