Unique Christmas Decorating Traditions?

We decorated for Christmas today. Not sure it's really unique but we always decorate our Christmas tree and keep it on the front porch instead of bringing it inside.

Anyone do something a little unique when decorating and if so how did the tradition start?

 

Must get a little chilly on Christmas mornin'.

 

Yes, but with only a stove pipe, Santa would never be able to make it down our chimney.

 

I leave our tree in the woods..... Un-decorated.... Baahumbug

 

If we put our tree up a week before Christmas it will be early. We normally get around to taking it down in Feb. Or March.

Gary

 

I have never really liked the whole angel on top of the tree. When the Mrs and I were first married we borrowed one but it was terrible. Now, we use little craft angels from our wedding shower! They have been saved all these years and now I just put my chorus of angels on the top of the tree (they are small, 2-3 inches). It is kind of like the angels announcing Christ's birth!

 

I have taken pictures of each family member, current and past, put them in hanging frames and hang them on the tree with the oldest at the top and the young ones nearer the bottom. We call it our family Christmas Tree. It is amazing how people stop and really look at the pictures.
When I put them on the tree, I take my time and think of many memories.

 

No chimney at home so we had a Santa key for our children similar to this.


Wife (XS) once put up the tree while I was away deer hunting right after Halloween and she got sick of it being up that long. Now it goes up in early December and it usually comes down on New Years day.

 

Since the kids and gkids aren't around, we've gotten away from a big tree.
Wife found a small, maybe 3', tree at a garage sale a few years ago that was already decorated, and we just added lights every year.
That broke....more than once. We've since gone out in the woods and cut a small White Pine, taken the top 3' off, then lopped off the branches on one side so it would sit flat against the wall. Used some Pex clips to secure it to the wall and put presents underneath.
I think we did that twice.
We have a little built-in shelving thing in the living room where we draped lights in the shape of a small tree.
This year, my wife made a small quilt with an appliquéd (sp?) tree on the backing. (I've learned all these terms over the years, living with someone who's sewn her whole life).
I'll have to get a pic when we hang it.
Small house.

 

My favorite year was the first year I bought my house and had just started dating my now-wife. I still had veto power back then and didn't decorate at all for Christmas, except for a wreath she bought and I hung it on the door.

Now the tradition goes like this:
Yesterday we went to cut a live tree (which isn't too bad since I brought my Corona saw, the crappy bow saws they provide SUCK!). I put the tree in a bucket of water in the shed.

Last night she tells me to bring up the decoration tubs. So I stop what I'm doing which clearly wasn't important (only putting a clutch in my car) and haul them all up the stairs.

She puts up all the decorations.

Then she'll nag me for 2 weeks until I finally break down and bring in the tree and get it leveled in it's base. Somehow I get nominated to put the lights on. She'll start putting on ornaments, but something will come up and I'll have to finish it. Then I'll spend the next several weeks putting back up ornaments that the dogs or cats knocked off and drag around the house. I'll also be the only one that waters it. And every single night from now until Christmas morning, about 10 minutes after we lay down to bed, she'll poke me and say "I forgot to move the Elf on the Shelf, can you go do that real quick?"

Eventually, sometime around New Years, I'll have to put the ornaments away, take down the lights and make sure they don't get tangled, and then drag the tree outside and toss it over the hill.

I'm really not a Scrooge and like the way the house looks when everything is done. I just hate that the tree somehow became my responsibility. As well as that creepy elf.

 

I point them out to my wife every time I see one! Unfortunately, she had never had a live tree growing up and wanted to try one a couple years ago. Now she's hooked and won't go back to artificial!

 

I could go along with all that except for the elf thing. I won't play with dolls. That elf would find itself in my stove!.

 

What is the story behind an Elf on the shelf and moving it ???

 

Some very cool traditions.

Here is our front porch with our tree all lit up next to the new fallen snow.