Yule: When do you decorate and how long do you leave decorations up?

[SkylarB]

I am thinking about my Yule decorations and just started thinking about how others decorate their homes and altars. Do you tend to decorate for a season or holiday a few weeks prior to the celebration, then take down or change the decorations a few days after? Or do you decorate a few days prior to the holiday or celebration, and keep them for several weeks or months or until the next holiday?

I tend to decorate about a month prior to a holiday, and take down house decorations about a week or two after the holiday (sometimes I leave my altar decorations up a little longer.)

But, I'm starting to think that I should be, for my altar at least, decorating closer to the holiday, and leave it up for several weeks or until the next holiday... so the decor is up for the entire season until just before the wheel turns again.

I'm curious to know what other people do! :

[RandallS]

I am thinking about my Yule decorations and just started thinking about how others decorate their homes and altars.

Lyric and I go all out for Christmas (there is no remotely wintery December Hellenic Pagan religious holiday). We actually start decorating the house this week -- its how we celebrate Thanksgiving, actually. We have boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations. It takes a few days to get them all up andtake them down.  We leave them up until after New Years Day.

[SatSekhem]

Lyric and I go all out for Christmas (there is no remotely wintery December Hellenic Pagan religious holiday). We actually start decorating the house this week -- its how we celebrate Thanksgiving, actually. We have boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations. It takes a few days to get them all up andtake them down.  We leave them up until after New Years Day.

 
I want it to be like that ^.

However, I have very few Christmas decorations at present. I never bought any when I lived in TX since it was exceedingly difficult for me to get into the spirit each year. (Go from winter white wonderlands to semi-tropical paradise.) When we moved into our place here, the first Christmas we didn't have anything. Last year, I bought a small tree--about three or four feet tall--and some decorations for it. I had garlands, too, since I loved garlands as a kid. No lights or window clings or wreath on my door... I'd like to have those things, but right now, it's just not the time.

So, the In-Laws go all out on our behalf, I guess. The Hubby's mother keeps two trees: one fake one downstairs that's all lit up and ready to go, then the real one upstairs. She also has a theme each year a kind of color scheme that she follows. She also has the largest nutcracker collection I've ever seen... and been terrified of in my entire life. (I'll take pictures of the creepy things this year and post them up.)

As far as my altar goes, I'd like to have holiday specific garlands for them. I want leaves for fall, snowflakes for winter, and all that jazz. I want to wrap said garland around the top of my altar as a kind of, "Hey, seasons rock so awesomely!" kind of thing but I haven't really put a lot of thought into it, aside from that.

[Stardancer]

I am thinking about my Yule decorations and just started thinking about how others decorate their homes and altars. Do you tend to decorate for a season or holiday a few weeks prior to the celebration, then take down or change the decorations a few days after? Or do you decorate a few days prior to the holiday or celebration, and keep them for several weeks or months or until the next holiday?

I start putting stuff up the 1. of December, and I start taking it down New Years day. I don't have particularly pagan stuff - it's secular Christmas here. I inherited a lot of decorations from MIL, and I'm slowly *ahem* retiring it for things we've (*ahem*I've) bought. As the kids grow, they're also making more and more stuff and bringing home from school/nursery. There is NO theme decorating here, but I have a thing for angels. (It's my pagan dirty secret..)

With January comes the seed catalogs, and then I'm ready to start a new year. :

[mandrina]

I am thinking about my Yule decorations and just started thinking about how others decorate their homes and altars. Do you tend to decorate for a season or holiday a few weeks prior to the celebration, then take down or change the decorations a few days after? Or do you decorate a few days prior to the holiday or celebration, and keep them for several weeks or months or until the next holiday?

I tend to decorate about a month prior to a holiday, and take down house decorations about a week or two after the holiday (sometimes I leave my altar decorations up a little longer.)

But, I'm starting to think that I should be, for my altar at least, decorating closer to the holiday, and leave it up for several weeks or until the next holiday... so the decor is up for the entire season until just before the wheel turns again.

I'm curious to know what other people do! :

We officially decorate the day after thanksgiving, and everything has to be down on the 6th of Jan.  WHich really means that at least one ornament comes out on Fri and that last one comes down on the 6th of jan after the kids get done with their shoes.

Holidays usually celebrated (or at least discussed) during that time:  St Nicholas day, St Lucia day, Ramadan, Hanukka, Yule, Christmas, New Years, Hogmany, and 3 king's day.

[RandallS]

However, I have very few Christmas decorations at present. I never bought any when I lived in TX since it was exceedingly difficult for me to get into the spirit each year. (Go from winter white wonderlands to semi-tropical paradise.)

We've never let that stop us.

She also has the largest nutcracker collection I've ever seen... and been terrified of in my entire life. (I'll take pictures of the creepy things this year and post them up.)

Please do! We only have a few nutcrackers. We go in for Santas. We have LOTS of Santas. They'll be all over the house by this time next week.

[SkylarB]

...and that last one comes down on the 6th of jan after the kids get done with their shoes.

Okay, I have to ask.. what do you mean "when they get done with their shoes?"

My b-day is Dec 9th, so I've always liked to have the Christmas decorations up by then because I love the lighted Christmas tree. (we celebrate the solstice and family and giving to others and Santa, not the birth of Jesus.) As kid, we'd decorate right before my b-day because we always had a real tree and didn't want it to dry out too fast. But in recent years, and now that I'm an adult with my own kids, I have started to put up decorations the weekend right after Thanksgiving.

My oldest son's birthday is 12/30, and to make room for, and help him separate Christmas from his birthday, we usually take the Christmas stuff down a day or two before his birthday, but I'll leave "winter" themed decorations up all season long.

I plan to "shop" at my mom's house for decorations that she doesn't use anymore. she's downsized the amount of stuff she puts out for Christmas. But I want to double the decorations I put up! I never feel like I decorate enough!

[Firaza]

Do you tend to decorate for a season or holiday a few weeks prior to the celebration, then take down or change the decorations a few days after? Or do you decorate a few days prior to the holiday or celebration, and keep them for several weeks or months or until the next holiday?

 
My mother always started decorating for Christmas right after Thanksgiving. I'll probably borrow a winter garland or two for the family altar, which is currently still decorated with an autumn garland for Mabon/Samhain.

One day, when I have the space for multiple shrines and altars, I'll probably decorate a "general deity shrine" for the birthday of Heru-sa-Aset (Dec 25). Right now, though, I'll have to double up on the family altar. My parents are Catholic, so whatever Heru birthday decorations I obtain will probably share space with the manger scene, if the latter doesn't go on the mantelpiece.

Traditionally, we keep our Christmas decorations up until after January 6. I'll keep the family altar decorations winter-themed until the beginning of March, most likely. I want to keep the winter theme for Imbolc, but I want to have the spring decorations set up before Ostara.

[mandrina]

Okay, I have to ask.. what do you mean "when they get done with their shoes?"

My husband's family traces back to spain and there there is Three king's day on the 6th of january, and they leave candy in shoes in exchange for veggies for the camels.  There are two shoe holidays, St Nicholas day on 12/6 (germany) and three King's day on 1/6, and the donkey and the camels all need carrots.  Specifically the fanciest organic carrots we can find at the health food store, with greens still attached.
 

My oldest son's birthday is 12/30, and to make room for, and help him separate Christmas from his birthday, we usually take the Christmas stuff down a day or two before his birthday, but I'll leave "winter" themed decorations up all season long.

My husbands b-day is the 31st and he used to hate getting christmas/birthday presents cause he could see that he was getting for both exactly what his brothers were getting for one.  His parents were careful, but others in the family weren't.

[SatSekhem]

We've never let that stop us.

Yeah, but you guys are born and bred Texans, right? I came from MA to TX. It's weird not having snow and whatnot on the ground for Christmas. Then again, the first Christmas we were there, it was the first time in over a hundred years that it snowed in south Texas.

Please do! We only have a few nutcrackers. We go in for Santas. We have LOTS of Santas. They'll be all over the house by this time next week.

 
Share your Santas!

[Rowanfox]

I am thinking about my Yule decorations and just started thinking about how others decorate their homes and altars.  :

 
I love the season and we put up all the secular stuff on Dec 1, or as close as possible, most likely I will start this weekend and have it all done by Dec 3 this year. My family is all English, we have a large tree, lots of garlands and greenery (some fake some real) Santas and a few nutcrackers LOL

We used to burn a huge yule log in our outdoor fireplace on the solstice, and tend the fire all night, but old age and colder winters (well, they seem colder to ME) lead me to create a yule log that goes up in the house, a birch log drilled with candle holes, that stays up for the season.

All must come down by 12th night (Jan 6) of you are visited by bad luck for the year.....or so my Granny said......

I have moved more and more over the years to more "natural" or paganish decorations. Lots of garlands and greenery, bowls filled with pine cones and oranges spiked with cloves, and lots of reindeer/deer things; the horned lord is very present in our home.

[victoreia]

Yeah, but you guys are born and bred Texans, right? I came from MA to TX. It's weird not having snow and whatnot on the ground for Christmas. Then again, the first Christmas we were there, it was the first time in over a hundred years that it snowed in south Texas.

At least you've still got the potential for snow! Try moving from Germany to Hawaii! Since I live on Oahu, and not the Big Island, there's not even the possibility of viewing a snowy mountaintop from afar! (And before we lived in Germany, we lived in Colorado, so all the Christmases I remember before Hawaii had snow.)

The two times I visited my sister in Idaho for Christmas, they cancelled the snow on me! *pouts*

Usually, we start hauling the decorations out of storage after Thanksgiving, and put them up sometime after that. Then they stay up until Twelfth Night (Jan. 6). Then the boxes hang around for however long it takes us to haul them back to storage. (My mother/roomie is Episcopalian, but she's gotten used to the idea that I. Don't. Do. Organized. Religion!)

[RandallS]

Yeah, but you guys are born and bred Texans, right? I came from MA to TX. It's weird not having snow and whatnot on the ground for Christmas. Then again, the first Christmas we were there, it was the first time in over a hundred years that it snowed in south Texas.

Lyric is. I was born in England (my father was USAF and stationed there when I was born) and lived most of the first six years of my life in various northern states (including a winter in Caribou Maine and three winters in the Detroit area) before my father retired to Texas.

Share your Santas!

I think that can be arranged.

[Waterfall]

I am thinking about my Yule decorations and just started thinking about how others decorate their homes and altars. Do you tend to decorate for a season or holiday a few weeks prior to the celebration, then take down or change the decorations a few days after? Or do you decorate a few days prior to the holiday or celebration, and keep them for several weeks or months or until the next holiday?

I tend to decorate about a month prior to a holiday, and take down house decorations about a week or two after the holiday (sometimes I leave my altar decorations up a little longer.)

But, I'm starting to think that I should be, for my altar at least, decorating closer to the holiday, and leave it up for several weeks or until the next holiday... so the decor is up for the entire season until just before the wheel turns again.

I'm curious to know what other people do! :

We change things up every year. Two years ago, we started putting up ornaments on a houseplant sometime in Mid-November and took them down on the 23rd or so. It was our first year with the plant (a Brugmansia) which has become our "holiday tree," so we started buying ornaments early and put them up as we got them. Originally, we weren't going to do any decorations since the three of us together at the time didn't celebrate Christmas, but then we thought it'd be funny to decorate our highly toxic houseplant. Before that, we had a fourth roommate who always threw up Christmas decorations that we ignored and sometimes grumpily unplugged when we didn't feel like paying the electricity for all her lights. Yes, we are really grumpy people.

Last year, we were all living in separate places so we all got together at my parents' one weekend where the tree was and threw some decorations on and spent the weekend there then took the decorations down. This year, two of us are back together and I was thinking we'd do something similar - put everything up then take it down quickly, but my friend is all excited for Yule and wants to decorate starting in December.

[Trillcat]

I am thinking about my Yule decorations and just started thinking about how others decorate their homes and altars. Do you tend to decorate for a season or holiday a few weeks prior to the celebration, then take down or change the decorations a few days after? Or do you decorate a few days prior to the holiday or celebration, and keep them for several weeks or months or until the next holiday?

I tend to decorate about a month prior to a holiday, and take down house decorations about a week or two after the holiday (sometimes I leave my altar decorations up a little longer.)

But, I'm starting to think that I should be, for my altar at least, decorating closer to the holiday, and leave it up for several weeks or until the next holiday... so the decor is up for the entire season until just before the wheel turns again.

I'm curious to know what other people do! :

 I decorate on the eve of the Solstice. I just like to welcome the sun and the turning of the wheel with all my lights and decorations fresh up on that short day (and yikes did it get away from me this year, not nearly enough time before sunset to get everything I had planned done, and life threw more than one wrench into the works this year!)
I have to say for this year, it was more of an ordeal than "fun" and made me question why, why, oh why I did not start this sooner, lol, but, it all worked itself out, sort of, in a good way. Mostly
I leave the stuff up way too long though, (with the exception of my altar) it is just so pretty with all the lights!  I am lazy when it comes to taking it all down, exerting all that effort to pack everything back up, making the place look like it always does again doesn't have the same wonderfulness as putting it all up.