Christmas 2024 #4

[g321]

Your messages have inspired me to keep my tree up until the new year . I always see this time inbetween as Christmas still and I live alone so I could have the bloody tree up all year and no one would know I’ve tidied the kitchen stuff away but that’s purely cos my kitchen is tiny and I needed the counter space to put my Xmas snacks on as atm I’m grazing like a cow in a field

 

[Scottish Care Bear]

I want to get my mum a joke pressie that will make her laugh.

Am leaning toward a Cliff Richard calender.

Cliff Richard Calendar that would give me nightmares

 

[Libbylulu]

Don’t like the idea of Christmas Eve boxes. It’s all just so commercial these days, what’s wrong with a new pair of pyjamas. The rest is just tat or stuff that could easily wait until Christmas Day. Christmas Eve was all about the excitement of Santa coming and opening presents the next morning, don’t dumb it down with Christmas Eve gifts. It’s just more pressure on parents. Don’t get me started on that bloody elf on the shelf nonsense.
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Your messages have inspired me to keep my tree up until the new year . I always see this time inbetween as Christmas still and I live alone so I could have the bloody tree up all year and no one would know I’ve tidied the kitchen stuff away but that’s purely cos my kitchen is tiny and I needed the counter space to put my Xmas snacks on as atm I’m grazing like a cow in a field

We keep our tree up until the 12th night. I love it, the relaxation of not worrying about food, just eat leftovers and real life can wait a bit longer.

 

[RobotLady]

We do Christmas Eve boxes but it’s not much different to what my mum did for us in the 90’s, it’s just in a box.
We always had new pyjamas, socks or slippers, a sweet treat and a book/video/ dvd for Xmas Eve bedtime (would be re-used each year).
The Xmas Eve box I do for my family is much the same, I also put in the Santa plate, Santa’s magic Key (we have a fireplace now), jingle bells all things we already have. I usually put their responses from their Santa letters in too which comes from the NSPCC a £5 donation per child.
Also at least one child comes home from nursery or school having made ‘reindeer food’, that goes in the Xmas Eve box too.
I can’t see the point in Xmas colouring books/crafts/games etc being given on the 24th. I give this on December 1st. All re-used from previous years.
This year we did a book advent. Wrapped 24 Xmas books to open one per day. When I decided to do it I wasn’t sure if we’d have enough. When we started wrapping we had over 30 at home without needing to buy new and this Xmas season alone they’ve been given 8 new Xmas books as gifts from teachers and family members and I bought one new one for the baby because it lights up.
I don’t think it has to be over-commercialised at all.

 

[Catfan2]

Don’t like the idea of Christmas Eve boxes. It’s all just so commercial these days, what’s wrong with a new pair of pyjamas. The rest is just tat or stuff that could easily wait until Christmas Day. Christmas Eve was all about the excitement of Santa coming and opening presents the next morning, don’t dumb it down with Christmas Eve gifts. It’s just more pressure on parents. Don’t get me started on that bloody elf on the shelf nonsense.
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We keep our tree up until the 12th night. I love it, the relaxation of not worrying about food, just eat leftovers and real life can wait a bit longer.

We don’t normally keep ours up until twelfth night, but this year we are going to . I’m not ready to come out of the ‘Christmas bubble’ yet

 

[Reality_tv_lover]

My decs wont be coming down until 6th Jan. I love this time of year when we don’t know what day or time it is, everyone stays up late and sleeps long in the morning. Eating all the lovely food, seeing family and friends, watching all the soaps, my boys going to football games, all the sport on TV, no worries about school or work. Currently sitting with only the tree lighting up my living room, about to watch Gavin and Stacey again, have a bottle of wine and will order a takeaway later. I feel sorry for people that take their decs down and ‘get back to normal’ on Boxing Day. I even seen someone on TikTok take their tree down on 6pm Christmas Day.

I usually take it down but I also am the only one up right now I have the fairy lights around the window on while I'm catching up on laptop stuff. It's peaceful and I'm tempted to leave the fairy lights up round the window all year
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We do Christmas Eve boxes but it’s not much different to what my mum did for us in the 90’s, it’s just in a box.
We always had new pyjamas, socks or slippers, a sweet treat and a book/video/ dvd for Xmas Eve bedtime (would be re-used each year).
The Xmas Eve box I do for my family is much the same, I also put in the Santa plate, Santa’s magic Key (we have a fireplace now), jingle bells all things we already have. I usually put their responses from their Santa letters in too which comes from the NSPCC a £5 donation per child.
Also at least one child comes home from nursery or school having made ‘reindeer food’, that goes in the Xmas Eve box too.
I can’t see the point in Xmas colouring books/crafts/games etc being given on the 24th. I give this on December 1st. All re-used from previous years.
This year we did a book advent. Wrapped 24 Xmas books to open one per day. When I decided to do it I wasn’t sure if we’d have enough. When we started wrapping we had over 30 at home without needing to buy new and this Xmas season alone they’ve been given 8 new Xmas books as gifts from teachers and family members and I bought one new one for the baby because it lights up.
I don’t think it has to be over-commercialised at all.

Omg we do exactly the same Christmas boxes I do everything you have put. This year the elves made sure the kids dad was included I thought nah he wouldn't wear Mickey mouse PJ's but he has

 

[RobotLady]

We don’t normally keep ours up until twelfth night, but this year we are going to . I’m not ready to come out of the ‘Christmas bubble’ yet

We do usually keeps ours up until the 6th Jan but the kids are back to school that day. We’re away from home now so I had been putting things away as and when since Boxing Day. The Lemax village and actual tree will go away on the 6th but bedding, crockery, nutcrackers etc are away already.
P.S did everyone else take 3 days off from laundry but now have 3 months of washing to catch up on?

 

[Aussie]

My teenage boys just missed all that elf on the shelf sh@te thankfullly. I probably would have felt guilty and got swept up in it. I’m so glad I avoided it. Agree, it was lovely when it was much simpler. But i absolutely love Christmas, all this nonsense just ruins it.

Master A is 17 & thankfully wasn't a thing when he was little. I can't stand that creepy elf!

 

[Fruitjack]

Last year I kept my tree up until 10th January, much to the disgust of everyone around me. I have a real one and it was still in great condition so why not? People get fed up of them because they put them up too early imo. I probably wouldn't have taken it down even then except the charity were coming to get it. I'm going to leave it this year until I get fed up, could be tomorrow, could be February.

 

[peekachu]

Last year I kept my tree up until 10th January, much to the disgust of everyone around me. I have a real one and it was still in great condition so why not? People get fed up of them because they put them up too early imo. I probably wouldn't have taken it down even then except the charity were coming to get it. I'm going to leave it this year until I get fed up, could be tomorrow, could be February.

I’m also a ‘leave your decs up as long as possible’ person - we spend so much time putting them up and they’re only out once a year, it seems a shame to be in a hurry to pack them away. Plus Christmas doesn’t end on the 25th December

I learned last year that people used to leave their decorations up till Candlemas on 2nd February, so I think it’s absolutely fine!

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk...elief, the,take your decorations down earlier

 

[under the ivy]

Bought most of my gift bags, tags and ribbon in the sales on Friday. Hoping I won’t misplace them

The weather looks awful for NYE! Meant to be going out for a meal and drinks but staying in sounds most appealing now.

 

[Reality_tv_lover]

We do usually keeps ours up until the 6th Jan but the kids are back to school that day. We’re away from home now so I had been putting things away as and when since Boxing Day. The Lemax village and actual tree will go away on the 6th but bedding, crockery, nutcrackers etc are away already.
P.S did everyone else take 3 days off from laundry but now have 3 months of washing to catch up on?

Took one day off for Christmas day and now it's untameable

 

[duckdinner]

I just bought a new tree! I've been after a pre-lit tree for a while and last year fell in love with one of the frosted Balsam Hill ones, but got talked out of it by my sisters because they thought it looked tacky

I think £249 for a pre-lit tree is a pretty good deal, and cannot wait for next December for when I 100% will not procrastinate in decorating my (tacky) tree This year I think I finally got around to decorating the tree on the 14th! I can feel it in my bones, next year it will be up and decorated by the 13th at least

It's my first day back at work, but I'm wfh and there is no one around to talk me out of such impulse buys The BH tree I have currently was given to me by my mum after she got a new one, and it's too big for our flat and looks a little out of place imo.

The BH end of year clearance sale ends tomorrow which was another factor encouraging me to click on the add to basket button. Plus, I could tell by my cat's eyes that she also wanted me to get a new tree - who was I to say no to her??

 

[dressinggownofdoom]

I’ve been battling with myself internally for the last couple of days about when to take the tree down. Honestly the should I or shouldn’t I is worse than having or not having a tree so this morning i bit the bullet and asked my daughter if we should take it down. She said yes so we took it down together, then my oldest got up and still hasn’t noticed the tree has gone. I was only keeping it up because of the kids and they couldn’t care less! It was dropping needles absolutely everywhere so it was nice to get a corner cleared and the place hoovered although there are still toys everywhere but that’s nothing new for this house. Still have my festive tablecloth out and decorations and lights on the fireplace.

 

[RainbowFuzz]

Hi everyone! Hope you're all recovered from your various celebrations and sending big hugs to those who didnt have the days they were expecting to have. I went away with a friend this year, it was different to the usual family days and it's something I would do again in a few years maybe, but with more friends than just the 2 of us.

I really dislike these days between Christmas and New Year so I'm working today and tomorrow, much prefer to break up this time with a couple of days work and use the holiday earlier in the year instead!

I will start to take some of the decs down later today/tomorrow, but my tree will be up until the weekend. I like having it up in the New Year, it makes me happy to see it lit in the evening and that's a good way to start the New Year to me .

 

[Libbylulu]

I have a friend who a few years back kept her tree up all year. It happened by accident because she had to go visit family and when she got back was exhausted. She decorated it according to the festival or season. It became quite fun, Valentines, St David’s, St Patrick’s, Easter, birthdays etc etc.

 

[Chocolategoggler]

Bought most of my gift bags, tags and ribbon in the sales on Friday. Hoping I won’t misplace them

The weather looks awful for NYE! Meant to be going out for a meal and drinks but staying in sounds most appealing now.

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Utility Gift Wrap Storage Bag

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I have a friend who a few years back kept her tree up all year. It happened by accident because she had to go visit family and when she got back was exhausted. She decorated it according to the festival or season. It became quite fun, Valentines, St David’s, St Patrick’s, Easter, birthdays etc etc.

I do this but with a twig tree. It's too bulky to pack away, so sits on a corner windowsill in all it's glory of decorations through the seasons.
A bit like this but brown:

 

[ElektraWintour]

I see a lot of the new year celebrations are being cancelled due to the weather. I don’t go out but like seeing the fireworks and celebrations on tv. Last year I was sick so went to bed around 9, might stay up until midnight this year because I can

 

[InkHeart]

For decs, I'm of the opinion that some of them aren't strictly Christmas - like, the angels, nativity, presents, Santas etc, should come down around New Year, but things like lights and the green garlands are more like a pre-Christian tradition of needing light and evergreens to get through the midwinter. So I keep them up longer. I need the cheer!

 

[Ziggzaggz]

So as some of you know I bought xmas trees etc in the Frasers sale, all have come now but made a boo boo on the wrapping paper, bought 5 rolls of gingerbread men wrapping paper all 5 metres in length cos me 50p each, went for a santa one to all 5 metres in length, they were a pound each, didn't realise they were in a pack of 3, so now got 15 rolls of that type lol