Christmas Lights

[crokett]

I know there are some guys on the forum who set up some large displays. I also know it is early but is anybody setting them up yet? There is a guy here who fills up his whole yard and he has already started setting up. He generally turns them on the first weekend after Halloween.

[sd]

Call me old-fashioned, but I've always thought the Christmas season didn't start until after Thanksgiving.

[Sam Conder]

Sears has their trees up.

[Stan]

I'm with Steve... folks who start setting up Christmas displays before Halloween are the reason it is hard to find a store that has a good selection of grills for smoking that Thanksgiving turkey as they have all been moved out of the way for the Christmas items.

(Went by Lowe's last Saturday evening and that was exactly the case.)

[dbhost]

I have a couple of rows of holographic pumpkins, a couple of scarecrows, a crashed into the tree witch, a resin Laborador retriever dressed up as a ghost carrrying a jack o lantern candy bucket, a Happy Halloween wreath, and a giant inflatable pumpkin with a ghost that pops up out of it set up. Not even thinking Christmas decor yet. We have two holidays to go before then.

Once Halloween is over, everything but the scarecrows go back into storage. Then come the turkeys, pilgrim hats, and cornucopias, and on Thanksgiving day, the Christmas decor comes down out of the attic, the light strings get tested, and fixed if need be, and the REAL fun begins.

Once the Thanksgiving decor is put up, I wrap ALL of my trees, my entire gutter line, the outlines of all my windows, and doors, my walkways etc... in white lights. I have the multi colored spiral trees that go in the yard, and the lighted nativity that goes under the magnolia. Each year we replace one of the animals from the scene with our resin yellow lab that is holding a hurricane lamp. (We have a yellow lab, so a LOT of our yard decor is dog related.). The wreath goes up on the door, and then the tree goes up. For years I had the biggest display in my neighborhood, but in the last several years, we have had new neighbors that have upped the ante so much that I am not going to even try to get near their level of display. Too much work!

LOML and I don't have kids yet, and the house is undergoing an interior remodel this year, so it is very likely we will go EXTREMELY conservative with interior decor. Most likely a miniature artificial tree with only the ornaments that have family significance, and the ornaments that we bought for "our" tree when we got married.

[crokett]

Call me old-fashioned, but I've always thought the Christmas season didn't start until after Thanksgiving.

Me too but some folks do displays big enough that they have to start now. That said, this year our tree is going up before Thanksgiving, but that is because my in-laws will be here (they leave the week before) and want to go get a tree with us. I may also do the lights then too, my FIL can help. I just won't turn them on till Thanksgiving weekend.

I don't like it - tradition in my family is to go get the tree the weekend after Turkey Day, but I'd rather have a happy wife and kids, ya know?

[Uncle Cracker]

Nothing ticks me off more than to go into Lowes in late September only to find their inside garden department packed away, and rows of Christmas trees and decorations set up instead... Summer lasts until January around here, but finding supplies this time of year is like hen's teeth.

[Whaler]

We moved into our new house in late September and decided we wanted a nice outdoor furniture set for the front porch.
For a small town we have some big stores HD, Wallyworld and Costco, none had anything left. We finally found a set, the last one, at the county Co Op.
I gets aggravating.

[Mrs. Wallnut]

We go and get a tree sometime after Thanksgiving and that is the way it has been for a while now, actually since Mark and I have been married. I also think that lights and things like that should go up after Thanksgiving because after years of working a retail chain where you start getting stuff very early and put it out before Thanksgiving and then you have the big shopping day the day after and then the craziness started.

[shoottx]

Extreme Christmas Lights

If you are going to do Christmas Lighting here are three good examples

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szLmAPW39uE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4FW4...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGRXi...eature=related

and here is the site for how not to decorate

http://tackychristmasyards.com/

[tfischer]

We do a big display, but I'm a stickler about not lighting up until after Thanksgiving -- actually it's closer to Dec 1 the last few years.

I start putting lights up in trees and places you don't really notice in early November. We don't start putting out the noticeable stuff until at least mid-November...

I too am dismayed when I see the garden aisle go away in late July or early August. Not even us die-hard Christmas decorators need the stuff out that early...

-Tim

[Pappy]

Thanksgiving weekend at the earliest for me, too.

[jhart]

Retailers complain about their Christmas season not being good virtually every year, but how do you measure it anymore with Christmas stuff going on display as early as August???

We start the Christmas season after Thanksgiving. Call me old fashioned!!!

[dbhost]

I don't like it - tradition in my family is to go get the tree the weekend after Turkey Day, but I'd rather have a happy wife and kids, ya know?

COMPLETELY understand that!