Does anyone else leave their Christmas tree (or other seasonal symbol) up all year?

[SKL]

We never take down our Christmas tree.  We like it and don't see the point in putting it in and out of a box every year.  Any time we need a pick-me-up, we can flip the switch and enjoy the colored lights.  Is there anyone else out there who can relate?

[Ripley]

Not our tree, which I don't even put up every year, but we always have displayed a nativity set.

 

And one year we did leave our outside lights up for the entire year. Not for warm fuzzies but because I got too lazy to take them down. My brother put them up for my son, who really wanted them, but my husband was deployed and I was traveling 3-4 days a week for work and had no desire to use my off-time pulling down lights. And my son liked them, so ... they stayed up about 15 months until we moved. LOL

[Chris in VA]

I have a very small, resin, one-piece nativity on my kitchen windowsill that stays out all year. It's about 3x4, so not a big set or anything. I just like having the Holy Family around as a reminder of the importance of God's Grace and His sweet goodness in creating family. 

[SKL]

My mom also leaves Nativity sets out all year long.  Why not?

[TrixieB]

We never take down our Christmas tree.  We like it and don't see the point in putting it in and out of a box every year.  Any time we need a pick-me-up, we can flip the switch and enjoy the colored lights.  Is there anyone else out there who can relate?

 

I have to ask:  doesn't the tree get dusty?  How do you dust it?

[SKL]

I have to ask:  doesn't the tree get dusty?  How do you dust it?

 

Some of the ornaments get dusty.  They can be taken down and dusted at any time.  Honestly, we don't do it very often.

 

If we were more meticulous, we could take a vacuum hose to the branches, I guess.

 

[Pawz4me]

I have to ask:  doesn't the tree get dusty?  How do you dust it?

 

I was wondering the same thing.

 

The only Christmas-y thing that's left out all year here is a smallish container that's red, has snowflakes on it and looks like a Christmas tree ornament.  It works perfectly for dog biscuits, and I like the cheery red color.

[busymama7]

My kids have asked why we don't leave it up but I think it would become less special. I like the excitement that putting it up brings and if it was there all year it would just become part of our home and not something new and exciting.

 

I do love the tree though and see the appeal of getting to look at the lights anytime :)

[HelenNotOfTroy]

When I was little, I wanted a Christmas room decorated all year. I married a scrooge, so I only have the decorations up for about a month.

[Liz CA]

No, I cannot imagine having the tree up all year. (We prefer real trees :) ) It is special to me for this time of year. Also, we somewhat rearrange our living room a little to accomodate the tree and we would want a little more space for the remainder of the year. The nativity is a different story.

[CupOCoffee]

I have a very small, resin, one-piece nativity on my kitchen windowsill that stays out all year. It's about 3x4, so not a big set or anything. I just like having the Holy Family around as a reminder of the importance of God's Grace and His sweet goodness in creating family. 

 

I have something similar on my desk at work.  Mine is a wooden carving.

 

As for the tree, I'd love to leave it up all year, but decorate it for each Holiday throughout the year.  I'm not that organized however, and I don't think I'd get the rest of the family on board with such an idea  :)

 

~coffee~

[Guest submarines]

We leave our tree until March or so.

[SKL]

As for the tree, I'd love to leave it up all year, but decorate it for each Holiday throughout the year.  I'm not that organized however, and I don't think I'd get the rest of the family on board with such an idea   :)

 

~coffee~

 

For a while we tried calling it a "blessing tree."  Most of the decorations aren't necessarily Christmas-specific.  But "blessing tree" never really caught on, and I'm OK with that.

 

This began as an accidental tradition long before I had kids.  We were workaholics and just never got around to taking down the tree.  It got later and later and around May, I said, we might as well just leave it up, because pretty soon it'll be Christmas time again, and then we'll be too busy to pull it back out.  ;)

 

When the kids came (in October 2007), the room with the tree in it became their play area.  They loved to look at the lights, and they quickly learned not to bother the ornaments.  It's like another piece of furniture in our house.  I am sure it seems odd to visitors in other seasons, but I don't care.  ;)

 

[Guest]

No, we don't leave ours up all year, but I'm not a fanatic about taking it down too soon, either.  :001_smile:  We do have a particular day that we put up the tree and other decorations (the day after Thanksgiving), but we take it down whenever a good opportunity arrises, usually in January or February. 

 

I am sentimental about many of our ornaments, so I do like the "specialness" of taking them out afresh every year. 

 

I do have a wreath on my fireplace that I keep up most of the year, though it is technically a Christmas wreath. It doesn't scream Christmas decoration, though. 

 

P.S. Whenever we take down the tree, the room seems a little weirdly empty for a week or two! 

[HRAAB]

As much as I love Christmas and all the decorations and lights, it would lose something for me if I had to look at it all year. Plus, it's so much fun to open the boxes and decorate each year. It comes down after Jan. 6 and goes up after Thanksgiving.

[Mergath]

Nope.  I love having it up for about a month, but by then I'm sick of tripping on it, trying to keep the cats from eating, etc.  And the dust it would collect would be unreal.  I am not dragging out the vacuum to run the hose over each and every branch every week.

[Evergreen State Sue]

A couple of years ago I bought two short (maybe 2 feet) trees that came with white lights and each sit in a pot.  I put them on either side of my fireplace hearth in our family room.  At Christmas I decorate the trees with our smaller ornaments.  Our regular tree is in another room so I like having Christmas in our family room too.  The trees are there year round, but I remove the ornaments in January.  I thought I would like having Christmas in the family room year round, but I discovered in the summer when we have daylight for so long, the trees aren't that pretty.  The lights on the trees are at their best when the room is darker.  I keep them up anyway because it would be too much trouble to find a home for them. 

[Shellydon]

Any longer than a month and I'd lose my mind.  Plus, part of the excitement of Christmas is the decorating.  It would be boring if it stayed up all the time.

[Lara in Colo]

my dream house has a huge entryway with a glass roof and a real tree that lives there all year--- but I  would only decorate it at Christmas time.

[Audrey]

While I do love seasonal decorations, there are many seasons and holidays in a year.  I like to change it up a lot.  I would be very bored with a tree up all year long.  It would lose it's specialness for me.   To each his own, though.  Enjoy your tree!

[Mom2TheTeam]

My grandmother used to do that.  She had two Christmas trees.  One in the downstairs living room and one in an upper level family room.  She did it because she claimed she didn't have time to decorate it each year AND add more to her Christmas towns set up underneath it.  She did add more each year.  The Christmas tree area got bigger and bigger and bigger with all the little town pieces she would add.  At first, it was just a little funny to us, but after a while, it was too much because of how much space it took up.  We were used to it though and it became the norm at her house. 

 

We don't leave anything up though.  I feel like it wouldn't be a special if we did that.  Plus, we get a real tree.  :)

[Tammi K]

I have a friends whose husband is in the military. He's been deployed many times and they have several small children, so whenever Daddy is home, it's Christmas time. She keeps the tree up all year and changes to decorations to reflect the season. Orange and Black in October, pastels in spring, etc.

 

 

[swellmomma]

nope.  While I love the memories behind each ornament I hate the clutter the decor brings and I prefer to pack it all up shortly after boxing day (I get really anxious if I don't)  Lets me start the new year with a fresh slate kwim.  Not to mention the dust and such it would harbour would drive me batty.  I am not OCD about cleanliness but want every surface cleaned/dusted on a regular basis.  WEll that and the cats would drive me crazy in it.  Actually this year I didn't put it up at all.

[kroe1]

Yes, tree stays up all year at our house, too. It is in the living room which is open to all the other main living areas. It color coordinates, and I really do not have storage space. I like the comments of people who come visit the rest of the year, "Oh, how nice that you think of baby Jesus all year."

[umsami]

I had friends growing up who always had a nativity set on display in their house.

 

I know a lot of people who buy a potted Christmas tree and then plant it…so it's sort of never put away. ;)

[learning2gether]

My sister has had her tree up in her family room for about 9 years now.  She actually got a new tree this year to replace the old one.  Her keeping the tree up year round is something we all get a kick out of.

 

[marbel]

We keep a carved stone nativity scene on our mantle all the time.

[Mrs_JWM]

My daughter leaves her little tree up all year. I don't put one up, so it's all hers to do as she likes with, and that's what she likes!

[Mandylubug]

Well, I have been known to leave it up till March. However, I'm itching to have my house back in order. I wouldnt surprise myself if it's put up on the 26th this year lol.

[Julie Smith]

One year dh liked the tree a lot and moved it into his computer room for the year.

 

We wouldn't do that now since the space it is occupying is meant for table that we use often for board gaming.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

I have a few small crystal trees and other items I keep in a curio cabinet and leave them out all the time.

[LucyStoner]

Uh, no chance of that here.

 

1. The tree is either fresh cut or living. A cut tree is a fire hazard past a certain point. A living tree needs to be planted.

 

2. Holidays are special because they come once a year. If I left out Easter eggs all year, it's not as much fun when it comes time to actually have Easter. I would feel the same about Christmas. It's fun to have birthday balloons but less fun when they never go away. The law of diminishing returns and all that.

 

3. Honestly, I have negative associations with stuff left out like that and while I don't care what others do, I would feel ridiculously lazy and disorganized and like I didn't have my sh!t together. The year that my mom was dying (last surgery in December, died in June), I had a newborn baby, PPD and my older son's issues were just becoming apparent (he was later diagnosed with Autism). The tree stayed up until the first of March. I was sooooooooo happy when it went down, I was ready to dance a little jig. A tree in June or September would make me...twitchy.

[Ohdanigirl]

Some of the ornaments get dusty. They can be taken down and dusted at any time. Honestly, we don't do it very often.

 

If we were more meticulous, we could take a vacuum hose to the branches, I guess.

 

You can use a hair dryer on cold every so often to prevent dust build up.

[Camelfeet]

I have autumn stuff up all year.  Like pumpkin shaped scented candles that are pretty harvest/halloween in feel.  I like the warm smells and they remind me of my favourite time at home... they aren't totally outrageous so why not.