It is our nativity set readied and waiting to be put in the attic. (Bet you feel really silly now.)
When we took the meager decorations for this Christmas (two wreaths, one nativity set and one 18 inch pre-decorated tree) down from the attic, the overabundance of dust was killing me. My right eye was red, itchy and swollen halfway shut for 2 days.
It was so bad, people were staring at me in public.
And not in a you-are-a-hot-mama kind of way.
I have a secret weapon for avoiding this debacle next year.
And not in a you-are-a-hot-mama kind of way.
I have a secret weapon for avoiding this debacle next year.
First is to lose a little weight. Second is this...
Plastic wrap.
But not any old plastic wrap, nosirreeeebob! See the word "professional" up there? Yup, that's me. A pro at wrapping. I am such a pro, you can almost sometimes let me demonstrate my expertise in a court of law. Fo shizzle.
Safe and sound and snug as a dust mite in a Christmas tree skirt. This wrapped tree will then be stored in a red plastic bin (red bins are only for Christmas things-- makes it easier to find for next year). I'll let you know next year if it helped. Assuming I remember.
Don't be jealous that you didn't get this brilliant idea before me. You may borrow it if you like. They say that copying is the greatest form of flattery.
Plastic wrap.
But not any old plastic wrap, nosirreeeebob! See the word "professional" up there? Yup, that's me. A pro at wrapping. I am such a pro, you can almost sometimes let me demonstrate my expertise in a court of law. Fo shizzle.
Don't be jealous that you didn't get this brilliant idea before me. You may borrow it if you like. They say that copying is the greatest form of flattery.
Have you put your decorations away yet? Are you a stickler like some people and have to have "Christmas" put away ASAP? Or are you the type that will be trying to convince everyone that these are very special "Valentine's Day" decorations?
24 comments:
Hello,
Delurking myself to wish for you & your familiy a very blessed new year.
I don't know why but I guessed correctly about the "fruit cake" :P and I hope 'profesional' plastic wrap is far better than normal because that thing hates me and I'm never able to succesfuly wrap anything.
My Christmas decorations are taken down January 7, a day after the celebration of "Dia de Reyes" (Wise Men) a beautiful tradition in Spain and all over Latin America.
Paulina Licon
paulinalv@gmail.com
Our tradition is to leave the decorations up at least until Jan. 1. I'd sort of like to yank it all down and clean up immediately, but the family likes to savor it all.
I've come to the conclusion that holidays were invented by men. They seem to be an excuse for the ladies to spend hours upon hours in the kitchen making special foods that they then cannot resist indulging in. It's a double whammy! LOL
You know . . . . I'm just glad to know you're not a fruitcake.
You're not, are you?
My decorations are all down, and ummmm..... can we pretend that they are all stored out in the garage where they are supposed to be and NOT sitting in my hallway waiting for a burst of energy to propel them the rest of the way. :)
I bought Niyah a little pink Christmas tree on clearance the other day and it looks so cute in her room that we might leave that up until Valentine's Day.
I hope you had a blessed Christmas!
I have 1/2 taken down my decorations! I'm such a slacker when it comes to this!
Great idea! This year I'm not taking it down until the week after. I love all those pretty lights on in the early morning when I'm drinking my coffee. ;)
There is an award waiting for you at my blog.
www.sneakerteacher.blogspot.com
Katie
The Christmas decorations are not down yet. I think I'll take them down Jan. 2. I have been known to take everything down the day after Christmas, but this year I want to savor them a little longer. :o)
There have been times where our tree has been up till Valentine's day. LOL. BUT, that's usually our 9 1/2 foot tree...the one where you have to put every.single.individual.branch on the tree. Not to mention it's not prelit. It's as much work to take down as it is to put up. We bought a prelit tree last year so it'll probably only stay up till the day before Valentine's. J/K. Love you!!!
I'm sure you know this, but that's my comment up there. I forgot to sign out of that account. Oops! Love you!!!
Oh my. I live in a home full of men who like to stare at a Christmas tree that has been mauled and tortured by their furry little dog. He ate every ornament he could reach and knocked the tree over at least 4 times (that they let me know about) and these guys still want that tree up. I tried to take it down. I begged them to give it up: one cried.
So alas, our tree will stay up until New Years Day. I'll be the one crying then if it doesn't come down.
love you Marshie!
I packed about half of the decorations away last night. I'll finish today. I am definitely a "once it's over, it's over" kind of person when it comes to Christmas.
The ornaments are off but the lights are still on the tree. Will take care of that today. We are having people over for the Rosebowl game, cause you know the Ducks are in it right!? So a little holiday decor should stay up for that. But the tree will be on the curb, cause it's one of those real ones. I decided to put the girls ornaments in their own container this year and as I was separating them I realized how they will all leave me someday and that made me sad. I didn't want to think of my girls gone or their ornaments. My tree will be naked and all those special ornaments and the cute ones they made will be gone. Well, I just may have to put my foot down and tell them they can't leave, cause mama can't have a naked tree!
This was our first year with no tree but a ginormous manger instead. Honey, I wanted it taken down on Christmas Day but hubs said no and took it down the day after. FYI-- you don't have to put an ENTIRE bale of straw in the manger... if you do after three weeks your house will smell like a barn and your allergies will leave you, you,yyyyyy--ooooo,, ACHOO!
Need I say more?
I think not.
Plastic wrap--genius btw. Simply genius.
Christmas tree barely makes it til Christmas around here. The thing gives me the shivers. So, as soon as presents were open and all pictures were taken with it so sweetly in the background, that sucker was out the door.
Ahhh...I can breathe.
I leave my lighted village up through January. Mainly because my husband would love it up all stinkin' year and I flat refuse. So I compromise and give him two months with it. I'm nice like that.
All the other decorations are down before New Years. And then I start pulling out Valentine's decorations.
It's just never ending! Sigh...
That's kinda funny. In your last post you said it's finally beginning to look like Christmas and then in this post you've put it all away!
Good idea on the plastic wrap!
Will you still like me if I say I was totally holding back the snot from spraying out of my nose as I tried not to laugh too loud and too hard?? For some reason, "fo shizzle" really got me!!! I don't think I've ever heard that before, but it is hysterical!!! Yeah, laughing that loud right now would be right up there with listening to a goose with a cold honk, as I have a nasty upper respiratory virus, complete with a tenacious case of laryngitis!! Yay.
Right, now to answer your questions: Our decorations are still up. I think we take them down after New Years, when the tree is a nice fire hazard. As for our tree, we take that down around then too and then, we try our best to convince the neighborhood that the tree is a new type of perch for the birds as it sits in our driveway till June!!
Fo shizzle!
That is clever.... and funny! :o) Our decorations go up on Thankgiving weekend and they dont' come down till after New Year's. But they will be down this coming weekend for sure before my little baby I look after comes again this next week. I can't take anymore time of trying to keep her from pulling it over on herself this year! LOL!
My Grandma used to put the Christmas tree in the basement with a big black bin bag over it - all decorated and everything. Then she just had to bring it up and plug it in each year. She would then hang a wreath on the front door and the decorating was done! You two would have got on splendidly! LOL!
Happy New Year! - Deedee
Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my blog. I really appreciate it. I enjoyed reading your blog. Your post was so cute. I thought you might have wrapped a fruit cake too. I wasn't thinking about the nativity. Ha!
over here, tree & decorations stay up until new year's day (or sometimes the weekend after new year's, but they sorta blend together this year). we don't usually get our tree (cut-your-own) until mid-december and decorating it is too much work to just take it down right after christmas. besides, i was raised that you leave everything up until new year's. :-) hubz' mom is a take-it-down-the-day-after type of woman, so it took him some getting used to. after 23 years, he *still* asks, "when is all this coming down?" silly man.
i also like leaving the gifts in the living room until the tree is down. i used to like them *all* left out, but now i'm good with people using stuff & putting it away right away and just having a few things left out.
but i had all the gift wrap and bows put away by monday. :-)
I'm definitely not a bah humbug kind of person, but I'm just not a decoration kind of person. I don't like to purchase decorations and I don't like to put them up then have to put them away, but I see you have come up with a genius plan to expedite that process! way to go! If I ever have children, I will have to give up my decoration phobia. I'm sure Tom will love to help. He's a festive kinda guy.
With 21 comments, you certainly don't need another one from me, but I couldn't resist because you "crack" me up so much! :)
I'd like to be the kind who puts things away in a timely manner, however, my excuse is this... my mom started a "tradition" when we lived in Germany of waiting until 3 Kings' Day (Jan. 6th) to take down the Christmas decorations. Well, by then, it's just a few short weeks until you realize it's already red for Valentine's and then green for St. Patrick's and... well, you get the idea! :)
Anita- I never would've thought of the red and green like that! Isn't it funny how we adopt our parents traditions and think they are completely normal? I think I need to start the tradition of the kids doing the housework and dishes all the time. Their wives will thank me one day for this new tradition!
I still cannot get over the fact you say things like Fo-Shizzle!
Cool idea. Hope it works for you!
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