Christmas decorations

[Danus]

Anyone decorate their home for Christmas? If so, what do you do?

Personally I like a tree and a few things about. However, my wife likes a lot more. She is the Martha Stewart of our home and I am her assistant like it or not. :o

We have two trees, one in the dinning room and one in the family/living room. We have specific lights and ornaments for each. We have Christmas dishes and china. The regular dishes have to be packed away and traded for the Christmas dishes. Then there is the greenery.

We have several decorative greenery (Whatever) things that have to be strategically placed around the house along with various "nick-naks" which include an entire Christmas village which grows bigger every year. Then there are the outside lights......

For a time, I had to install "Ice-cycle" lights. It was a dangerous job, and I had to buy new lights every year, or spend my days searching for the one culprit bulb to be replaced. Two years ago I got smart. My wife noticed a picture of a house decorated with red and green flood lights, writhes on each window and garland with lights just around the door. I acted interested. Subtle, sophisticated, and different hum...; "Yes! yes it is"; I said. "You know I could do that for you...Um, I mean us, you know our house. If you want."

So now no more ladders. I just pop a few flood lights in the ground, run a string of garland with lights around the front door, pop a few wreathes on the windows...DONE.

Any thoughts on Christmas decor? Nightmare stories? Tips, advice? How does decorating for Christmas fit with your Christianity?

 

[Vic C.]

I don't go all out like some do. It's not about all that for me. I will put some white lights on my fake ficus tree and maybe some lights around two windows.

All the bells and whistles don't fit my beliefs or lifestyle.

 

[Danus]

yep. Can't say I disagree.

When I was single I had a little tree that sat on a cocktail table with a few lights on it. That and a manger scene. I have to have a manger scene.

Now days I have two kids and a wife and we have to make the house ..."Magical". I go along with it as best I can, but we keep the Christmas focus on Jesus. The rest is for show and entertainment I guess.

 

[theLords]

My bedroom looks like a Christmas store threw up in it!

Christmas lights, a Christmas village, a mini Tree, a Minorah (yay Chrismakuh!) Christmas ornaments, hanging snow flakes, wrapping paper on the door with a giant bow, tinsel, Christmas candles.

I love it!!!! :D

 

[Vince]

My wife and I used to have an Air Force Christmas tree. All the decorations had something to do with the Air Force or other military. We set it up three years in a row at Air Force bases and donated it when we moved to Mexico.

 

[jasoncran]

My bedroom looks like a Christmas store threw up in it!

Christmas lights, a Christmas village, a mini Tree, a Minorah (yay Chrismakuh!) Christmas ornaments, hanging snow flakes, wrapping paper on the door with a giant bow, tinsel, Christmas candles.

I love it!!!! :D

i should do a thread on why that particular menorah also means(it has dual meanings in channukah)
the eight day maccabean seige of jerusalem.

my dad talked about this to me one day.

 

[theLords]

i should do a thread on why that particular menorah also means(it has dual meanings in channukah)
the eight day maccabean seige of jerusalem.

my dad talked about this to me one day.

Do it!

I love Christmas. My spirit is the happiest this time of year! Celebrating the Lord? yayyyyyy, my favorite!!!!!!

 

[jasoncran]

i will do it tommorow or could visit the many hebrew sites and do it yourself.

 

[theLords]

LOL at the DIY instructions, yes sir

 

[Mike]

I'm responsible for bringing the artificial tree up from the basement, putting it together and bring up the other stuff. Danus, we're a lot alike. My wife has Christmas dishes and glasses and a certain place for everything. It's become a tradition to do this the day after Thanksgiving. I do my part, and then I get out of the way and go upstairs.

I put lights up on our house, but it pales in comparison to the rest of the neighborhood. My house looks like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree compared to the others. But, I don't see a need to spend a fortune to light up my whole street. I have a light-up nativity scene (Just the three people), a nativity flag in place of our American flag and a simple lit up nativity in the back window.

My best decision is always to wait until it's so cold I can't feel my fingers, and then I put them up. :gah

 

[l'Chante]

We are currently experiencing one of the hottest summers ever. (Go, global warming!! Yay!) I thought my face was going to melt off yesterday. 2<O:p
<O:p
My Christmas tree looks like a six year old decorated it. Mainly because a six year old decorated it. We make our own decorations (which look like a six year old made it) and she arranges the tree herself.
<O:p
TL, it looks like a garbage dump threw up on my tree. Not even a mother can think that that tree it is pretty, but she has a ball doing it. <O:p

 

[handy]

I don't put up a Christmas Tree...I put up a giant interactive cat toy.

We put the tree up today. I've already pulled two cats out of it and replaced the angel on top 5 times.

I don't do the special dishes or anything like that, but ohhh yeah, we do Christmas decorations. Two nativities, one was Steve's one was mine, one will be Viola's, one will be Thomas'. Each year I give the kids some kind of ornament or decoration so that when they get out on their own, they'll have something to put up.

There are Santas, sleighs, a ornamental house (which serves as a night light), one of those silk Polar Bear's that inflate with a fan and has a light in it, various angels and various critters wearing Santa hats that sit around on various surfaces.

More like a Christmas thrift shop, but fun.

One thing we do not do is outdoor lights. I spent hours one day getting those horrid "icicle" type lights up, just to have realize that no one can really see them except us, and that's only if someone goes and plugs them in, then we drive away just to drive back up again. Not worth the effort.

Don't even get me started on the nightmare stories...wouldn't know where to begin. There was the time that my in-law's dog thought the tree was "indoor plumbing"...the time the dogs chased a skunk under the house...the time my dad threw a shoe at a cat, missed and hit the aluminim Christmas tree, knocking it into the spinning wheel floodlight and breaking every glass ornament, not to mention shorting out the lamp...

But, I love this time of year...always have and always will. Wouldn't change it for the world!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! :christmas

 

[Mike]

I don't put up a Christmas Tree...I put up a giant interactive cat toy.

We put the tree up today. I've already pulled two cats out of it and replaced the angel on top 5 times.

Our dog has never jumped on our Christmas tree.

 

[handy]

Our dog has never jumped on our Christmas tree.

The in-law's dog lifted his leg and peed on the Christmas tree. I had to wash the tree skirt, shampoo the carpet and unwrap, clean and re-wrap all the presents.

Rather have the kitties. Not only are they cute when they play with the ornaments, there is always the excitement of whether or not the tree will remain in a "locked and upright" position. Not to mention that we get the joy of decorating the tree every single day in December! :p

Gotta love the kitties, Mike. The good Lord made them! He made them to test your love, Mike. Not gonna go to heaven if'n you be hatin' the kitties!

 

[Mike]

Gotta love the kitties, Mike. The good Lord made them! He made them to test your love, Mike. Not gonna go to heaven if'n you be hatin' the kitties!

Sorry, Dora. You had to expect that from me when you posted it. That was just too easy. :rolling

We've had real and artificial trees and a few dogs along the way. They never peed on our trees. Not that I don't have major complaints about my dog. :bigfrown

Mike just doesn't do cats.

I'll agree with you here... If we lived in a rural area where no one saw our house, there is NO WAY my family could talk me into hanging lights outside. NO WAY! It's cold out there, and I dread it every year - both putting them up and taking them down. And here's the rule: They will all work in the house, but something goes wrong between that time and when they're up. All of a sudden, we have technical difficulties and it's 1 degree F outside. I don't care, once they're up.

 

[Vic C.]

I don't put up a Christmas Tree...I put up a giant interactive cat toy.

We put the tree up today. I've already pulled two cats out of it and replaced the angel on top 5 times.

LOL!!! Initially, this was THE reason why I stopped putting up the tree. Never did like coming home each and every day having to redecorate a tree after two kittens are home alone with it for 10+ hours.

 

[handy]

LOL!!! Initially, this was THE reason why I stopped putting up the tree. Never did like coming home each and every day having to redecorate a tree after two kittens are home alone with it for 10+ hours.

:D I can only imagine!

 

[Vic C.]

The in-law's dog lifted his leg and peed on the Christmas tree. I had to wash the tree skirt, shampoo the carpet and unwrap, clean and re-wrap all the presents.

:toofunny :toofunny :toofunny

I'll take the cat claws over dog pee any day!!!

Rather have the kitties. Not only are they cute when they play with the ornaments, there is always the excitement of whether or not the tree will remain in a "locked and upright" position. Not to mention that we get the joy of decorating the tree every single day in December!

Been there, done that!

One thing though... they would not EVER touch it while I was home. I did have the pleasure of watching my sister's two dogs and two cats almost demolish her tree in record time. :D

 

[handy]

:toofunny :toofunny :toofunny

I'll take the cat claws over dog pee any day!!!


Been there, done that!

One thing though... they would not EVER touch it while I was home. I did have the pleasure of watching my sister's two dogs and two cats almost demolish her tree in record time. :D

Ah, the joys of the holidays! ...and I love how your cats would act like such angels when you were home, as if they would never do such a thing. :halo

 

[stovebolts]

We are currently experiencing one of the hottest summers ever. (Go, global warming!! Yay!) I thought my face was going to melt off yesterday. 2<o>:p</o>
<o>:p</o>
My Christmas tree looks like a six year old decorated it. Mainly because a six year old decorated it. We make our own decorations (which look like a six year old made it) and she arranges the tree herself.
<o>:p</o>
TL, it looks like a garbage dump threw up on my tree. Not even a mother can think that that tree it is pretty, but she has a ball doing it. <o>:p</o>

You have a Charlie Brown tree, plus some! :toofunny

One year I put lights all around the house, up the outside peak and across all the gutter. It looked great. I think it was August when I finally took them down after a big rain / wind storm that occured in like May... Not sure why the wife won't let me put up lights outside anymore

Well, time to dig the tree out!