Snow.... what a wonderful thing to conjure up this hot, hot July morning. I've been thinking about cold, snow and Christmas quite a bit lately - the new Christmas line I just submitted the first of the month, the 14 lb. box of vintage wrapping paper I bought on ebay as inspiration, and the gift for my Mom I finally found in the closet. I'm sure none of you have ever stashed a Christmas gift during the year and then couldn't find your excellent hiding spot again - or, just totally forgot about it. When I ran across this particular gift - a pair of metal leaf sconces to go with a painting in her living room - I took it directly to her house and helped her hang them up. It only makes sense - she has 6 more months to enjoy them, it's much less hectic now than at the holidays and I don't want to take the chance that the gift would be put away too well AGAIN. She was tickled and announced she loved Christmas in July. Just might start a tradition.
But I digress...snow, oh yes. Snow Blooms was inspired by a single tulip poking up thru the snow one Feb. after we'd had a week of very mild temperatures, then a snow storm. Yup, that's Kansas. Five prints, five colorways, fun collection.
With a limited number of squares in the charm pack, a mini trip around the world fit the bill.
Question of the day: When do you start decorating for Christmas and how long after do you keep your holiday theme going? Has your Christmas decorating changed over the years?
Comment here by Sunday night at 10pm CST for a chance to win the Snow Blooms charm pack - and maybe a little something extra I found hidden away.
I like to decorate the Sat. after Thanksgiving and take down the decorations News Years Day. Have a very Merry Christmas! L
ReplyDeleteI usually say I am going to decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving but it always ends up to be around 2 weeks later. I love Christmas decorating and do not take down until the 3rd or 4th week of January. Two years ago I had surgery on January 7th so my decorations stayed up until almost Valentines Day! I actually loved it.
ReplyDeleteSo neat for you to give your Mom a Christmas In July present.
I decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving and take it all down the week after Christmas; for sure by the New Year. I like the Christmas in July gift; maybe the start of a new tradition. Thanks for the chance at your giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI start decorating the day after Thanksgiving! I usually start putting up decorations the first few days of January, but I am never happy the holidays are over!
ReplyDeleteI wait until right after Thanksgiving; and depending on the craziness, take down the decorations just after New Years. One year the tree did stay up to celebrate my daughter's birthday on the 13th of January....Lately I seem to be decorating a little simpler....Janet
ReplyDeleteWe normally put our Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. I want to enjoy it for as long as I can! Thanks for the giveaway! :0)
ReplyDeleteI am so boring really I put mine up a few days before and take them down 7 days after. It's all different now I live in France and am away from family, so yes mine has changed we don't have children come to visit to I don't decorate as much as I use to. Linda
ReplyDeleteI usually start the first week of December. Everyday after school I get out a new tub and empty it. The tree comes down a few days after Christmas, just so I can put the house back while we are still on break. I keep my winter items;snowmen and other smaller trees out through February. Oh, have I changed my theme in the 23 years I've been married. I used to do pink Victorian ornaments and now I can't get enough primitive items - orange slices, pinecones that type of decoration. I can't believe I ever spent hours cross stitching those horrid victorian pink ornaments. (but I still have them - after the hours spent, I just can't get rid of them!) ~Ann
ReplyDeleteWe usually decorate during Thanksgiving weekend and leave it up until New Year's because that's when there are more people around to help. When I was growing up, the tree went up about Dec. 15, and came down the day after Christmas. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI always start the day after Thanksgiving and it stays up till I remember to take it down, lol. I keep snowman items up longer. I have hidden gifts and forgotten them, that is what happens when you find good hiding spots.
ReplyDeleteLove the colors in snow blooms.
Debbie
I start decorating the Saturday after Thanksgiving and keep it up until after New Year's Day. Christmas is my favorite holiday so I do more decorating then than for other holidays. Even though the children are now grown, they all come for Christmas and expect it to be decorated the same. I have opted for an artificial tree however.
ReplyDeleteI start planning in January, I know it sounds very early, but I always buy new Xmas decorations at the after Xmas sales, so if i get a new beautiful decoration that was a really great bargin, it will take pride of place.
ReplyDeleteThen I have to finish all the new Xmas UFO's I was sure I'd finish before Xmas (but I never do & every year there's always so many new patterns for Christmas stuff I just can't help my self)These will also take pride of place. So when I pack up the decorations (mid-January)I'm ready for December
I start to decorate in the 1st week of December & I absolutely love it. You would think my children are still young (they're 18 & 20)I have to have the fairy lights,candy canes, vintage glass tree decorations, my color choice varies every year.And I collect all types & sizes of Xmas trees & always make new Xmas stockings every year for the mantle (I still hang the old ones just in different places around the house.
Living in Florida it's sometimes hard to get into the Christmas decorating spirit until the second week of December. And usually the decorations come down soon after the New Year. The only change in our decorating in the last year has been to add a new tree (in addition to our old faithful) in the living room of our new house. It's tall and slim, and our family room tree is plump and holds all the old ornaments we have collected over the years :-)
ReplyDeleteEvery year I seem to be putting up less decorations - except for quilts of course. Put those out early December until first week in January. Thanks for the 'cooling' thoughts of Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWe usually start decorating around Dec 1st and take it all down the first week in January. Love putting it all out and getting into the Christmas spirit but hate to pack it all away. Each year I say that I won't put so much out, but each year I add more. My favorites are the Christmas quilts. Merry Christmas
ReplyDeleteThr new fabric line looks and sounds terrific. I would so enjoy winning your give-a-way. I really like the trip around the world quilt...I could use a vacation. ;)
ReplyDeleteI decorate after Thanksgiving but am quick to take it all down the day right after Christmas with exception of the snowman stuff. I keep that theme going through February. I found year after year that I have favorites that have to come out and it seems more and more is staying tucked back into the box and not so favorite anymore. Perhaps my taste are changing.
ReplyDeleteI like to get Christmas going around the lst of December. Then after I'm so over it and definitely down by January 1st. I'm adding more quilty stuff most years and have recycled a lot of really old stuff as well. The fabric is really cute.
ReplyDeleteMary
Oh, I didn't comment on the question of the day. Well, My tree has stayed up for a number of years so far. I decorate with the things I really like so if it is a holiday thing or not I don't care.
ReplyDeleteI'm not big on Christmas decorations. I put up my creche at the beginning of December. The tree doesn't come up from the basement until the weekend before Christmas and comes down a few days after. Kathie L in Allentown
ReplyDeleteMy Christmas starts going up the day after Thanksgiving and continues for about a week until it is all done. I take it down over about a week's time starting the day after New Years Day.
ReplyDeleteSince the kids are grown I decorate with less cutesy stuff, but I think I decorate even more. I have almost 2 dozen of those alpine-type trees that are clustered around the home and lit in mini-lights, along with a growing collection of nativity scenes. I put lighted garlands wherever I can and quality hand-crafted items in every nook and cranny. I love the feel!
Have to admit that since my children are grown and gone from home, I don't decorate. We celebrate the holiday at the son's house, so I just don't do it. That might change now that we have a new granddaughter, but I have a hard time getting in the mood for Christmas...
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's birthday is Dec 11 so we usually start putting up Christmas after that, and take it down around Jan 1. My tastes have changed from bright colors for Christmas ornaments to drab prim colors instead - much better!
ReplyDeleteI love to decorate my house with the seasons. I usually start my Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving. However, my tree doesn't go up until the week before Christmas. It is always decorated the same: lights, red bulbs and my crystal ornament collection. And if I have the day off, everything comes down on Dec 26th!
ReplyDeleteAh, Snow! Does sound wonderful. I decorate the middle of December and if lucky it doesn't come down until March. I love CHristmas. My tastes have changed in that I use more of the family vintage decorations than before. Connection to family I guess. Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI try to start decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving. I leave the trees up through the first week in January. The other decorations get put away sometime the week after Christmas....except the snowmen. They stay until Valentine's Day. I need snowmen to remind me it is winter since the winter weather is pretty mild where I live!
ReplyDeleteI like to put the tree up either Thanksgiving weekend or the next week. I want to enjoy it the whole month of December. I like to take it down before New Years. I made a quilt using your pattern Candle in the Window using the Snow Blooms collection and it turned out great. The brick-red print was my favorite. Thanks for the giveaway. Lana
ReplyDeleteWe love Christmas, so we begin the first of November throughout house except the dining area where Thanksgiving decorations will be displayed. After Thanksgiving, the dining and kitchen areas resemble Mrs. Claus' kitchen with cross stitched and embellished stand-ups, lots of framed cross stitched pieces, Christmas china, etc. All of my DH's hunting trophies are decorated with ornaments, tinsel, and bows. I am currently working on my first Christmas quilt for the master bedroom. The 3 labbies' tails can be dangerous, so we are careful placing things. Such fun... Christmas houses, special handmade ornaments on the tree, etc.
ReplyDeleteI start decorating around Thanksgiving and try to have everything put away around New Years - of course I leave up my snowmen. My decorating over the years has become simpler and I've learned to only put up what I really love. Thanks for the opportunity to win some charms...Denise
ReplyDeleteI start Christmas music the day after Halloween. I have hundreds of CDs that I've collected thru the years...but I love Johnny Mathis the best! Then we decorate the house the weekend after Thanksgiving and leave it up till mid-January. My theme for the past 5-6 yrs is snowmen and always the homespun/ handmade look, whatever the theme. Stay cool, S Warren
ReplyDeleteI never decorate for Christmas at or near Thanksgiving. I prefer to keep the warm, cozy colors of autumn around me for as long as possible! Then, when the Christmas mood strikes me, I bring out the tree. A few years ago I switched from a large, glitzy, shiny tree to a pencil tree with woodsy ornaments and crocheted snowflakes.
ReplyDeleteOnce the kid's left the roost, I only put out a few special items the first week of December, no tree but some colored lights in champagne bottles look so pretty, and I put everything away before New Year strikes! Oooh. I just realized how Grinchy I sound! I love the season, but not the work of pulling all that stuff out of storage! I do play lots of holiday music though! LOL
ReplyDeleteAlways the Sunday before Christmas. With my birthday on Christmas Day I don't want to feel older too soon!
ReplyDeleteNow that is my kind of pattern! Simple and it lets the fabric do the talking! Love it! Thanks Lynn for the chance to win some of your wonderful fabric!
ReplyDeleteI was say Happy Quilting... but it is so hot here in Ohio and from the looks of things the same where you are... so I will just say Stay Cool! Onalee NE Ohio
I start decorating in December, a little at a time. Doing less as the years go by and try to keep it simple but special. Tree goes up about a week before Christmas. Love the fabrics!
ReplyDeleteLesley
i do a little at a time and how much depends on if we are traveling for the holiday or we are hosting! I love changing themes but always keep some of the same family traditionals out! thanks for the beautiful giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI do a bit at a time, starting right after Thanksgiving. It all comes down after New Years, except for a few snowmen and things. The quilts stay out longer too. ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt seems like once December comes it feels like it's time to start decorating. Taking down Christmas decorations is never as fun as putting them up! Some of my favorite decorations stay up all year as I don't have the heart to take them down.
ReplyDeleteWe decorate for Christmas right after US thanksgiving. (We live in Canada where thanksgiving is celebrated the second Monday of October but my husband is from the US so we celebrate in November as well). I take the decorations down right after New Year's Day.
ReplyDeleteI ALWAYS wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas~ one holiday at a time please! LOL Ususally take it down around New Yr's.
ReplyDeleteThis past yr. I was able to put out all of my gingerbread I've collected over the yrs., so that was different than in past yrs.
Thanks for the give~away!
Tanya
I don't have a Xmas decorating routine yet. Last year, we had just moved to a new state, started new jobs, and we too tired and frazzled to decorate. This year I can't wait to do it! I still have my Xmas wreath from last year hanging up. I'm so bad!
ReplyDeleteSome time around the first of December works good for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm eager before Christmas,but do wait until Dec first!There's just "something" about Christmas that is so special,I think it's Christ! Thanks so for sharing!
ReplyDeletejldouglas@wispwest.net
Since I am such a Fall/Autumn Harvest junkie, I leave Fall decor up as long as possible! But hubby makes me take it down and we put the tree up usually after Thanksgiving Day. Hum...CHRISTmas decorating has changed...last CHRISTmas was our first without our oldest son Ethan who passed away last summer. We decorated for the sake of our youngest son, but I think this year will be much happier, and I will enjoy decorating!
ReplyDeleteI start decorating the day after Thanksgiving and take down on New Year's day. My question is: If you put up a nativity, when do you put Baby Jesus in? Just a thought. Thanks for the chance to win. HUGS... and stitches
ReplyDeleteI always have big ideas of decorating early, but usually don't get around to it until a couple of weeks before Christmas. I take down the tree and most decorations on New Year's Day while I watch the parades on TV and leave the snowman stuff up till I get tired of it.
ReplyDeleteLove the trip around the world.
I just love your Snow Blooms charm pack - the colors are lovely!
ReplyDeleteWe usually start decorating the first weekend of December and leave them up until early January. Our decorations have been simplified since our boys are grown. We don't have grandkids, YET. If and when we do, we definitely will decorate more. I love the name of this line, Snow Flowers. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWe decorate on Dec. 21 (to separate a daughter's Dec. 20 birthday from the festivities of Christmas) and take decorations down usually Dec. 28th.
ReplyDeleteThe quilt is really fabulous.
Rose in Idaho
Start decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving and take it down New Year's Day. Leave up my snowmen, and smaller trees thru February cause they make me happy. My decorating has defintely change over the years. I am now folk artsy and primitive. I put up a tree of Williraye ornaments I have collected over the years and that has become my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the Snow Blooms giveaway. I start decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving; take my tree down after New Years Day, and the snowman things stay up til Valentine's Day. This year I am in hopes of adding a bird and pinecone themed tree on my glassed in porch.
ReplyDeleteBoth my husband and I enjoy all the Christmas decorations so our decorations usually go up Thanksgiving Day or the day after or if I will let him, my husband will start earlier. They usually stay up until about the end of January. We like to add something to our collection of tree ornaments and my collection of snowmen every year. Changes? We probably do not keep the Christmas lights lit as long as we used to because of the rising cost of electricity. Thanks for another Charming Thursday.
ReplyDeleteI start decorating the day after Thanksgiving and put everything away the morning after Christmas Day. I love Christmas decorations and so enjoy having the house decked-out. Yet, I tend to start missing my "regular" things by Christmas Day.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when nothing less than a live tree suited me. I now do the artificial tree and get the Christmas smells from baking and candles.
Love the Charming Thursday. Thanks ever so much!
We usually decorate the first week of December and take everything down on New Year's Day. The decorations stay basically the same because they are reminders of all the people who have made and given us decorations over the years. - Lynn
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at you finding a Christmas gift hidden away. I thought I was the only one who did that and now it's expected here!
ReplyDeleteI like to decorate around the second week of December and take them down New Year's day. Even though I love the decorations, by then I'm feeling like I want to get back to normal. Once they're put away I always find one I forgot about so it may end up staying for quite a while.
Thanks for giving all these charm packs away - they're great.
Beautiful fabric and quilt, as always!
ReplyDeleteWe decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving-- the sooner the better, usually, though last year we took our time. I try to take them down soon after New Year's Day (though that also can be left longer than planned). For a year or two, I put up and decorated two trees, but these days, I think it's just way too much work. One is more than enough for a reasonable amount of Christmas spirit. ;o) Our number of decorations sometimes increase from year to year, though, as we get new items/ornaments from family-- or make or buy some for ourselves. The more the merrier-- to a point!
Silly me I answered your question in an e-mail instead of here.
ReplyDeleteWe start putting up our Christmas decorations the day/weekend after Thanksgiving. We put up 5 trees ranging in size from 4 foot to 9 foot. Can you tell my husband loves Christmas???? Oh and then there are the Christmas Houses... they go up above my kitchen cabinets. We had plugs put up there for just so we could light them up!
Happy Quilting!
Onalee
NE Ohio
I use to start on the 10th of december...that was when the kids were little. The less time for them to be super hyper...two weeks is long enough to wait for Christmas. :) But now that they are all gone and I am older? I try to start right after THanksgiving...it seems to take me longer to decorate..I needs lots of breaks in between :) I am a tad more elegant in my choices of color and theme...back then it was whatever and everything I had that was unbreakable ha!
ReplyDeleteI live in Canada and we celebrate Remembrance Day Nov 11th every year to honour the end of WWI. Christmas decorating would start after that date. And my decorations, especially my tree stays up until old Christmas - Jan 6th.
ReplyDeletenlcalendar
I usually start right after Thanksgiving and I leave several things out until Valentine's Day. I have one santa that stays out year round. Thanks for the great giveaway. Bev E
ReplyDeleteI am still missing a present I bought 2 years ago. I know it is in one of the closets, maybe this will be the year I find it. I was not one to decorate until I started quilting. I just finished a Christmas quilt and getting ready to start on a few more wall hangings.
ReplyDeleteSnow Blooms look fabulous and the mini trip shows them off wonderfully.
ReplyDeleteI usually start decorating the day after Thanksgiving - I firmly believe in honoring that day - and start packing them away at the start of Epiphany. My style hasn't changed much, but despite some that were lost to an overly aggressive dog (another story for another day), I have many of the early ones and have added more primitive elements over the years. Thank you again for your generosity.
I start decorating for Christmas on the weekend of Thanksgiving and usually keep the Christmas theme until New Years. That is when I switch everything to the snowmen theme - which usually stays until spring. Looking forward to winning. :)
ReplyDeleteMy decorating changed after the kids left home; when they weren't here it became a chore and I didn't want to have it out long enough that it needed dusting. So it went from the day after Thanksgiving to two weeks before Christmas, and the big tree became a table top size one pre-lit and decorated. Now we have grand kids so the big tree comes out but it gets taken down before New Years.
ReplyDeleteOur decorating has deminished since the kids have grown but we still enjoy our favorites.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoy the family time more and the work less!
Getting old I guess.
I usually decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving and take everything down a couple of days after New Year's Day. I have changed some things over the years, but my children's special ornaments are always a key part of my decor.
ReplyDeleteUsually the first weekend of December. Take down is usually the 2nd week of January. Until I got married and had to travel for the holidays I loved decorating. Now it's just one more chore.
ReplyDeleteI must say it is just refreshing to look at the picture (on the sidebar)of your cabin in the snow. It's so darn hot and humid in the South (and everywhere) right now.
ReplyDeleteWe don't put up our tree until my birthday on Dec. 10th (sort of my birthday celebration/present). We usually take it down on epiphany, Jan. 6th which is also the 12 day of Christmas. (Give or take a day or two - I mean by then we are all exhausted).
Love the fabric and they look beautiful in the quilt. I bet your Mom loved the sconces - who doesn't love a gift no matter when it is given, especially from family!
We like to begin decorating a few weeks before Christmas and take it down the first week in January. For Christmas I gave my mother an "iou a clothes shopping trip." We just took it last week for her Christmas in July. It is so hot here in Florida that charming snow blooms would be welcome. Thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeleteI start the week of Thanksgiving and leave it up til after New Year's.. longer if my family would let me. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI put my many, many Santa's out right after Thanksgiving and leave them out till mid January and then I get my snowmen out.
ReplyDeleteI'd like the Christmas decorations to last a least a month so I start early. These decorations have changed and simplified over the years as the children grew up and left home. We keep it simple and centered on Christ.
ReplyDeleteI usually start decorating the first weekend in December, when we cut down our tree. I have to take things down around the first weekend in January, when the tree starts dropping needles - usually because I forget to keep watering it with presents piled all around, LOL!!
ReplyDeletewe usually travel to TX for Thanksgiving (the Sander's Family Reunion occurs over that 4 day weekend)so we don't start decorating until we get back (which is usually the 1st weekend in December). Everything stays up through New Years Eve and we start taking things down on the 1st. Thanks for a chance to win - laurie
ReplyDeletellsbaskets@comcast.net
It use to be the day after Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. I guess it's still somewhat the same timeline, just a lot less decorations. All the family is gone, we go instead of have company so I don't do so much anymore. Outside lights, yes, inside, pretty plain...not even a tree. DH is not big on decorations, so I make it easy on myself....
ReplyDeleteEach year we decorate with less. We usually decorate 2 weeks before Christmas and only until New Years Day. I might add a few new things each year with some of my all time old favorites. I love the Snow Blooms groups. I used that jelly roll to make your star wall hanging. It hangs all year long in my living/family room. The colors are perfect.
ReplyDeleteI love all my pumpkins and fall decorations so I'm always a little reluctant to take them down and put out Christmas ... but I do! Usually the first week of December and then tidy the place up the first week of January. The snowmen come out and jolly the place up for January and February.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention about our 'brown bag Christmas'. I, like you, hide gifts all over the place and without fail, forget something when it's time to wrap! So, a week or two after Christmas might pass before I discover these lost treasures and so they go into a brown bag and are presented to the intended recipient with a sheepish grin - they have become one of our traditions!
ReplyDeleteI start decorating for Christmas the 2nd week of November. I LOVE Christmas and keep up my decorations pretty much to the end of February...some snowmen stay up year round :) My decorating style has always been country Christmas and I have a special collection of snowmen and snowflakes that I save until last to put up as they seem to put the finishing touch on it all.
ReplyDeleteThe day after Thanksgiving I put wreaths and greenery outside. Dec 1st I start putting Christmas quilts on my end tables and dining room table. Several are KT ones. After the quilts are out, I start putting my Jim Shore Santa's and other Santa's out. Single lights go in each window. Some years I just put out primitive trees and other years I do a larger tree with some primitive ones.
ReplyDeleteI like to start decorating after Thanksgiving and leave the decorations up until after New Years's Day. I did change my tree and decorations a few years ago but my husband still would prefer all the handmade ornaments. I do like the July celebration. I really need to slow down and concentrate on the real meaning of Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI start decorating in early november and take things down toward the end of January. I love decorating and am always a little sad to see the holiday seaon end. I will be starting on my Christmas quilts around the 1st of august. I can't wait for the flannels to start a "cozy" or two.
ReplyDeleteWe usually travel to our daughters house for Thanksgiving, so I start the week of Thanksgiving getting all the decorations out, and it feels like I'm opening Xmas packages, when unwrapping those decorations. I'm caught saying oh, I love this.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful colors as always! Too funny about the gift for your mom--I haven't done that but once put aside some Christmas photo cards for special folks to write an extra note in and forgot them. My Grandma complained about not getting one; I was so sure I had addressed one to her. I found them months later and crossed off "Merry Christmas", wrote in Happy Flag Day (cuz I was early for that) and mailed them off. They were a hit!
ReplyDeleteI put out a wooden, mantle-length advent box for December 1st, but otherwise no specific date for putting the rest of the decorations. New Year's Day is when everything comes down.
We're supposed to take them down?! With one child born the weekend after Thanksgiving and another born 3 days before Christmas, decorating for the holidays was a challenge. During July there was always a half-year birthday party for those 2. Now they are grown and in their own homes, so I can start decorating when I like, usually early in November. (Old habits are hard to break.) I still have one at home, grown as well, but still in college. He's always loved having the decorations up early too. I start looking for items to hide away starting in July and those handmade items need an early start as well. When December comes, the tradition has been to decorate one thing a day--could be baking cookies, putting up the lights outside, or wrapping some of those hidden gifts if I can find them, etc. I too have the occasional surprise goodie discovered in January or later. Some decorations come down mid-January, mostly the outdoor things, and after any company has gone, but rarely before Jan 6. Often I find I'm putting things away much like they went up, slowly and over time. Now before you think "how organized", I must assure you that there is always that Christmas Eve rush to finish more than one last thing. LOL. Thanks for an opportunity to share my traditions and the give-away of some Kansas Troubles.
ReplyDeleteI start decorating during November, especially if I don't have to cook Thanksgiving turkey!!!
ReplyDeleteBut I start buying presents in January - already have several tucked away for this year.
And baby Jesus - I put him in when I put the mangers out; except one year he got lost--the grandkids had hid him in a bookcase!!!