<p>Daughter loves flamingoes, so last year our outdoor decorations were flamingo-themed. We have a couple of large inflatable flamingoes, for which I made big fleece scarves. The lights were all pink. And, of course, many lawn flamingoes wearing Santa hats (they actually sell CAT Santa hats, believe it or not, which fit nicely onto lawn flamingoes heads.) Again, not tasteful, but fun.</p>
<p>I never could get the hang of making those…they always seemed rubbery. My H brought a beautiful antique cast iron pan to our marriage but when I downsized that was one of the things that went. I do much better at making pancakes.</p>
<p>We have a woodland themed tree in our foyer. It’s a little more rustic with red balls and bows and Christmas gnomes underneath. We put Christmas china into the china closet and decorate the buffet and all that stuff. we also get about 8 large pointsettias, and real garland to drape the staircase. The front of the house is decorated with white lights and five-foot tall lighted candy canes and lollipops. The main tree has the ornaments that we’ve collected over the course of our life together, including each cihld’s ornament for every year. I do a theme every year and this year we’re having a top hat for the tree topper and a red-and-black snowman theme. The position of honor goes to the creche that my mother made (she’s a sculptor) before I was born. I’m the child who has custody of it because mom celebrates every holiday at my house. The highlight of the season is on Christmas Eve before bed, the designated child has to place the figure of baby Jesus into the manger. They always know whose turn it is!
What a great thread.</p>
<p>Zm, I love this year’s theme. Sounds like your hyperdecorating is actually tasteful!</p>
<p>Every year, we invite a different couple (usually people like us whose family members are all a long distance away, but sometimes friends from work or church), to come over and help decorate our tree. They choose how to decorate and which ornaments to use, so our tree looks different every year, and we get to share stories behind certain ornaments, etc., it’s a lot of fun…</p>
<p>When we aren’t with family on Christmas Day, we do go out for a movie and Chinese or sushi and run into most of our Jewish friends…</p>
<p>Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas we have our annual hotdog roast. Outdoor fire pit, very simple menu, hotdogs, beans, chips, drinks and smores… Invite all sorts of friends and family, bundle up and hang out. The invites always read" In the pause before the rush, we want to “give thanks” for all our loved ones". Its our gift to celebrate the wonderful people in our lives. Most of us dont exchange gifts any more and this is a way to recognize without gifts. doesnt interfere with any one’s tradtitional family plans and we all look forward to it. </p>
<p>My husband is seriously ill and in a care facility so my daughters and I spend Christmas eve and Christmas morning at the facility with him. Sleepover in Sleeping bags in the floor. At midnight we sock skate through the halls handing out cookies to the nurses and any residents still awake. Even in their college years, the girls wake up to a small pile of presents at their feet. Mid day we all come home, take showers, get in our new pjs’ - have breakfast, exchange our gifts and settle in for a day long movie fest. It isnt perfect, isnt what it used to be, but is what we have created for our circumstances.</p>
<p>Okay, so it took until Post 65 to get to a Chrstmas tradition that brought tears to my eyes. How sweet but sad.</p>
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I think each aspect on its own is tasteful. The whole house? Maybe not so much.</p>
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That says so much for the kind of people you are. I admire that very much.</p>
<p>My wife (hospice nurse) ALWAYS works on Christmas Day (and Thanksgiving). As Quakers, we do not celebrate traditional holidays. I used to have my traditional Christmas Eve bridge game, and when we lived in Santa Cruz, we would go out and see the sea lions on Christmas Eve. The day after Christmas - Boxing Day - we go up to Seattle to sing and play the Messiah.</p>
<p>When I was in HS and college, my mom worked in an ER. She got every other holiday off, which means she worked either Thanksgiving or Christmas. That means that I put the holiday meal together. There are some people who freak out over doing a holiday meal, but since I started doing it about about age 16, it’s never been a big deal for me!</p>
<p>My hubby generally works every holiday because of the two jobs thing, but he works nights so it doesn’t seem like a big deal.</p>
<p>Since about my freshman year of high school, my mom has been collecting different snowman-shaped tree ornaments. We now have an almost completely snowman-oriented tree, though of course there are some that are too special to leave off of said tree.</p>
<p>We also have a fake tree, for the sake of my mom (who’s allergic to the real thing) and my dogs, who would love to scatter the needles all throughout our house.</p>
<p>I’ve been lurking for years, but this is the thread that finally got me out of the woodwork. We have a Christmas tradition that goes way back, but I have never met anyone else who has one like it. </p>
<p>We decorate the tree, but the last ornament that we put on is an Easter Egg, saved from the the previous Easter, to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas. Because most eggs have no hanger, we tuck the egg into the branches, or look for a tree with bird’s nest. My two sons, who can be the biggest cynics in the world are always awed by this little ceremony. Every year at Easter we decorate blown out eggs, or buy special eggs (I have Italian eggs, Czech eggs, Polish eggs, etc.) and I save one of the eggs for the Christmas tree. </p>
<p>Another tradition is that Christmas Eve we read the nativity from Luke, and then H reads from “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” Both boys insist on the Dylan Thomas, and wait in anticipation for the their favorite lines and images (a hippopotumas on the village street, the fireman and the snowballs, the old cracked voice singing in the dark night.)</p>
<p>Welcome lololu! Thanks for sharing.</p>
<p>I have enjoyed reading this thread. I always find it really interesting to read about other people’s traditions.</p>
<p>For me, Christmas Day is the special day. It is always spent at my parents’ house. I stay over the night before and we all usually sleep in late, then open presents. The big meal is at lunch time. Roast pork with gravy & applesauce, roast potatoes and loads of vegies. We always have the big roast dinner, even though it is often hot in Australia at Christmas -it just wouldn’t be the same without the big dinner. We have crackers with bad knock knock jokes and silly hats. Dessert is a plum pudding with brandy and it’s served with custard and cream. My mum makes the pudding in October and always puts silver trinkets in. I always hope for the “love” trinket but always get the “travel” one!! I love Christmas dinner!</p>
<p>The year my sister was at college in the US, I spent Christmas with her in Philadelphia. It was SO different from our usual Christmas - cold weather (no snow though!), burgers for lunch, a movie in the afternoon and Chinese food for dinner. We had no tree so we decorated a lamp in our hotel room. The best thing that Christmas was a live nativity scene at a church near the hotel - the donkey was so cute!</p>
<p>Does anyone else use their collection of Christmas books for decorating? I put as many of them standing on shelves and table tops as will fit. Very easy and very fast ticket to festive. We also have a basket of books with ‘must reads’ in it.</p>
<p>I love hearing my friends comments, like: 'ohhh, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Twoomby, I love that book".</p>