Christmas Decorations

I'll be getting our Christmas tree (artificial) and the big box of decorations down from the loft today because tomorrow is going to be decorating-the-house-for-Christmas day.

We don't go in for illuminating the entire house inside and out, but we do like the place to look festive and cheering. We spruce up the lounge, entry hall and dining room.

So, how far do you go..? Do you decorate just the lounge or does your outdoor nativity scene contain enough lights to make jumbo jet pilots think your street is the runway they're looking for..?

My younger sister decorates the entire ground floor of her house. She even puts decorations up in her downstairs loo...!! I must admit, I found it a bit discomforting at her house, taking a wee with Santa smiling at me from a decoration on the inside of the toilet door.

So..... are you "Bring it on" or "Bah, Humbug" when it comes to festive decoration..?

We usually just decorate the front door with a wreath, the hall and the living room. My daughter likes a little tree in her bedroom (battery operated) but nothing in the other rooms. We don’t bother decorating the outside. It’s tasteful and festive.

It's tasteful and festive.

Love that.

My little girl would like to have her room decorated, but we think she's got enough frippery around the room as it is. But you're comment has made me think. I should be a bit crafty and call my mum to get her onside before we go up country to my family for Christmas.

I can hear the crafty little madam now, all sugar and spice and with ulterior motive aforethought going to my mum "Nana, did mummy used to have decorations in her bedroom when she was little..?

Oh, you think you're sooooooooo clever, little Miss.

I think I'd better head that one off at the pass.

She doesn’t go daft. A little 3ft battery operated pre-lot tree cost me £8. I let her do some fake snow on her window but only in her room as it’s toxic to cats. Her room is the only room the cat isn’t allowed in due to the hamster. It helps her feel involved although this year she helped me do the tree and all the other decs. As it’s the first Christmas without their mum I’m trying to make it as festive as I can and not allow them to wallow in pity.

Awwww, I'm sorry to read that their mum won't be there. Obviously we don't know the circumstances and I won't ask if it's private to you. It must be difficult though but I'm sure you'll make it a happy and festive occasion. I truly hope everything works out alright. Best wishes.

Mine is just very feisty and she gets into everything. That's why we call her the mini tsunami. You might not know where she is at any given time, but you know where she's been.

I like that because she's inquisitive with it and wants to know how everything works, and what it does. And of course, the default rule is: "If it's shiny or sparkles, I want it."

Tomorrow there will be as much dancing with the tinsel as there is putting it on walls and ceilings.

We use a live tree. We then replant the tree after the holidays. Because of the ball root we do have to get a smaller tree it’s only about 6’6” inches tall or about 198 centimeters tall

It'll be much bigger next year. lol. Norwegian Spruce can grow up to two feet in a year.

That's what deterred us us from getting a re-plantable tree when they started to go on sale here. It's not so much the doing of it, but the prospect of how big it's going to get. If we bought a re-plantable tree it would probably outgrow our house in three or four years and we'd be starting from scratch again.

Still.... everything is down from the loft now and we'll be getting stuck into decorating tomorrow. What fun..!!

The ecological aspect is sound, but we don't grow the trees in Britain in any numbers. Rather, we've always imported them from the continent for sale here which, obviously, has the negative environmental impact of transportation.

Real trees always smell nice and piney and I don't mind hoovering up the needles.

Still.... everything is down from the loft now and we'll be getting stuck into decorating tomorrow. What fun..!!

The Harold Gale Santa Doll, the one with white fur which looks like no hands, pink face and painted simple eyes. White plastic boots.

He's important.

Baby eating fondu display for Gryla the Icelandic giantess.

Cheese or chocolate, can't decide.

Who am I fooling? Babies don't need a dipping sauce.

I love Christmas decorations if they are done with some taste..I hate when people put tacky crap out in their front yards..it is like an eyesore for the rest of the neighborhood in my opinion..UGH!!

Yeah, I like the more subtle ones too.

I've got 3 dogs and a snowman out front (on insistence of my wife) Now we're doing a 4ft pre-lit tree inside, not too many other nick nacks around. It used to be worse....

I would never say this to my family, but one of my favorite times of the year is 10 am on December 26th because all of the Christmas decorations are packed away and it's the longest possible time before I have to drag them back out again.

This is an unpopular opinion, I'm sure, but I cannot stand it. We have SO much and it's everywhere...it takes over the house every year and when my house is out of order it really f***s with me.

I will never say anything about it because I know it makes them happy and is one of their favorite things, so I grin and bear it, but I really wish we could just put up a tree and leave it at that.

Call me a grinch...just being honest.

Do you think the twelve days of Christmas have any astrological significance?

I always feel a little sad when we take our decorations down... which is always after New Year so it would probably drive you nuts.

The house looks emptier. Less cheerful. If it is grey and cold outside and the light coming in through the windows is dim that just adds to the feeling of melancholy.

But during the season, when our house is lit up as it is right now (as I type) just being in the room creates cheer, and even if the light is fading outside, the street lights are coming on and the sky has been the colour of slate all day, in our little home, all is brightness and colour.

Daughter took part in her school nativity play today. Not a big part, but I was sooooo anxious it would all go well for her. Which it did. I've already Emailed the video footage to my my mother and Amanda's. They'll love it. Meg enjoyed herself and she's now sitting on the floor as I write, playing with a friend who has come for tea.

I'm quite sure the whispering between them, as they sit by the tree, is speculation on what is in the brightly wrapped packages underneath it's branches. Their excitement is my happiness. This really is the best time of the year.

But as it does every year, Christmas will pass and all the brightly coloured decorations will go into storage containers. We'll wrestle the tree back into its box and everything will go into the loft again. Life will return to 'normal'.

And next year it'll start all over again. The enjoyment, the fun and the cheer will be the same and that's the great thing about it. No matter how many times we celebrate Christmas, it never fails to make us happy. We never get fed up with it. So, come December 2019, I'll say "Bring It On."

We'll just be a year older, that's all.