The weekend after Thanksgiving is the weekend that we put up the Christmas decorations.
I say decorations because we didn’t used to put the tree up until the middle of December since we always had a real tree. Now that we have the artificial one, we put it up this weekend as well.
Yes, we could do it earlier. It really just is tradition because it was the weekend my parents always did it. Snake’s parents tended to be a bit more haphazard. Sometimes it was early and there were times when it was Christmas Eve.
My dad loved to decorate for Christmas. The music would play while he put the tree together and got out the lights and ornaments and other decorations. He would have strung garland throughout the house if my mom would have let him. But, they always enjoyed putting it up and sitting there each night having a drink and just enjoying the tree.
While I can’t show you it since it isn’t up yet, I can tell you a few things about how our tree will look.
It will not look like the one above. We never have a color theme and it never looks all put together like the one above. We have handmade ornaments that no one knows what they were ever supposed to be. We have Star Wars ornaments. We have wolf ornaments. We have Betty Boop and Muppets and Harry Potter and Disney and now, this year, we’ll have Minecraft. There are ornaments that each person has picked out over the years and were just a moment in time.
Not all of these will fit on our tree–in fact, they don’t even fit on two trees as we’ve found out in previous years. We have to pick and choose which ones will be displayed this year and which will wait until next year. There are some that are always there–milestones that made our family. And some that remind us of people who are no longer here.
It is crowded and has at least two different types of lights and usually three or four garlands that range from paper rings to Mickey Mouse. It will never make a magazine for the most stunning tree, but it is uniquely and perfectly us.
And…referring to the picture above, I guarantee that the wrapping won’t be like that. We have all different patterns and they are all used. No themes. Just crazy bags and paper and bows. And a lot of fun.
We put our tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving too. Never a theme. And always a real tree.
This year we put it in a different room than usual, and for the first time in 14 years we do not have any pets trying to make a little den beneath it. But it’s there and it’s colorful and – like yours – it won’t make any magazine spreads, but it’s very much “us.” 🙂
Oh, and I have QUITE a wrapping paper collection…
We like a real tree too. The last few years just had us traveling at Christmas so it just wasn’t feasible. But I’m sure there will be more real ones ahead
I love unique trees! They are so much more fun
I like the way you do Christmas and presents YOUR way! And would love to see a pic of your tree once it’s up 🙂
~ Marie
I’m sure it will be in a post soon 😊
Waiting for the holiday is sometimes more pleasant than the holiday itself. Let’s wait for a photo of a real tree.
The earlier you put the tree down, the faster the Christmas mood will come.