When is Christmas over?

[1948berg]

Traditionally it lasted until the twentieth day of Christmas - 13. January. Some says it lasts to the thirteenth day of Christmas, (Norway)
We let the tree stand till January 13. But we dont lite and decorate it until Christmas eve.
Are your trees out yet?

[Bird]

I think we have so many individuals who do things differently that no single answer would be right for the USA. We usually put up the tree, outside lights, etc. between Thanksgiving (3rd Thursday of November) and the first of December, and we used to leave it all up and lit until after January 1. This year, I put up the outside lights on November 28 and my wife and daughter did the indoor decorating on November 30. But a bit to my surprise, my wife got busy the day after Christmas taking down and putting away all the indoor decorations, so I went out and took down the outdoor stuff. But some people in the area still have their outdoor Christmas lights lit up at night.

[MossRoad]

Never!!!

We always cut down a fresh tree about two weekends before Christmas and keep it up until the weekend after January 6th. January 6th is the Epiphany, sometimes called Three King's Day. And the weekend after the 6th is just convenient to take it down.

Once in a great while, the tree will dry out early and we have to take it down for safety. Once, when I was a kid, we still had it up at my parent's house during the 2nd week of February. And in 1997, about 8 days before Christmas when I was at work, about a week after we put up our tree, my wife called me, very upset, because there were thousands of preying mantisses crawling all over our house. Seems a large egg sack was in the tree and they though it was spring!

[pennwalk]

When I was a small child my dad used to take us out Christmas eve to get our tree. of course we got a super deal just before they burned them We always get a really tall one and cut off what we didn't need. My dad liked to keep is up almost till Easter so we would get our dollars worth. Now days my family gets our tree shortly after Thanksgiving. It is shocking how much we pay. What amazes me is that by Christmas half the needles have fallen off. If we tried to keep it till Easter there would be nothing left but sticks. Makes me look back fondly to the old times when stuff was not only cheaper but lasted a good long time. We do leave the outside lights up for quite a while. After all, the dark days of January and February are when we really need cheering up.

Chris

[MossRoad]

Originally Posted by pennwalk

When I was a small child my dad used to take us out Christmas eve to get our tree. of course we got a super deal just before they burned them We always get a really tall one and cut off what we didn't need. My dad liked to keep is up almost till Easter so we would get our dollars worth. Now days my family gets our tree shortly after Thanksgiving. It is shocking how much we pay. What amazes me is that by Christmas half the needles have fallen off. If we tried to keep it till Easter there would be nothing left but sticks. Makes me look back fondly to the old times when stuff was not only cheaper but lasted a good long time. We do leave the outside lights up for quite a while. After all, the dark days of January and February are when we really need cheering up.

Chris

We are fortunate to have a really nice Christmas tree farm nearby. They had saws to borrow, but I took my grandpa's. There was a foot of fresh snow, so we could not drive back into the tree fields, so we walked about a quarter mile back, selected our prey, ah, err, tree, cut it down and then the fun started. The kids wondered why I brought a long rope... I tied it to the tree and made loops in it, threw the loops over their shoulders and yelled "MUSH!!". We dragged it the quarter mile back. We got a nice fir tree, shaken on the machine to knock off the loose needles, put in a net mesh bag and a free wreath for $20.00. Can't beat it.

[Podunkadunk]

Apparently, people who live in trailers here in the south feel Christmas never ends.

They leave their Christmas lights up all year long, sometimes yard decorations too! My favorite is reindeer sitting atop an old mattress. I guess they needed a soft landing zone.

Viva Christmas!

[MossRoad]

You're supposed to change them with the seasons. We have trout lights for fishin' season and hot chilli pepper lights for drinkin' season. Still need some of them punkin' lights for spookemup season, though.

[tommu56]

Originally Posted by MossRoad

Never!!!

We always cut down a fresh tree about two weekends before Christmas and keep it up until the weekend after January 6th. January 6th is the Epiphany, sometimes called Three King's Day. And the weekend after the 6th is just convenient to take it down.

Once in a great while, the tree will dry out early and we have to take it down for safety. Once, when I was a kid, we still had it up at my parent's house during the 2nd week of February. And in 1997, about 8 days before Christmas when I was at work, about a week after we put up our tree, my wife called me, very upset, because there were thousands of preying mantisses crawling all over our house. Seems a large egg sack was in the tree and they though it was spring!

That brings back memory's When I was a kid my Father didn't take tree down (mom undecorated it) so for valentines day (Feb 14th) she wrapped it with a sheet with a red hart painted on it It was down that evening!

tom

[RedDirt]

Christmas isn't over until all the Christmas cookies are gone!

[MossRoad]

Originally Posted by RedDirt

Christmas isn't over until all the Christmas cookies are gone!

My mother-in-law keeps cookie dough frozen in 1 dosen pre-made packs. So, anytime we want Christmas cookies, she just pops a dozen in the oven... celebrate all year!