Our tree is still in the house. A 10' live balsam (well, half dead at this point lol). We have the big, old-fashioned multicolored lights on it. That's as far as we got this year. No ornaments unpacked - we both got sick.

Love the ambiance of the tree. I like to sleep in the living room on the sofa during Christmas with visions of sugarplums in my head. You only get a finite number of Christmas trees in your life.

I'm in my 60's, BTW.

This post was edited by seagrass on Thu, Jan 2, 14 at 20:33

There's no law about when to take it down....I just read dozens of opinions on Houzz by people who take down all decorations no later than Jan 1, and some people who leave everything up past January! I took down a few misc. decorations yesterday, but our 8' balsam isn't even crispy yet, so we'll nurse it along for a while. You do exactly what feels right....and no guilty feelings!!!!

Mine's still up, I've been busy. And I had to drive to Seattle and back today, about 5 hours at the wheel (encountered the typical additional hour to what should be 4 with the heavy traffic in and around the city any more). Polyclinic, just the annual check in with my endocrinologist.

My tree looks as good as the day we brought it in more than three weeks ago. We cut it down ourselves (that means I pointed, told DH this one, cut - it was so cold that day - and he did ;), then cut the trunk again after taking it out of the bucket of water it had waited in 2 days, watered it daily. I think I've found about 2 needles on my tree skirt is all - natural, not shaped, noble fir as always.

Tomorrow. We did get the lights down outside yesterday, tomorrow I'll take the tree apart even though I'm still enjoying its fragrance today.

It's hardly late yet--Christmas isn't over until January 6th. We only took the outside stuff down today because of the wicked weather predicted for tonight.

Otherwise, my inside decorations will be up until at least Epiphany

What's the rush!!!

Our little grandsons have returned, so we have left the tree up. I will take it down when they return home with their parents. DD is having elective surgery tomorrow, and then she will come down to recuperate this weekend. The public schools do not resume till the 13th, so we have plenty of time. I will NOT be taking down the tree while the grandsons are here. It will take over a day to get all the decorations down and stored and I have too many pretty ones that my sister has gifted me over the years to risk little helpers with the task.

Mine is a fiber optic tree on a table, I need to take off the decorations and then just pick up the tree and take it to the basement....yet I haven't done that.. I have taken down other decorations and collected them on the dining room table..I need to bring some containers up and fill them...I hope to finish in the next few days.

I leave everything up through January 6th.

My decorations aren't down and probably won't be for another week or so. I'm in no hurry to put them away.

I put away a few things today, not much. My tree is still up and looks good. I have been careful about watering it and it has not dried out. It is snowing out right now,so having the tree and decos up still feels right. However, I will wake up one of these mornings and know it is time to pack it all away. I had book club at my house tonight so I wanted to leave the tree and decos up at least until now.

Seeing the trees by the curb as soon as Christmas day has passed makes me sad. So soon forgotten.

We didn't put up the big one only two little ones and an outside one. Nothing is going away till I feel much better. Just can't do it. Hubby might take the outside one down this weekend. No rush.

Mine are artificial and will stay up for awhile....no rush. My outside lights will have to wait for a thaw which usually happens sometime in January. Not sure it will happen this year as the weatherman predicts extreme cold this month.

We never took the tree down until "Old Christmas" Jan 5 or 6

Our tree is still up too. We'll take it down probably on Sunday, and if not, it'll be up for the week. I love having the tree up, so I'm never in a hurry to take it all down.

It's long been traditional in my family, observing Catholic tradition, to take it down on Jan. 6. We don't put it up until a week before Christmas.

Joann, where are you working? I'm so happy to hear you have a job - tell us about it!

Mine stays up till the sixth.I actually like the colorful decorations and pretty lights, they cheer me up in winter. My SIL keeps her tree up until Easter, but she changes the decorations. Christmas in December, Snowmen in January, hearts in February, shamrocks in March, then bunnies for Easter, then the tree comes down. Yes, it's artificial. I once kept a cut tree until February, I had needles everywhere!

I keep my tree up until January 6th (Old Christmas Day). So if you don't have your tree down yet I don't consider you behind at all!

My township will pick up the trees this coming Monday and grind them into mulch - so I'll take the live one down this weekend. And since we're both home today because of all the snow I'll probably start taking the ornaments off this afternoon.

I took mine down yesterday, it is a fake one. DH will pack it up today.

We have a family in our neighborhood has a real tree and have left it up sometimes til April~~the postman says they make bets on it, as to when they will take it down each year. Once they left it up til the next Christmas, then bought a new one. it is so crazy~~they do not put it out for pick up either, they just throw it in their backyard and when we get a high wind day it rolls down into their gully area;(

They are very strange people, nice but strange.

My tree is very small and not in the way. It is artificial and I really enjoy the colorful lights. I may take the decorations off after Jan. 6 and leave the tree and lights up for much longer. I like that idea of decorating it with snowmen. We are having the coldest weather in several decades and need something to brighten up the house.

Ours is still up, as well as our other decorations. I hadn't thought we were late :-)

We haven't taken it down either. It went up rather late, so this weekend feels about right.

Kay, I've been working almost 9 months. I work for American Greeting Cards, I have 4 stores I take care of. The holidays were very hectic!

I have a small fiber optic tree too but I just don't feel like taking it down. Maybe tomorrow. Its been up since the day before Thanksgiving.

Joann, I am so happy for you!!!

Finished the tree, it's out at the curb for pickup. All the boxes are upstairs in the empty bedroom until one of my kids shows up to tote them into the attic.

Oh how bare it looks now.

It's considered unlucky to 'Keep Christmas' beyond Twelfth Night. (Don't you wish someone would inform people whose outside decorations will still be flapping in the wind in March?)

"Special" ceases to be special if it's dragged out. That's as bad as stores that start too early.

I have several trees. They are all sill up, along with the other decorations. I usually leave them up until Jan. 6. I'm enjoying them tonight, since they'll probably come down tomorrow.

Chisue, I have never heard that it was unlucky to keep decorations up past the 12th night. Gee, I must be the unluckiest person in the world because I have had some of mine up for years. I like them up and see no reason to put them away just because it may be what everyone else does.

Various superstitions abound ...

... our hotels/office buildings don't have a 13th floor ...

.. in Korea, they don't have a fourth floor: the word sounds too much like the one for "death".

ole joyful

All my other decorations were down a week ago. My tree stayed. I love sitting and looking at it at night. It makes me think of so many happy Christmases I've had.

I just finished taking it down and putting it away 30 minutes ago...sigh.

It's such a stormy early evening here (and it's tomorrow night that is supposed to be our real wind and rain coastal storm), I'd love to have my tree, its lights, fire in the fireplace and my quilt.

But I took my tree down a few days ago, packed all the ornaments wrapping some, wrapped each piece of the santa figurine collection, thought I had everything carefully stored for another year.

Then, saw a little ring sized box on the dining room table that holds the replacement bulbs and the fuses for the tree lights that didn't get into the lights box. And later that night, a chubby little sitting cross legged santa in his horn rimmed glasses still looking at me from the kitchen window sill over the sink. Second try, now everything is put away. I think.