Christmas officially over...?

Mine are staying up till Twelfth Night, as always. I love Christmas and certainly don't want it to end prematurely. The tree went up on 17 December and is beautiful.

I'm having folks round on New Year's Day, so mine will come down on the 2nd of January. That's usually the start of my 'spring' cleaning, but as I'm on jury duty from the 4th I might have to get stuck in a little later this year. I do like the tidiness that results from putting 'Christmas' away.

Hi there Maggiemaybe - your post expresses my sentiments. I'm particularly enjoying the decorations this year, all the lights are welcome in this grey, rainy and unpleasant weather. I do wish we could have some brisk, frosty mornings rather than sliding around on the sodden fields and paths when I'm out (with the dogs of course)

2nd of January here as well. Usually before that but really want to keep the lights this year to brighten the greyness. It will be good to have a post Christmas sort out when the time comes.

Brother and sister in law are being shared around family at moment due to their current housing problem ,have just been told they are coming on friday..as they will have to sleep in lounge which is the only living area,and a small 2 bed house,resident teenage and a fat black lab,christmas tree will have to come down along with trestle table put up for xmas day so it could groan with food..mini parrott will have to be put somewhere as he has a tendency to start talking Very early in the morning and waking up the household christmas cards and my birthday cards will come down ,spring clean will have to wait as will have their little dog also...good job we didnt put a lot up and my tree is a collapsible one.

I shall take mine down tomorrow New Years Eve and clean the house ready for a fresh start to the New Year - I've been itching to take them down for days.

Family here on 1st, so cleaning will begin at weekend!

I take a fair bit of prodding to actually get around to putting decs up, but once it's all done, love it, and only take down reluctantly at 12th Night.?

I know of one mum who took everything away on Boxing Day. Too soon, I think. I'm going to do mine gradually. The cards today and any decs on surfaces. The tree on 1st Jan.

we always keep the 12 days and as hubby has, as usual, over catered we will be eating christmas food for weeks to come

I'm surprised at the hastiness of some to get rid of the tree and all traces of Xmas

Mine will stay until 2 January when the GC leave - even if they weren't here I usually include New Year's Eve as part of festive season!

My tree and decs are down and although I love them the room looks so clean and calm now .

I usually take them down on 12th Night, which is why they rarely go up bfore 22nd or so. This year we went to DD. so we didn't bother putting anything up, not even the cards...

At church on Sunday, we were told that "Christmas" wasn't over until Candlemas, 2nd February !!!

So take your pick.

Ours will be taken down either on New Years day or on Sunday, depending how we feel.

I didn't know that it's considered unlucky not to burn the tree we never have before!

To minimise the mess, we usually cut all the branches off with the tree still in situ and gather them up in a dust sheet, so that there is only the bare stem/trunk to take through the house.

It's not over here until 6th when the Kings come and bring presents. Concerts, procession and a big meal on 5th make this the big one. All quite low key on Christmas Day with buses running and people out on the streets and in parks. Suits us but wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.

Everything here stays up until 12th night at which time the wise men are added to the crib scene which then stays in situ until Candlemas.

I took our tree down yesterday - my grandkiddies have gone to stay with their Dad until Saturday afternoon so daughter asked me to tidy the Christmas decorations away.
When we move into our own house (in rented accommodation at the moment) I will revert to my own timings of putting the decorations in the room on my side of the house up for the Solstice and then decorating my tree on Christmas Eve. My own choice is to tidy away on Boxing Day but I know my daughter likes to have the decorations up until January usually, and next year my ex son in law will have the kiddies for Christmas so my daughter will want to leave the decorations in her part of the house up over New Year.

Tree and cards will go 1st/2nd Jan I think. Tree has been up since 20th, an artificial one for the first time this year because it was simpler while recovering from hip op. Didn't seem as Christmassy as a real tree. At home in my childhood, the tree was decorated on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and stayed there with the other decorations till 12th night.

I'm having family over New Year's Day for dinner. Tree, decorations and cards will be down on the 2nd January. I will take the cards for recycling to M&S.

Mine went up 1st Monday in December and are not coming down until 12th night, I love it all, and put up quite a lot so it's got to stay up a while to be worth going to all that trouble in the first place.

All down, done and dusted, much to DH His Grumpiness.
This Christmas has been the least Christmassy one ever, mainly because muggings had to do absobloodylutely everything and I was knackered before it started.
Never mind, everyone enjoyed it ?

I didn't know that it's considered unlucky not to burn the tree

Don't worry, phoenix, I just read that somewhere and it made an impression! Logically it makes no sense at all as we've only been putting up christmas trees in the UKsince the early 19th C; no time at all for such a myth to develop

It might be even more unlucky to try and burn one on an open fire as it burns extremely fiercely and can cause a chimney fire...

Ours goes on a bonfire at whatever time we happen to be having one. I won't even put it on my precious woodburner because of the tar deposit it might leave in the very expensively lined chimney...

Decorations etc not taken down until twelfth night in our house. I'm rather superstitious but some years ago DH complained that the decorations looked like they shouldn't be there after 1st Jan and all our neighbours houses seemed to be without their Christmas lights after New year. I therefore relented and took them down before twelfth night but that year was just the most awful we have had. DH had a breakdown and was made redundant so from then on the decorations haven't come down before twelfth night

Ours will come down on the Monday after New Year when OH (not sure if you have different names for them here - i'm afraid I don't recognise any of the abbreviations used here, and take guesses as to what they might mean by context!!) goes back to work, and I can get on without interruptions! I take a lot of care decorating the tree (pretend, obvs!), and putting cosy fleeces, cushion covers etc about the place, and I want my "money's worth" out of all that effort!! Besides, once they're down it is properly miserable January, which I struggle through only by clinging onto the thought of our holiday getting ever closer!

I take mine down gradually tree and trimmings down this w/end will leave cards til 12th night .?