I’m tired of it by Christmas night, but restrain myself until at least the 26th, lol. We get a huge, live tree and after 3 weeks the needles are insane! I love putting that giant bush at the curb ASAP. I could never do it BEFORE like a couple of y’all, though, lol! As an Episcopalian I love Epiphany, but can’t celebrate it with our tree up. :)

Now that we’re empty nesters with no grandkids as yet, we put our tree up sometime the first week in December, as I always hate to see my wonderful Autumn decorations packed away. And so, I pretty much have all of December to enjoy my Christmas decs, and that’s enough for me. I try to start taking them down on January 2nd. It takes days and by then I’m feeling kind of Scrooge-ish. One year we were heading out of the country to celebrate our anniversary (January 15th). I was so busy getting ready for that big trip that I just ignored putting the Christmas decorations away. Bad move! It was beyond depressing to come back to them still up at the end of January!

I prefer the Christmas season not to last as long as many these days. I put my tree up on the 8th and that's a few days early for me. I'm ready to take it down the day after Christmas, but I may leave it a few days longer. By then I'm done and I'm clearing the way for springtime.

We have had an artificial tree for a few years now. It goes up on Dec. 1 and comes down after the Epiphany.

We have 4 trees this year of varying sizes. All fake and have been up for a few weeks (actually started right before Thanksgiving). I despise taking Christmas decorations down, so keep them up as long as I can. One year I know I had my tree up until the NH primary in February. Please don't judge.

I too am tired of all things Christmas by the evening of December 25. The tree comes down on December 26 along with any other Christmas-related things.

I am sick to death of the consumerism these days. Anybody else notice the car commercial in which an (obviously affluent) young man buys TWO new vehicles, one pickup and one suburban-like SUV, and his wife chooses the shiny new pickup for herself. Seriously, do you know anybody who would buy TWO new vehicles at once? And what does this have to do with the meaning of Christmas?

OK, rant over.

We had a Norfolk Island Pine tree in our back yard in Venice, which was like a Christmas tree - we planted poinsettia next to it to make it more festive. We took the tree down when it grew into the power lines.

IF I put my tree up, it will be taken down right after New Years. I may or may not put it up this year. I get in the stores and I get all enthused about putting up a tree, then once I'm home.......

Tree just went up yesterday. Depending on how fresh it stays it may or may not be up until the 6th.

When I take the white lights off the exterior door garland I replace with Mardi Gras lights. Love extending the holiday feeling.

Probably the week after Christmas or when the mood strikes me.

I like to leave decorations up through Epiphany. Might start de-decorating after New Years, but the tree and the Nativities stay up through January 6th.

My tree isn't up yet - which is stressing me out. Generally, I put up the tree sometime after Thanksgiving but before now. Mainly, because I'd rather have the tree put away before I go back to work in January.

I think people are tired of their trees by Christmas because they put them up way too early. It's like gorging on some food treat, eventually you get sick of it.

If I put the tree up it's never before December 6, and generally more like a week to ten days before Christmas. It comes down on Epiphany and that's the end of it.

I hate it when they start putting the Christmas stuff out in mid-October, it just spoils the specialness of Christmas for me. Similarly, I fully expect the Easter buns and eggs to go on sale on New Year's Day, if not before, which spoils Easter as well.

I have one more tree to go......the live tree and that will go up this weekend. I will start taking everything down after January 6th.

Team Epiphany. (Day after)

Ours is not up yet, but soon. It's a small vintage aluminum one that takes only about an hour or so to put up and even less time to take down.

I also leave it up until Epiphany, or the weekend after.

I hope to get the tree and decorations done this weekend, which is about on schedule for us but we've been busy with house projects so I feel a bit behind. I take everything down in stages the first week of January.

Live tree will be delivered Mon and decorated Tues. We used to leave it up until Epiphany but then husband started teaching in Maine and I would go back with him, so it came down on the 30th. Now, it comes down sometime after New Years when SIL and DGS’s have time to do it.

My goal has always been to be decorated by DH's bday 12/11, and some years i've actually done it! I like it all tucked away by 1/2!

Edited to add: my mother was always aghast that I didn't leave all decos up until the 3 Kings arrived on 01/06; I heard no end of it every year- I miss it!

Never heard of Epiphany before.

My (artificial) tree goes up on Black Friday, every year. I eschew the madness and chaos of Black Friday shopping and spend the day decorating the trees and the house with my family while listening to Christmas music and/or watching Christmas movies.

I always take it down on New Year's Day to start the year fresh and new.

We always get pictures on New Year's Eve of us/our kids in front of the tree, I couldn't take it down before our annual picture!!

When we had a live tree it went up Dec. first and came down New Years Day. I could never wait to take it down because it took up so much room. My daughter is the same way. She gets a two-story tree to put in her two story kitchen. It's not up yet and it'll come down New Year's day. I decorate outside and leave the wreaths up till March first. They are Balsam and have fruits and cones on them. I take the roping and antique sleds down. My indoor decorations will go into the cupboard on New Years Day and I will give thanks that I no longer have this huge live tree to spend hours UN decorating by myself.

Epiphany is the actual Twelfth Day of Christmas as sung about in the Christmas Carol. The First Day of Christmas is Christmas Day itself (when the star of Bethlehem started shining) and Epiphany is the day the Three Wise Men arrived bearing gifts because they had followed the star.

The first year we were married, I put up a real tree. The day after Xmas, the tree was so dry I decided to take it down (while my husband was at church). I boxed up the ornaments and put the tree out on the front porch. My husband gets home from church and looks surprised. He said my parents are on the way over to see our tree. Oh. Well, there it is and here’s the box of ornaments.

We only put up a tree for a few years, it wasn’t worth the trouble. I do a few decorations but skip the tree. I don’t have a set date for putting them up or away, it’s whenever the mood strikes me.

We generally take our tree down the weekend after Epiphany, if we are gone that weekend we take it down the next. Usually ready to pack it up by then although I love my house with all the Christmas decorations, so a bit sad.

lonestar, you said you take your tree down Christmas Eve "or sooner" depending on the day on which Christmas falls. I too, don't like seeing my decorations after the holiday. It feels anti-climatic to me, and I'm ready to move on, having had everything up for at least a month. But my family would never let me take the tree down BEFORE Christmas, so you've got me beat, lol.

Dec. 30th

My tree is standing there waiting for me to decorate it since last weekend. DH put the lights on... It's my busy time where I work on Sundays most of the holiday as well so the tree will stay up till I am over all of the holiday buzz.

I usually don't have a tree, but I always do have outdoor lights.

I aim for the weekend after Epiphany for both of the above. Sometimes the weather precludes getting outdoor stuff down at that point, so it is... whenever I can.

Normally, my lights (interior tree, exterior lights, wreath) go on mid December, as in this weekend, but as I had company who'd never been to my new place arriving last weekend, I put everything up for them, then.

The old theory when I was a kid.. Mom's birthday was the 10th of December. We started Christmas décor the weekend after her birthday celebration, so as not to interfere.

For some reason, I still like to wait until mid-December to start this up. And I'll end it the first full weekend after a full week, into January.

I have company coming that weekend, too. After they leave, every thing will come down. If that's too late for some of you, avert your eyes, especially since this didn't go up until last Friday here.

When we lived in LA, a good friend (who is now a very famous interior designer) always had a Twelfth Night party. She grew up in New Orleans where this is a BIG deal. She always had a King's Cake. Her house decorations are always fabulous - I often see them photographed on various web sites. Everything is live - no fake garlands for this lady! Lots and lots of amaryllis and paper whites. And fabulous New Orleans food.

In New Orleans, it is both the end of Christmas (Epiphany) and also the start of Carnival season. They can always find a reason for a bunch of parties in New Orleans!

Oh, my, it's a week till Christmas and we don't have our tree! I blame it on not having kids in the house anymore. And already my local Fb group is asking where to find a tree! Yikes!

We bought ours from a fundraiser for a local environmental action organization, yesterday was pick up day. It’s the first time in a few years that we have felt up to having a real tree. Looking at the calendar, I have a feeling it will be coming down on Epiphany.

The tree is not enormous but it is very full and it sucked up all my decorations! I bought silk poinsettias last year to add and you can barely notice them.

I have a question for those of you who decorate early and take down late: How do you clean around all those decorations? We put up our tree and decor yesterday and I'm thinking they will be up about 2 weeks - no big deal, I can live with the dust that will accumulate in that time - but there is no way I would take it all down to dust and then put it back again. If you've got decorations up for 6 weeks, do you take them all down to dust every week or two? That would drive me mad, but then again, I got rid of most of my everyday bric a brac just b/c I hated dusting them so much. Just curious.

Both as a kid and as an adult, we've never had set dates to put up or take down the tree. It has always been fresh cut trees. Outside they go when too many needles fall off, or we have plans to leave town. I don't like having a tree up while we're gone.

I notice artificial trees are getting prettier each year. It would be nice to enjoy it from early December to mid-January ... one of these years.

I brought home the tree we had in our office suite, so it is here now. We get rid of it as soon as they will do the collection for trash/recycling after the first of the year.

We usually put ours up around my birthday on 12/11 and take it down after New Year’s. I’m running late this year and am still working on getting all of the ornaments on the tree. All other decorations have been up for about a week.

On my husband birthday nov 28 tajke it down on my birthday jan8 I'm on my grandson's page

LOL - I didn't even get my tree up until 12/11, so I'll be lucky to get it taken down and put away by mid January!

I was aiming for the day after Thanksgiving.....oh, well. We went on a long driving trip, and then we got sick during it. Just sore throats and a dry cough (annoying) but we've been low on energy for 2 weeks now.

Ggrrrrrrr - hate these super-germs we seem to breed nowadays. Such a bummer, haven't been sick all year but it has to hit us now?!?

We have to/are supposed to take it down???!!

Not me. Part of my determination to become more eccentric in my old age( when I get there: I am presently 72), I have left my gorgeous fake 7foot Nobilis Fir up and fully embellished -- this is the third year, and so far, so terrific! My kids and grands are beginning to look at me funny, which is perfect, lol.

LOVE this tree SO much -- nekkid, it looks the most realistic of any on the market today, IMO. Lots of interior space for ornaments instead of on just the outer surface.

It was always a tradition to take the tree down before New Years. Here's the reason why, my great-grandmother had real trees with real candles on it and they were lit on Christmas morning. The tree was cut and decorated on Christmas eve. As you could imagine with real candles a drying tree would quickly become a fire hazard. Thus the tradition to only have it up a short time.

Personally I feel it's more special only being up a short time. The other issue is if left up a long time how would you dust a decorated tree?

We've NEVER taken our (artificial) trees until about a week into the new year!!! I love the lights, & can't bear to do it until then. DW likes it up too.

Faron

This is our first year with a 'reusable' Christmas tree. I always followed my parents tradition of leaving the tree up till Epiphany, but this year it's coming down on Jan 1. We fly back to CA on the 3rd and I don't want to leave it up till May when we return!

Better question is when do you put your tree up. Ours finally went up today. the day before Christmas eve. I leave for Florida right after Christmas and leave it for my daughter to take down. One year she left if up until almost Easter.

Ravencajun, I have a small artificial tree (used to put in the dining room) in addition to the fresh tree. A couple years it transitioned to Mardi Gras. Now it sits in the attic, but I still put Mardi Gras lights on the door garland and in a couple rooms in the house.

Roxanna, where did you get your tree? The past two years I've toyed with the idea of switching to artificial, but haven't seen any trees that truly mimic the real thing. And I want unlit, so that makes the search even harder.

When I get a live tree (this year I didn't) I decorate it usually about December 17th to the 20th. Then I will leave it up until Twelfth Night. So generally it is up about 2.5 weeks.

I strive to get my outdoor decorations up sooner though. And I start playing the Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving -- I have a large collection so I don't get tired of the repetition (like I do from the radio).

Apparently never. Mine is still up from 3 years ago. I keep meaning to take it down but then change my mind and pretty soon it's almost Christmas again.. I don't use the living room where it's at, so it doesn't really matter. I may take it down this year though.

Usually on New Years Day, but this year I may wait until the following Saturday. My house is small and while the tree makes it warm and cozy I can't take the cluttered feeling that comes with it too.

Math, that is a riot. I once had neighbors who left their tree up until Easter and it was not an artificial tree! It was basically a needleless dead thing by the end.

This year my tree is so cute and fresh I will leave it up until just before the Township comes around to chip them. Boo hoo. It deserves a kinder end.

I used to put up my tree the first full weekend after my Mother's birthday (Dec 10), which is when the family did it. Mother is long gone, and for the last 5 years I hadn't done a tree at all. This year, though, I wanted the seasonal ambiance in my new home I'm now fully living in... so the tree went up before that weekend because I had company coming that weekend.

The family (and I, when I went out on my own) took the tree down the first full weekend after New Years, unless that was just a couple days later. This year I am having company the first full weekend after New Years, so I will take it down during the week after they leave. Retired now, so I don't have to wait for a weekend.

Catticusmockingbird, I am told Balsam Hill makes great artificial trees (by a friend who keeps wanting me to switch over). I looked at their site, they do look good, and when I looked (a year ago) they had a lot of unlit trees.

I do agree, if I ever go with a fake (er, sorry, let's get PC, artificial) tree, I want it not to be pre-lit. I want to be able to change lighting - white, colors, different colors. Depending to that year's whim here and all.

Meanwhile, living in a log home, I feel really uncomfy buying a plastic tree... So we shall see.