Last weekend when I hit the thrift shop jackpot and picked up some new-to-me dishes and photography props, I realized that the Christmas and holiday decorating is in full swing.
By November 1st it seems that all things Christmas from red and green cookie sprinkles to holiday music to holiday stocking stuffer ideas are everywhere; nearly two months before the actual holiday.
It seems that retailers go straight from 4th of July to Christmas. There is Christmas stuff in the stores even before they put out the Thanksgiving items. And Halloween items tend to start pretty early, too. Usually right after Easter. Kidding. Kind of.
We’re not putting up a tree, so no ornaments will be hung here. I purchased these ornaments at the thrift shop for photography purposes rather than actual tree-hanging purposes.
I don’t have a mantle to hang stockings from.
Nor will I have any elaborate table centerpieces with big bowls of pinecones on display.
These pine cones are in a bag in a closet and I’ll break them out as needed for photos.
I used them in the photos of the Rosemary Chipotle Roasted Almonds I just made.
We’re going away and we’ll be gone in December anyway. The last thing I want to do when we return home is put away holiday decorations or take down an artificial tree. I’ll have my hands full with dirty laundry, mail sorting, grocery shopping, and just getting back into the swing of things.
So instead of red and green, I have orange for you.
If you’d like to enter to win a coupon for free organic produce such as baby carrots or carrot chips from Grimmway Farms, comment below.
Questions & To Enter the Giveaway:
1. Do you decorate for the holidays? Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc.? <– One entry if you answer this question
Holiday decorating is great if you love it and have time for it and the taking down and putting it away doesn’t bother you.
And finding space to store it all. I am short on that, too. Have you seen my kitchen?
So I really don’t decorate. I get my decorating jollies from the elaborate home decor Pinterest boards I see or living vicariously through a Martha Stewart catalog but I don’t do much of it. Buying a pumpkin is my idea of “decorating” for Halloween.
I know some people live for holiday decorating. They buy things all year in the name of the holiday, they have elaborate collections of things, i.e. snow globes, ornaments, miniature Santas, pumpkins, Easter Bunnies, fancy glass eggs, whatever it is, they collect it.
Then there are the people who put their holiday outdoor light displays up in September and leave them up til about June. I have memories of my dad hanging outdoor lights on the house for Christmas. Nothing says weekend project I never want to tackle like climbing on the roof with four feet of snow on the ground in zero degree temperatures with 30 below wind chills to get those lights hung. Glad it was him and not me.
I love looking at decorations, lights, and getting into the fa-la-la-la of it all but I just won’t be personally doing any of it. I’d rather use my free time to bake and decorate cookies rather than decorate my house.
Scott is also Jewish and although he wouldn’t care if we put up a tree and actually wants Skylar to learn about both Christian and Jewish traditions, I figure it’s easier to put up a Menorah than it is to put up a tree. I plead the laziness card.
2. How early do you think is too early for Christmas stuff to make an appearance in stores? <– Second entry if you answer this question in a separate comment
I think anything before Halloween is too early.
It used to be that anything before Thanksgiving was too early but now, by Thanksgiving, some people have all their holiday shopping done!
3. Third entry if you Twitter Follow & Tweet:
“I want to win Free Organic Produce in the @LoveVeggiesYoga Giveaway https://tiny.cc/4dpcg”
Leave separate comments for each entry you want to claim (maximum of 3 entries)
Winner announced next post. Open to Continental U.S. Residents only.
I don’t like to see Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving. I like to live in the moment. There are so many fun things to focus on in the late summer and fall, why gloss over all of them?
Is that you in the ornament reflection?!
I baaaarely decorate. I need to change that though. CHANGING NOW.
Yes it is…I was going to spend time trying to remove it but was like…why bother :) Good eyes there, Missy!
I don’t decorate much at my own house, but I do help my parents decorate theirs. It’s a lot of fun, but sometimes i just don’t have budget allowance to fancy up my own place.
Those pine cones are absolutely gorgeous! I love Christmas decorating! And I’m excited it’s about time for it! :)
They were a dime each at the thrift store. Scored on those buggers!
We don’t usually decorate, but might once our little one gets older.
Jealous of your getaway :) I am a huge holiday decorator…I transform my whole place to Christmas!
Oooh carrot chips sound great. I live in a teeny tiny apartment but I still try to decorate for Christmas. I have a giant bowl filled with ornaments, hang little Christmas stockings, and use lots of red plates/mugs :)
We do decorate, but we do not put up a tree. We do not decorate until after Thanksgiving.
Typically, I only decorate for Christmas. We have a 6ft tall Eiffel Tower in our living room that becomes our Christmas tree. (No needles to vacuum up :) I don’t have a centerpiece for my kitchen table because like all flat surfaces–it’s full of clutter. I heard Christmas music in Walmart on 11/2—that’s waaaay toooo early. Two of our radio stations are playing Christmas music 24/7–that started at least a week ago. Like you, just keeping up with daily life is enough to do thankyouverymuch–no seasonal decorating here either. Storing all that stuff too…more clutter. haha!
I love to decorate for the holidays. My house (inside and out) is draped in lights, and tinsel, and all kinds of knick-knacks. It’s quite tacky, but I love it, and my kids thinks it’s a wonderland. I do it for them and for me.
I feel like before Thanksgiving is too soon… but Christmas stuff starts making an appearance earlier and earlier every year – September?! especially since I live in Florida where it doesn’t feel wintery outside… it just feels wrong. Plus I really really love Thanksgiving – not the food part (I’m vegan and usually end up eating kale salad while everyone else goes to town on animals) but the togetherness with family
we are not big holiday decorators. Christmas = tree and lights outside (last year for the first time since it was our first year in a house and not an apt! years before that included the hubby gifting me with rosemary trees <3)
the day after Halloween is TOO early for decorating. sorry.
i dont decorate for any holiday. and im a Christian too. i have nothing against it at all. my issue is just that i dont like trees and bulky items taking up space in our house to be used only once a year. im kinda anal about oragizing and cleanliness. and i like to live life simplistically.
I already fb like you. Does that count?
Anything before the week of Thanksgiving is too early and makes me feel grinchy :)