My holiday history and the hassle

When I was a little girl I always looked forward to going to my grandparent's house to help decorate the Christmas tree. My grandma was one who decorated every thing in the house. She had holiday dish towels, those little cling things that you put on the refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher, and she even had holiday shower curtains and commode covers in the bathroom. She went all out!



As the years went by, the big Christmas trees got smaller and smaller until one year it was only a fiber optic table top tree. Of course I was disappointed. I remember offering to put the "big" tree up but it just seemed to be too much for them.

So where am I going with this story...........



Lets fast forward a bit to my married life. When we first got married we got real pine Christmas trees. A few years later (we now had two dogs), the real tree seemed to be too much of a hassle (plus pine needles are not good for dog paws), so we bought a huge artificial pre-lit tree at Lowes.

We used this tree for several years. In the coming years I would always be too anxious to put the tree up and would want to do it when I wanted to do it.  I didn't want to have to wait for anyone to help me get it down from the attic and set it up. It became such a hassle.

 SO..... Instead of putting up one large tree, I decided to put up two smaller trees ( in two different rooms of the house of course).  These are easily manageable for me. I store them in the basement and I can put them up and take then down whenever I want. The best part is that they don't take up as much room as the large tree.  I've been using these two trees for several years now and this year I finally wonder if I really need two?

I also have 2 large totes full of Christmas decor I put out every year and 2 Disney Villages. This year, I only put a few snowman item out (because they were my grandmothers).

I am slowly realizing that even though I like Christmas, I don't like to disrupt my home for 30 days.  I've realized that the more I get out to decorate, the more I have to clean up at the end of the season, and who has time for that..lol.   I now understand how my grandparents may have felt about all the decorations over the years or maybe I'm just in a decorating slump!

Oh, and about my grandparents. My grandma passed away a few years ago.  Later that year during the Christmas season I surprised my Pappy and bought him a 6 foot artificial Christmas tree. I called my dad up and we decorated it before my Pap came home ( I don't remember where he was).  I didn't know if he would appreciate the gesture or not, but it turns out it was a big hit.  I notice that the same tree goes up every year and each year it has more and more ornaments on it!

Tell me a Christmas tree ( or decoration) story of your own. -M

38 comments:

  1. My tree is full of memories. I have ornaments from when I was a child. My mom would occasionally buy us ornaments. I started a tradition with my boys, giving them an ornament every year. My boys also made ornaments every year as gifts for family--I have those too. I also get ornaments when I travel. We have so many ornaments that I can't fit them all on the tree. Every year I decorate is like a trip down memory lane!

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  2. A nice happy story is just what I needed to hear today!

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  3. What a great surprise for your Pap!

    Well you know me, I do love decorating and it makes my house very cozy. UN-decorating is not fun at all though. We used to get real trees but that cats started to get to them- first just effing with the ornaments and stuff. We'd have a real tree in one room and a fake on in the other room. It was so nice! I miss that. But since they mess with the ornaments, we had to stop. I also used to wrap fake garland around our banisters but ever since we stopped just leaving bowls of food out, Christmas started eating the fake garland. So I can't put that around the banisters and we have to put our one mini fake tree up really high. We even have to put pillows around it because he CAN jump up there when he's really hungry.

    I have a lot of Hallmark ornaments my mom got me growing up as well as some homemade ones that just have awesome memories attached to them. So I still get to hang those because we put garland around the windows and doorways. I hang the ornaments on the garland. I am all decorated at this point except for the garland!

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    1. Looking forward to your holiday Vlog of your decorations!

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  4. My mom has a Rudolph Christmas village, but can't put the figurines out with the buildings. The cats would have a field day, and the figurines might break. We do decorate, my parents more than me, but they've got all the lit stuff, and outdoor decorations. Even though I'm moving in less than a month, I still wanted my Christmas tree out. It just makes me happy.

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  5. I think children bring all new magic to Christmas. It's much more fun to do all the decorations when you have small children with magic in their eyes. They love looking at the tree and all the decorations and watching the floor fill up with gifts. They make ornaments in school to fill the tree with. And there are so many traditions you can do too, like "event" Advent calendars where we do something "Christmas-y" every day like have a hot chocolate or make snow angels. We also have a tradition of going as a family to cut down our own tree every year. We have a Jesse Tree set of ornaments that we put on the tree every day for 25 days with accompanying Bible verses so we focus a bit more on the real meaning of Christmas.

    I have one hilarious Christmas tree story. One year growing up, we wound up with a wonky tree. As my dad was trying to get it set up, he was getting angrier and angrier because the tree stand just wouldn't hold it up. Finally, in a bout of major frustration, he took some twine, wrapped it around the tree and attached it to the wall with nails to hold it up! ~Jessica @ flashfittrainer.com

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  6. I just finished putting up my christmas decorations yesterday and there was a whole box i didnt touch and i only put up like half of my ornaments. I am not sure why but I just didnt want to put too much up-it will also make taking it all down so much easier!

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    1. It seems every year there are more and more ornaments/decorations I don't use!

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  7. I know exactly how you feel! This year, I mostly weeded through my boxes and only put up only what I needed to. On top of that, Brayden is starting to get more and more mobile… i'm trying to prevent anything from getting broken!

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    1. Oh I can totally see why you wouldn't put everything out this year!

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  8. What a sweet gesture for your Pappy. I'm so glad that he loved the surprise!

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  9. That's such a nice thing you guys did for your grandfather with the tree! It sounds like something he cherished :) Mike is really big into decorating for holidays so I get away with letting him do all the work.

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  10. I am a lover of all things Christmas glitter. For the last 10 years I've enjoyed decorating and putting up some form of tree or another (depending on my living space at the time). However, this year I'm struggling. I've recently downsized (not by choice, a breakup) in to a small apartment and haven't even put up a tree: just stockings and nutcrackers. I'm hoping once I can feel more comfortable in life I can get my christmas glitter back!!!

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    1. Aww, I hope a little Christmas glitter comes your way this year!

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  11. Ricky tries to convince me every year not to decorate because of all the hassle for a short time. Its why I try to get him to let me put it up in November so we enjoy it longer ;)
    My grandmother used to have a little white tree with red ornaments. It was so tiny - she'd put a bag over it & put it in the closet - ornaments & everything still on it - & she would huff & puff about having toe "pull the tree out" every year. So funny. I wonder what happened to that pitiful tree.
    FYI - it was more yellow than white through the years.

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    1. Haha, the second tree I put up is a white tree. Over the years it became yellow too. I just put up a brand new white one this year. I wonder how long it will stay white?

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  12. Aww! this was both sweet and sad, and sweet again. I loved it!

    I agree with you, decorating takes too much work to put up and to put away. My son, Roger and I decorate the Christmas tree and Roger takes care of everything else. The lights outside, the wreath, the house decorations. He loves it all!

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    1. Does he like to take it all down too? ;) I bet your son loves all the decorations!

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  13. After I moved out of my parents house, I would go all out and decorate. Years later I have found that I want to do it less and less. Mostly cause it's a hassle, especially when it all has to be put up after New Years. So I don't do anything now. I might put out some blow up decorations on the lawn as they are easy to deal with, but that's about it. It may be the age or the fact I don't have kids or the fact I'm just lazy.

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    1. Blow up decorations sound SO much easier than what we do. Wish we would have thought of that years ago!

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  14. I don't put up a tree =/ (i'm jewish) but i do remember when i was a kid my grandma (not jewish) would have all of her kids over, and their kids (my cousins - about 8- 10 of us) on christmas even and we would string popcorn and cranberries to make garland (i think that is what it is called) and the adults/older kids made ornaments out of pasta... maybe we are really weird, it sounds weird right? but it was super fun

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  15. I may skimp on other decorations but I think I'll always have a tree ( I hope).

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  16. Aww, hopefully you'll have one or two of your grandmas's Santas to cherish!

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  17. It is alot of work to take everything out and then put it away again! We have an artificial tree and a few other decorations. I don't feel like its too much that it becomes alot of work, but its enough to make it feel like Christmas.

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  18. Christmas is a lot of work to really decorate, so I don't do it myself. That being said, I do keep one tradition alive. Growing up, my mom bought me a Wallace silver sleigh bell every year. She shopped a couple of years ago (guess that means I'm an adult) and I couldn't bear the idea of missing a year, so I started buying them for myself. One of these years when I have a tree, I think it will be really beautiful with all those silver bells in it!

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  19. Well, you are ahead of me because I haven't put our tree up yet. It's on the list of things to do this weekend, but only because I have to work next weekend. Now that my kids are older, I do less - I haven't put out the Santa collection for a few years, but I still like to put up the tree, manger scenes, etc.

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  20. Hey Meranda! I totally get this! My Christmas decor has expanded to three trees, including a 12-footer and dozens of bins. I was so overwhelmed about it this year that I almost didn't get it up... but I sucked it up and did it and now LOVE it. I can promise you it will stay up through a big chunk of January too. :-) That much work needs to be enjoyed a little bit longer! haha
    I totally get how your Grandparents felt!

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  21. Decorating is a love/hate thing with me! We move so often with the Army, that I hate collecting decorations and keepsakes, and I don't want to re-buy every year. Maybe one day we'll have a set home, and I'll get back to what I love :)

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  22. Your tree pics are so pretty! I love everything Christmas but agree it can sometimes end up being more stress than it's worth to put up a bunch of decorations for only a month. In the past I would put up a tree and bunch of smaller decorations (lights, figurines, hand towels, soap dispensers, etc.) but this year have it scaled back to a tree and a glass bowl filled with glass ball ornaments. It still feels holiday like but will be much easier to clean up at the end of the month!

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  23. I love the stories of your grandmom's decorating! I love how the house looks during Christmstime, but I am SO happy to take it all down and get everything back to normal after the holidays!

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  24. I love this story. Definitely makes you realize when you grow up how much work goes into putting up a tree and decorating the house :) But I love it.... I love the holiday season and I always anticipate the decorating (which in Germany you don't do before Christmas Eve morning!) with glee ;)

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