Will you be ‘de-decorating’ today?

So, it’s Dec. 26 – the day after Christmas. Is it time to “de-decorate?” This is the perfect weekend for some folks to just “get ‘er done.”

All the nostalgic holiday season decorations were fun to look at and enjoy. But now it’s time to pack up the artificial fir tree, Santas, snowmen, nativity scenes, Christmas village houses and stores, lights, ornaments and all the rest of “the Christmasy stuff.”

Let’s place them into the proper bins and boxes from whence they came…and tuck them back in their usual storage places, whether that be in the garage, attic, basement or wherever.

 

The weather should be conducive to pulling up stakes on the outdoor decorations as well. Being one of the first houses on the street to “go dark” after Christmas is not a bad thing. Or is it?

 

Deciding when to haul out and put up the Christmas decorations…and when to take them down is a personal preference.

But “the guidelines” have changed over the course of time.

Can you imagine waiting until Christmas Eve to put up your Christmas tree? 

That’s the way it used to be in jolly old England when Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert ruled the roost during the Victorian era (generally from 1837-1901.) They had nine children.

 

How hectic would that have been? A much better use of one’s time on Christmas Eve might be in attending a candlelight church service…and then “calmly” assembling and detailing toys for young children after they’ve gone to bed.

Terri Robertson (shown below), a senior editor at Country Living magazine in Birmingham, Ala., said: “Traditionally, the Christmas tree will stay up until the Epiphany on Jan. 6, which is the 12th day of Christmas, when the Three Wise Men came to visit Jesus.” (“The Twelve Days of Christmas” song begins with Day One on Dec. 25.)

 

“In medieval times, the decorations stayed out even longer – all the way through Candlemas on Feb. 2, the official end of the Christmas season on the Christian calendar,” Robertson said.

Jessica Van Roekel (shown below), a faith-based author based in Inwood, Iowa, explains that the Epiphany was a “time of revelation,” when God brought Jesus to life.

 

“Epiphany means ‘appearance or manifestation,’” Van Roekel said. “Many countries refer to it as ‘Three Kings Day,’ when The Magi visited the child Jesus.”

 

Candlemas is also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary or the Feast of the Holy Encounter.

 

It’s a Christian feast day commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple by Joseph and Mary, which occurred 40 days after the birth of Christ, said freelance journalist Mary Oelerich-Meyer (shown below), who is based in St. Charles, Ill., near Chicago.

 

“Traditionally, it involves the blessing of candles, symbolizing Christ as the Light of the World,” she wrote. “Observing Candlemas can be a great way to extend the celebration of Jesus’ birth each winter.”

 

“Though Groundhog Day is on Feb. 2, you can redirect your kids’ attention away from a creature looking for light to the Savior of the world, who is their light when things get dark,” Oelerich-Meyer said.

A favorite at-home activity with children is to gather and bless all of the family’s candles in the center of the kitchen or dining room table, she added.

“The candles do not have to match; in fact, using different-sized and shaped candles may remind us that Jesus’ light is for everyone.”

 

A practical concern in leaving Christmas decorations up through Candlemas is that few green cut Christmas trees can last that long.

Robertson said: “Most home and garden centers will tell you that the five-week mark is when a real Christmas tree will dry out and start to become a fire hazard.”

Some Country Living readers tell us that “they keep their artificial trees up year-round and change the decorations according to the season,” Robertson shared.

A former neighbor of ours, Donna G., just threw a bedsheet over her fully decorated artificial Christmas tree and let it be.