Putting up beautiful outside Christmas decorations should never be a source of stress. Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, and your decorations should reflect that.
Stop guessing the appropriate time to display Christmas decorations. This article discusses the etiquette behind putting up and taking down your Christmas tree and decorations. Use it to avoid upsetting your neighbors and maximize your Christmas experience every year.
When Do You Put Up Your Christmas Tree?
Schools of thought vary on when to put up the Christmas tree. Some people insist that the only time to do it is the day after Thanksgiving. The procrastinators say that you have to leave it until the last minute. “Put that thing up on Christmas Eve for crying out loud. We don’t need a giant tree in our living room,” they say.
On the one hand, you have the purists telling you you’re not good enough unless you’re Johnny on the spot about the Christmas tree. On the other, you have the grinches crying about having a nice decoration displayed for a month out of the year. Where do you fit in?
However, there are a few practical considerations at hand. If you’re an all-natural kind of person and you go for real trees, the reason why you want to wait until the day after Thanksgiving is that you don’t want your tree dying before Christmas. How awful would it be to have your children come running down the stairs Christmas morning to find a browning, barren heap of twigs?
However, you also want to allow enough time to decorate the tree. You don’t want to be scrambling the family together trying to decorate the Christmas tree with lights on Christmas Eve. You’re supposed to be relaxing with eggnog, not pulling your hair out.
When Do You Take Down Your Christmas Tree?
If you get a real tree, your options are more limited when taking your Christmas tree down. Let the tree keep its dignity and don’t prominently display it when it’s on its last breath. It had a good run. Let it go.
The sanest day to take down your Christmas tree is New Years’ Day, but most of us aren’t rational beings, and we need time to heal, to adjust to non-holiday life. Regardless of your grieving period, the cut-off for leaving your real or artificial Christmas tree up is the end of January.
Taking your tree down any time after February is cruel or flat-out weird. Cremate it in your wood-burning fireplace or commit it to nature if it’s a real tree. If it’s an artificial tree, just put it away. December comes around fast.
When Do You Put Up Your Christmas Lights and Decorations?
The etiquette for putting up Christmas decorations is a little more lenient than putting up the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is the mother of all Christmas decorations, so it’s natural to have a bit more pageantry and etiquette around it. It can also die, while most other Christmas decorations can’t.
Because most Christmas decorations have longer lifespans than Christmas decorations, you can blend many Christmas decorations with Thanksgiving. They can add a little more warmth to your dining room, and they can make the transition from autumn to winter a little more comfortable.
Therefore, you can get away with adding Thanksgiving decorations before Thanksgiving. When doing so, make sure you’re mindful of how long those decorations will be around. You don’t want to get to mid-December and loathe your Christmas decorations.
An excellent way to avoid any boredom with your Christmas decorations is to put them up on December 1st. This time frame gives you exactly a month to enjoy the holiday spirit. That’s plenty.
Any longer than a month runs the risk of overindulgence, and Christmas shouldn’t be about excess. Despite all the cookies, decadent meals, and alcoholic beverages, Christmas is about joy and giving. Keep it that way.
When Do You Take Down Your Christmas Lights?
Yes, you can leave your Christmas lights up year-round, but not the other decorations. The reindeer have to go, and the lights can’t be Christmas lights year-round. They have to change functions. Instead of “Christmas lights,” they need to become energy-efficient LED lights.
Decorate your bedroom with an enticing light display. Line your patio with some warm-white LED lights. Your LED Christmas lights have many uses outside of Christmas. You just have to get creative.
If you aren’t going to repurpose your Christmas lights, consider that house you see in July that still has Christmas lights. If that’s who you are, by all means, be yourself. But if you aren’t going for some elaborate, half-Christmas display, and you just have a few straggling lights here and there, you should probably put them away.
Be a Good Neighbor with Proper Christmas Light Etiquette
There are a few things to consider when you’re displaying your Christmas lights. You have to consider your neighbors’ well-being and commit to good etiquette.
Ensure your lighting doesn’t disturb your neighbors – When displaying your lights around your house, you have to be mindful of whether it impinges on your neighbors’ well-being. You shouldn’t display lights that disturb your neighbors’ sleep or work schedule.
Ensure your decorations don’t block your neighbors’ view – You shouldn’t display lights that obstruct your neighbors’ view of their yard or road.
Christmas Has Mental Health Benefits- Get Into the Spirit
Studies have shown that getting into the Christmas spirit by getting a Christmas tree and decorating your house with Christmas decorations can lead to mental health benefits. However, when you’re decorating your home, you want to use proper etiquette so that your Christmas decorations bring joy to your life.
If your Christmas decorations and your Christmas tree bring nothing but stress to your life, you should reevaluate your strategy.
If you follow the tips discussed in this article, your decorations are sure to be a source of happiness for years to come. When you use the right Christmas decoration etiquette, you always look forward to seo Christmas, and after you finish decorating, you can bask in the Christmas spirit.