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SeaStar
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There are probably as many different family traditions for Christmas decorating as there are families!! Let's have fun sharing all the different family traditions. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers here!! So spill it! When do you decorate for Christmas?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Dec 07 2010 at 8:16pm | IP Logged
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At my house, I always have out the Advent decorations in time for the first Sunday of Advent. For us, that means the Advent wreath, Yule log, and a basket of Christmas books, one for each night of Advent.
Also- Advent calendar and our "star cards" (cards on the fridge where each child can put a star sticker for each good deed do they do as a gift for Baby Jesus.)
The tree and other decorations come out later... usually by mid December.
Growing up my mom always made us wait until after the feast of Our Lady of Guadelupe on Dec 12 to decorate, since that was one of my sister's birthday.
I have to admit I do enjoy the tree and lights so much that I like to have them up earlier rather than later.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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guitarnan
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I grew up in a family that decorated the weekend before Christmas, and we've pretty much kept to that. I do try to spread the Advent theme through our home right away.
Some of you have heard this story before, but a few years ago I bought purple Christmas lights, thinking this would be a good way to light up the outside of our home and stick to my Advent theme for at least a little while. I brought them home and proudly put them up around our porch and door...and when my dd saw them, she exclaimed, "Cool, Mom! Ravens lights!"
PS - We still use them, every year...and I leave them up through Epiphany. I am sure my neighbors think we're rabid football fans...well, my dh is...
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Angie Mc
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We bring out decorations starting on the first Sunday of Advent and decorate a little at a time over Advent.
This year, we have a new artificial tree being shipped to our home this week! Once it arrives, for the first time, we're excited to place purple lights on it. We'll add ornaments and different lights on Christmas Eve.
The first item brought out on the first Sunday of Advent is our nativity set, placed in the middle of our sideboard on purple placemats in our dining/family room...without the baby Jesus. Our St. Nicholas statue was placed on one end of the sideboard on the feast of St. Nicholas. We also bring out a larger wooden manger that we fill with (yellow construction paper) straw with our hopes and sacrifices printed on each piece, as we fill it for baby Jesus.
Oooo, I'd love to share more but I need to get us all into bed. Mass is early tomorrow morning!
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Carole N.
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Our decorating has changed over the years. We try to make a clear distinction between Advent and Christmas. So on the first Sunday of Advent, the wreath is displayed. We also have a fairly substantial nativity as well as a manger that we place in the living area. Advent calendars are in the dining room as well as the O Antiphons house. And I have many nacimentos that I place throughout the house.
Usually about two weeks before Christmas, we put up our tree. But it only has purple lights on it. And some saint decorations. During the next two weeks, we decorate the rest of the house. This year it will be a little earlier.
On Christmas Eve, we turn on the white lights and place the rest of the ornaments on the tree.
I really love the greenry and lights, so I keep them up until Epiphany. Usually I leave the larger nativity until Baptism of the Lord.
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 Carole ... in Wales
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stefoodie
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Our decorating has changed over the years, and we're more "liturgical" now. In the Philippines we decorated all at one time whenever we found the time, sometime before Christmas, usually on a weekend.
Now we start with an advent wreath and an empty tree, an empty creche except for sheep, and evergreens with purple ribbon. (An advent calendar too, if I found the time to fill it with candy and Bible readings prior to Advent. Didn't get to do that this year.) Some years we choose one additional tradition, like Jesse tree or O Antiphons display; only one a year as I/we get too overwhelmed when we have more.
We add figures to the creche as Advent progresses, ending with Baby Jesus at Christmas Eve (midnight). The kids add purple ornaments to the tree all through Advent (one ornament per good deed/sacrifice), pink ornaments starting Gaudete Sunday, more purple the third week and then the different ornaments go on Christmas Eve (I tried one year to SWITCH the ornaments but that was just too much work).
The lights and outdoor wreaths are the men's department and dh and dss usually do that the weekend after Thanksgiving or it might never get done with snow and the busyness of the season taking over. I suggested one year that we get purple lights, Nancy, and then SWITCH to multicolored at Christmas, but dh immediately vetoed that. So we use white lights, period.
Our tree does have the multicolored lights that dance with music, mostly to entertain baby every evening. It's so much fun to watch their enchanted faces.
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stef
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amyable
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guitarnan wrote:
| "Cool, Mom! Ravens lights!" |
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I voted that we do it 1-2 weeks before Christmas, all at once...this is what normally happens. Not so much because it's what I *want*, it's just what works.
This year it will be more like 3 days before Christmas...with dh's back issues and a 3yo that will probably have the tree and all other decorations knocked over in no time flat, we want to lessen the time he has available for destruction.
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JaysFamily
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We always start with Advent decorations first, and then add some Christmas decorations each week. We cover Baby Jesus with a purple cloth in all our Nativity scenes. We love Christmas trees so much, that putting it up immediately before Christmas and then taking it down at Epiphany is just too fast for us!
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fsuadamson
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We kind of have an Advent season of decorating and a Christmas season of decorating.
On the first of Advent we bring out the Advent wreath, put a purple wreath on the door and purple ribbon on the mailbox. On St. Nicholas's Feast Day we bring out the stockings. Then on the second week of Advent we put up our Advent Tree. On the third week (Joy week) we put out the Christmas village and outdoor decorations.
On Christmas Eve we undress the Advent tree, and put up all the Advent decor. Then after Mass we decorate the tree with Christmas ornaments. We decorate the rest of the house with Christmas stuff, colors, lights, mailbox ribbon is changed and the front door wreath.
We keep these up until Epiphany.
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Booksnbabes
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The Advent wreath, Advent calender, stable (and animals and manger), and tree go up on the first Sunday of Advent. We decorate the tree with purple lights (white lights go on too for ease of later decorating, but are not turned on yet). Christmas Eve we break out the ornaments and decorate the tree! Mary, Joseph, the donkey, and the wise men travel through the house throughout Advent. The Christ child is placed in the manger after we return home from midnight Mass or in the morning before Mass.
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VanessaVH
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Try to get the Advent wreath out as soon as Advent starts, the rest is either gradually, or all at once if I have some free time. My preference is to get my Fontanini village out early and do different scenes leading up to the birth of Christ (Annunciation, Visitation, Shepherds, Soldier announcing the census....)
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Grace&Chaos
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Kind of do a little at a time throught out the season. In the last several years I've made sure to have our Advent wreath and all our Christmas reading out before the first Sunday of the Season.
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Jenny
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glinNC
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We put out our Advent wreath and "countdown" decorations the first Sunday of Advent, but we put up our tree and all the Christmas decorations on the 3rd Sunday of Advent to celebrate the "JOY" of Gaudete (sp?) Sunday! 
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LucyP
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W bring out our nativity sets and advent wreath and the good deed manger on the first sunday of advent. The children's nativity has the baby Jesus and the Magi from day one and our main nativity has Jesus added on Christmas day and the magi at ephiphany.
The tree and the house/garden lights go up together. Usually on Christmas Eve, sometimes the day before - sometimes a few days before, depending on DH's schedule etc.
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DominaCaeli
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Advent decorations on the first Sunday of Advent, Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve! 
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Celeste
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Elena
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We decorate really all fall but mainly during Advent. On the feast of the assumption, the stars we made to hang come out. The angles come out on the Feast of the Archangels and guardian angels. St. Nick came out on his feast day. Then next week or just before Christmas we will get our tree. The tree comes down after the Christmas season, but the lights and the angels and the stars will stay out until Lent.
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Erin
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We decorate our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. However we decorate for Advent on the first Sunday of Advent.
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Erin
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: When do you decorate for Christmas? (
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