Ours went up today. It was very arduous–I carried the little tree up from the basement, and pulled the trash bag off of it. Done! <:-P
I am one of those people for whom the tree(s) are one of the best parts of Christmas. I have two artificial trees, living room with clear lights and family room with colored lights. I love getting out the ornaments and remembering who gave them to me or which child made them. They have both been up for quite some time. I won’t say how long to avoid judgment. I teach and the week after Thanksgiving is always the last regular week of class with finals week the next week. Putting off all the decorating until now is just too stressful for me and I get real pleasure from getting the trees up early. I did wait until yesterday to put the fall decorations away and replace them with Santas, etc.
This will be our first year with an artificial tree after years of a cut one. It will be going up as soon as it arrives! I love everything about Christmas.
Started the decorating this rainy day, won’t get the cut tree until December (but the table and stand are waiting). I have been contemplating getting an artificial one, but do love the smell of real.
Soon as I go buy it. We lucked out last year with a gorgeous live tree. Put it up thanksgiving and it was still pretty in January.
I have a big aversion to clutter but also am a big fan of Christmas décor. It’s a delicate balance for me. I usually wait until around Dec 15 to get a tree so I’m only dealing with all the festiveness for around 14 days (we always take it down on New Years Day. There is a bit of a tree shortage lately and I had to scramble a bit last year to find a good tree that late in the season. I’ going to try and hold out until the 10th and keep my eye on the local tree lots in case the supply starts to dwindle!
I absolutely love the lights everywhere! Because it rains here a lot, our neighbors get their lights up at the first opportunity. It was dry today, so 2/3 of the 'hood looks very festive.
Our hunt for the potted tree was not successful. We used to be able to get at least a 6 footer, but this year all potted trees looked scrawny. 
Well, we will keep looking. We usually get one around this time and don’t drag it inside until a few days before Christmas.
Mine went up yesterday. It’s always a busy time of the year, so if we can’t get Christmas prep done while we have a few days off, come December we’re stressed and miserable.
Not only did our tree go up today, but so did our outside lights! The weather was beautiful, and now everything looks so festive. I love it!
Ours will go up on December 22.
I’m wondering if there will be a cut tree shortage this year. I heard this from someone recently and then I noticed that when I was at Costco - where we have got our tree most of the last few years - that the price this year has jumped from $25ish dollars for a very nice tree to $35 for what looked like an ordinary 6-7 foot tree.
Anyone else hear about a tree shortage?
@abasket the local tree farm here in VA said there was a shortage due to the pastbyear’s weather. That said, a nice pre-cut 6-7 foot tree in northern VA runs $60-$110. I don’t think I’ve seen a tree under $50 in many years.
We (my daughter and I) historically have put it up on the day after Thanksgiving with a Christmas movie playing in the background. Then the first two years she was at college I waited until she got home and we just had it up less time. Last year she brought her boyfriend with her and it was his first overseas trip. I wanted them to come home for the holidays so did it myself. It does seem so early this year and I was missing her too much on Friday to deal with it. She and her boyfriend are flying here again this year and again I want them to come home to the holidays so I plan to do it next weekend.
I have an artificial tree but I haven’t put it up in several years. I live alone and it’s just too much work to drag it all out of the attic by myself. Last time I put it up, I didn’t even turn on the lights most days. I put it in the living room and spend very little time in there. My kids have their own apartments and decorate as much as they want to. No one will even be at my house except for a few hours for our family get together, which usually is not on Christmas Day.
Before you call me Scrooge…I will be putting up the tree at my office (with little to no help) next week. I spend more time there than at home anyway.
I get a live (well, once live but will be dead by January) tree and we’ll go get it once the kids are home from college - Dec 17 this year! Can’t wait, I love having a tree up!
After decades of finding pine needles around all year, including under area rugs, and having no skill at stringing lights I got a pretty artificial tree, prelit. This year, it went up early, for Thanksgiving, in the dining room. Kids were tickled.
Epiphany? I leave it up til close to Easter. Why not? I like seeing it. A former neighbor and I used to keep our outdoor wreathes up that long, too.
Ours has been artificial for decades. We lived in Saudi Arabia for three years a long time ago (when our daughter was a baby/toddler), and our tree was black market, illegal, and I sold the four foot artificial tree for about 100 bucks when we moved out of the country. I can’t wait until we can go back to real trees, we’ll be old, we’ll fuss with each other about the prickly unpleasantness of dragging it into the house, standing it into the stand, and watering it everyday, but will love every second of it!
The local places are selling the trees now. And I saw a couple of buyers at Lowes/Home Dept. I question the trees lasting for the season when bought so soon. Here in Tampa they had Frasier and Douglas firs- I was curious and looked (plus the wonderful smell). 7’ was $39? Really tall over $100!
Don’t do Christmas anymore, secular or otherwise. Quit years ago when H and son were less involved and paid little attention to it- real or artificial (gave away the fake tree when moved). Different when shivering in the cold than wearing a t-shirt and shorts to look for a tree.
@looking forward, we often leave it all up until Valentine’s Day. The winter is cold, gray, and dark early so we enjoy the lights for a long time into the new year.
No tree, lights, or other decorations should be put up until after Thanksgiving and they should be down right after New Year’s Eve.