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Email a FriendMy mom always kept the tree up until Epiphany and we have tended to do the same. This year we didn’t get our tree till mid-Advent (a first!) so it still looks lovely and green. I am really enjoying having all the Christmas decorations up this year until Sunday, the Baptism of the Lord - which I’ve since learned is actually the end of Christmas, not Epiphany.
(Although I did have to laugh today when our babysitter gave the tree a funny look, like “why is that still up?”)
Christmas Time
Is it still in your home?
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Tuesday, January 04, 2011 9:40 PM
Every year, my aim is to keep our tree up until Epiphany. Most years, I don’t quite make it.
Usually, by New Year’s Day, our live Christmas tree is dangerously parched and needing to come down. Besides the safety issues, by January I’m generally just ready to take down the Christmas decor and move back towards simplicity and space.
This year I didn’t do any Christmas decorating until the week before Christmas, so things still feel nice and new. The tree is indeed getting dry, but I’m not really tired of its presence. Since I went through all the effort to put things up not that long ago, I’m not chomping to take anything down.
This year, our tree and everything else will make it to Epiphany—and then some!
Have you taken your tree down already, or do you leave it up until the arrival of the Three Kings? Also, does anyone else out there burn their tree in the backyard when they’re done—or is that just us?!
Comments
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Posted by RB on Tuesday, Jan 4, 2011 11:30 PM (EDT):
Yes, our tree will definitely be up until the 6th, maybe until the Baptism, since the Epiphany was celebrated SO early in the church this year. Whenever someone says “Christmas is over’, I always remind them there are 12 days!
Keeping our outside lights bright until the 6th is a good reminder to all…
Posted by Terri on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 6:40 PM (EDT):
Our tree is still up until the Baptism of the Lord! I, too, remind people that it’s the “12 Days of (after) Christmas, not the 12 Days Before.” I’m even tempted to take the ornaments off of the tree (artificial) and decorate it with snow and birds, then keep it up through the end of Jan. The house just seems less cozy without it. Candlemas…..hmmm, may have to start that tradition! ;D BTW, I still wish people Merry Christmas, too.
Posted by mom of girls on Tuesday, Jan 4, 2011 11:45 PM (EDT):
Our pastor encourages us to keep us up until the Baptism of the Lord (this Sunday), because he says that’s when the Christmas season officially ends for the church. That’s what we try to do. We do the fake thing, though, which doesn’t bring safety hazards into the picture. I totally agree that when you put it up affects how long you can stand to leave it up. We waited until the week before this year too, and I’m so glad 
Our tree and decorations are still up! While we get our tree about midway through December, I don’t fully decorate it until the week of Christmas. Partly b/c I like the way it looks with just lights and partly b/c I do try to honor Advent.
So our tree will come down next Monday/Tuesday, after the feast of the Baptism of the Lord (and the night before garbage night!). I will so miss it as I love to sit in the calm of the evening and see the twinkly lights while I read. So peaceful!
Posted by Claire on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 12:52 AM (EDT):
We get fresh cut trees and put them up fairly early in the season. Ideally I would keep our tree up till Baptism of the Lord. But, my son’s birthday is 1/8, and he insists on having his party at home. So, we took the Christmas decorations down on New Year’s day so that we can decorate for his birthday party. It was very depressing. Usually his birthday eases the pain because it gives me something to look forward to, but this year I really struggled with putting away the Christmas decorations.
Posted by Monica (momof2) on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 10:14 AM (EDT):
Are you kidding? One of my son’s birthday is January 8 also! That is also why I take down everything between Epiphany and Jan. 8. Since we usually have a bunch of kids over and we have a small house, there just isn’t room for kids and tree. So probably I will take everything down Friday, Jan. 7.
Posted by Claire on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 11:47 AM (EDT):
Wow, January 8 is a great day! It’s my cousin’s birthday, too.
We have a small house, too, and we’re having 11 kids plus infants and parents for his birthday party on Saturday! (I invited way more than I would have because this time of year kids get sick all the time, and I was afraid if I only invited a handful of kids, half of them might get sick and then it wouldn’t feel like a party. But, so far all 11 are coming!) I’m quite nervous about fitting everyone into my small house! We’ll have to compare notes next week.
Posted by Christina on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 2:17 AM (EDT):
Even though I grew up with real trees, my husband didn’t, so we use an artificial tree. I LOVE having my Christmas tree up, so I always keep it until at least the Baptism. (I say at least only because I am lazy and don’t always get it down that day.) If I had a real tree, I probably would do something like put it up Gaudete Sunday and take it down on Epiphany. Or at least remove the lights to reduce the fire hazard if I were to leave it up until the Baptism.
Posted by Monique on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 8:22 AM (EDT):
Our trees are still up! We like to keep them up until Baptism, thought this year they will be taken down on Saturday, while ED is home to help. Outdoor lights have stayed on continuously since Christmas Day thru tomorrow. Since I teach in a public school, my “Holiday” dec’s are up through Friday, too!
Posted by Therese on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 8:57 AM (EDT):
Ours is still up too and will be until at least the 6th but probably until the weekend. It takes so much time to get everything put away right that we’ll probably need to do it over the weekend. We’ll celebrate Epiphany tomorrow though with King cake, a house blessing and some little gifts for the kids.
Posted by RE on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 10:42 AM (EDT):
Our tree is still up, but quite frankly, I think it is due to general laziness. Thanks for giving me another excuse…ooops, I mean, reason, to keep it up one more day! As for burning the tree in the backyard, that would be a great tradition to start, but our part of the country has a burn ban in effect. Maybe next year.
Posted by Anne in NC on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 3:22 PM (EDT):
We’ve been known to keep our (artificial) tree up until MLK weekend! :o
We never manage to set it up until mid-December, and we all get sad when we take it down, so I always figure there’s no real rush.
Posted by Monica (momof2) on Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 4:40 PM (EDT):
An elderly relative in my family said in her time and her culture Christmas decorations were left up until the Feast of the Presentation, Feb. 2 or Candlemas Day. I wonder if anyone still sticks to that. It’s a little awkward because we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord when Jesus is an adult a month before Presentation when Jesus is a baby again.
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