When do you take your Christmas Decorations down?

[ChristmasFairy]

For me ... it has always been Twelfth Night or January 6th ... the beginning of Epiphany ....

[B]The following is from Wikipedia. Where it says:
January 6th is Three Kings Day. It is the beginning of Epiphany -- The celebration of the Jesus public appearance in the world. So Christmas is over.

So Jan 6th is the end of the celebration of Christmas and so the decorations go down. Christmas starts several (4) weeks before the 25 with the lighting of the candles in the Advent wreath.

So there we have it my friends: While some people take their tree and decorations down early for aesthetics or convenience, the Official Date is the 6th of January and the day of the Epiphany! (The twelfth Day of Christmas!)

[ChristmasFairy]

Are you a teensy bit superstitious? Or maybe you just like adhering to ye olde time-worn traditions? Well, turns out there's quite a bit of superstition and tradition associated with when to take down your Christmas tree. Yes, you can just pack your tree and all those glittery decorations whenever. But if you want to do things by the book, let one of the following dates be your guide:

December 31: Take your tree down on New Year's Eve before the bells toll at midnight. Otherwise it's said you'll be dragging all your baggage and bad luck from 2009 into 2010 ... if you're superstitious about these things, that is.

January 5: Take your tree down on this day, traditionally considered the Twelfth Day of Christmas – i.e. the last of twelve days of Christmas merriment. Think of it as getting closure on the Holiday season.

January 6: Take it down on January 6 in observance of the Epiphany, a Christian holiday marking the revelation of God in human form, in the person of Jesus. Again, some would say leaving your tree up beyond the 5th or 6th brings bad luck.

Can't get it together to dismantle everything by January 6? Don't feel bad! Instead, focus on the positive with this fun list of 10 reasons to keep your tree up into January (...or beyond?).

Source (http://www.diylife.com/2009/12/28/when-to-take-down-your-christmas-tree/)

[ChristmasFairy]

More superstition or tradition ?? LOL ... Which ever way one sees it I guess .......

Why is it bad luck to leave the decorations up after Twelfth Night?

Long ago it was thought that leaving the decorations up would cause a disaster. People believed that tree-spirits lived in the greenery (holy, ivy etc) they decorated their houses with. The greenery was brought into the house to provide a safe haven for the tree-spirits during the harsh midwinter days....

Read more .... (http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/twelfth.htm)

[MinnesotaMike]

The interesting part about all that is some of it is religious and some of it pagan in origin. Throughout history, most of the world has kind of "melded" the two together in various ways. Hence, you see such a variety of Christmas celebrations throughout the world. I always love to hear and read about how Christmas is celebrated in other places.

To your original point though, we always keep our decorations up through New Years Day. Then, for the sake of convenience, we target the following weekend to take everything down and pack it away. That's simply because it's such a big job! Regardless though, New year's EVE is always the last evening I run my outdoor light display. Even if I haven't taken it down, I don't turn it on anymore after that.

[mina553]

(tree-spirits lived in the greenery ?) LOL
i was gonna take mine down soon cause iam tired of it now .
but YIKES lol i dont want no spirits coming 4 me
LMAO.
LM

[ChristmasFairy]

To your original point though, we always keep our decorations up through New Years Day. Then, for the sake of convenience, we target the following weekend to take everything down and pack it away. That's simply because it's such a big job! Regardless though, New year's EVE is always the last evening I run my outdoor light display. Even if I haven't taken it down, I don't turn it on anymore after that. It is a huge job ... and the least enjoyable part of Christmas for me. Seems as if the decs weren't up long enough this time as I was so late in getting them done :elf2:

So this weekend out come the boxes again and sadly it all gets put away ... sigh !!

[ornamentmaven]

I usually start takuing them down on January 2nd. It takes me two or three days to get everything down and put away!

[olga]

Christmas is over and in 3 days I have to find the courage to take my tree and all decorations down..
Really sad monents, those are that I hate most, when Holidays are over.

Well, I plan to start on Friday evening, hoping I will be through with this, until Saturday night.
This year, I will leave all year long some wooden sticks with lights.
Really good decoration and not necessary a Christmas one.

Then, I m thinking of catching up with my Victorian Christmas puzzle, I had got last spring.
Its a big one, 1000p and Im only done with the edges.

That, will definitely put a little smile on my face, now, that Christmas is over.

[Moley]

Isn't it the case that if you leave your decs up past january the 6th The Goblins get you?

[ChristmasFairy]

Isn't it the case that if you leave your decs up past january the 6th The Goblins get you?

Yep ... goblins aka 'tree spirits' (See my post #3)......... Haha!!!

Don't care if they do ... but gotta get these decs put away and stored properly and it's a huge job :elf1:

[HollyJolly]

Well, one of my Christmas trees is covered in snowmen, so I usually leave it up through the end of January...my other tree is all Santa, and to be honest, I didn't take it down at all last year! It was in the back den and we don't spend a whole lot of time back there, so out of sight, out of mind, I guess...I will probably take it down this year, though...

All of our outside decorations are down, but none of our indoor...I guess that will be a project for this weekend! :crying:

[Crazymike1965]

I am going to start to take some of the indoor decorations starting today. I should have everything down by the end of January. The big tree takes about 16 hours to be taken down.

[mina553]

i took the tree down to day CC but i left the porch decorations up 2 fool the tree spirits lol wink wink

[MinnesotaMike]

We have everything packed away, but I am still finding the odd item here and there that we missed the first time. I just came across a bag of spare bulbs in a drawer.

[ornamentmaven]

Took down the outside decs and most of the collections (Santas, Snowmen, Nutcrackers and misc.) yesterday. Today the two trees came down and tomorrow it will be the village and the stuffed animals. Then - all the boxes need to find a home in the basement (hubby's job)and the house will need a complete cleaning!

[olga]

Took down the outside decs and most of the collections (Santas, Snowmen, Nutcrackers and misc.) yesterday. Today the two trees came down and tomorrow it will be the village and the stuffed animals. Then - all the boxes need to find a home in the basement (hubby's job)and the house will need a complete cleaning!

Oh, thats the hard part of the job... cleaning the house...
This weekend, after taking all decorations down, I will do this, as well.. :xmastounge:

[Papa_Christmas]

I pull the plug on the 6th of January but that is not the norm in the USA. I have seen trees on the lawn for trash pick-up as early as the 26th but, nearly everyone here calls it quits on the 1st but I am not so eager to push Christmas aside so I hold out to the last.:elf3:

[ornamentmaven]

I still have to get everything back into storage, but I will leave up my bathroom shower curtain and rugs for a few more weeks!

[Chazz]

For the first time in the five years we've been together, my wife and I had everything down before Jan. 1. Usually we wait until the first week of January at the earliest.

[MinnesotaMike]

It's funny. We still have one storage bin out because we are using it for all the random stuff we come across as time goes on. It's already about 1/2 full!

[Home alone 2]

Taking my bedroom decs down now.

[Merry Christmas Darling]

I'm still working on my living room; then I have to do the dining room. I'd be further along if I hadn't been running to the doctors.

[Mistletoe]

I pull the plug on the 6th of January but that is not the norm in the USA. I have seen trees on the lawn for trash pick-up as early as the 26th but, nearly everyone here calls it quits on the 1st but I am not so eager to push Christmas aside so I hold out to the last.:elf3:

Same here. :tree: I still have the outside lights on. It's so dark and cold when everyone takes them down! When I have colored lights outside, I usually shut them off after Epiphany. But, this year, I have white lights on the bushes with colored lights in the candles. So after this weekend, I'll just switch the colored lights to white lights in the candles and that way I'll be able to extend my outdoor lights being on- I figure they'll be New Year's lights! We will take our tree down this weekend. :sad elf:

[SilverBells]

I took most of them down last night.

[Home alone 2]

Everything is down now, it looks so bare. :elf2:

[ornamentmaven]

It's funny. We still have one storage bin out because we are using it for all the random stuff we come across as time goes on. It's already about 1/2 full!

I know the feeling. I usually find things until May or June!

[Merry Christmas Darling]

Our weather was in the fifties today, so I brought all the outdoor decorations in. It seemed like spring out there! :elf1:

[MinnesotaMike]

I need to get the last of my outdoor lights back out in the garage. I brought them inside initially so they could warm up before I coiled them up and put them back in their boxes. However, my son keeps digging out lights and "decorating" the family room down there.

[no_1_christmas_fan]

Our tree goes down when Epiphany ends, as it's done traditionally. I always find it a sad day, but at least you can get on with the rest of the year!

[*Snowflake*]

usually 6.1, sad day indeed:elf2: