It’s Never Too Early for Christmas Decorations…. Or Is It?
Christmas in September or October?! How soon is too soon?
These days it definitely seems like we can’t embrace any holiday celebration without retail stores stocking shelves or online inventory with the next big holiday still months away.
So when should you decorate for Christmas?
I asked our team how soon (or not so soon) their Christmas decorations are going up this year and we’re sharing our thoughts.
It’s the beginning of October and stores like Hobby Lobby are already flooding their inventory with Christmas decor. Say what?! Surely people can’t already be shopping for the Holidays… or are they? 🤔
According to many different sources, it seems that the most popular and socially acceptable time to decorate in households across America is the weekend right after Thanksgiving. Additionally, some say that putting up decorations anytime before Halloween is way too early.
But… many people also claim that decorating earlier makes you happier. 🎄
In fact, the New York Times shared an article back in March when COVID first hit that people across American began decorating stringing Christmas lights, blowing up holiday inflatables, and building spirit-lifting snowmen to spread cheer at the earliest date we’ve ever seen!
Even Scary Mommy shared some studies that prove people are happier when they decorate earlier and people who put up exterior decorations are even seen as friendlier people. Whoa! One thing is for sure… now more than ever we could all use a little happy, so maybe if we’re not decking those halls in Fall, we’re just not doing it right! 💁♀️
Here’s how our team feels about when to decorate for Christmas:
These team members wait until after Thanksgiving to start decorating:
“Our family tradition to decorate for Christmas is on Black Friday. However, last year we did decorate a little earlier because of our schedules. I love Christmas but can’t eat Thanksgiving dinner with trees lit up. LOL!” – Alana
“My family makes it a tradition to decorate after we have Thanksgiving dinner! Always a great time as the whole family is together and we listen to Christmas music, too!” – Rachel
“We do our decorating the day after Thanksgiving until just after New Years.” – Chelsey
“I usually decorate the day after Thanksgiving. Anything earlier is too early for me as the decorations feel dusty after a while. But it’s never too early to buy them! I just bought ornaments at Dollar Tree yesterday! HAHA!” – Amber S.
“Usually either right after Thanksgiving or sometimes right before. It really depends if I’m hosting Thanksgiving or not because I don’t want anyone to be offended by Christmas decorations. LOL!” – Amber R.
“I try to put up the tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and then start decorating everything else that week, but I don’t judge people who decorate even earlier! I love Christmas!” – Jessica
“We decorate the second we’re done celebrating Thanksgiving. For us, anything before that is too soon. Like Alana, I need Fall decor with my Thanksgiving celebration. Haha!” – Jenna R.
“In our family, we bring all the Fall decorations down Thanksgiving night and getting ready for Christmas is an all day event on Black Friday.” – Ashley
“My dad, my brothers, and I take the boxes out of the attic Thanksgiving Day or that weekend, only to walk around the boxes for about a week, then when my stepmom gets in town the next week or so she makes us do it all at once. LOL!” – Hunter
“The day after Thanksgiving we all go together to cut down a tree and then decorate for all things Christmas. However, I totally start the Christmas tunes the moment Halloween is over and start Christmas shopping as soon as summer is over!” – Jenna P.
“The night of Black Friday… the tree goes up, bins are placed in the living room, and the weekend is set to decorate – as schedules allow. By Sunday night it’s all ready and we have a ceremonial tree lighting with hot chocolate and a required family viewing of the Polar Express.” – Irene
“I absolutely love Christmas so normally by the time Thanksgiving is here I’m ready to decorate! I just love having onlinepany over and having everything set up and pretty. I used to be really religious about decorating on Black Friday, but with kids in the picture, I just decorate somewhere around Thanksgiving when it feels right.” – Sara
“I prefer to wait until December to put up our tree as I feel like 3 weeks with the tree up is plenty of time! I hate to admit it, but I’ve been known to take down our tree on the evening of 12/25! HAHA! I’m always ready to get the house back to its normal non-tree state as soon as Christmas is over.” – Bryn
“We definitely deck the halls after Thanksgiving but we don’t have a set time frame – pretty much whenever I feel like digging through my garage for the Christmas stuff. I don’t put out a lot of decorations though because I don’t want to be dusting that stuff all month-long. We do 2 Christmas trees though and I go pretty nuts with those!” – Cass
Here’s why these two team members decorate a bit earlier:
“We used to put ours up the afternoon of Black Friday, but then we moved it a little earlier so the kids could enjoy it when they were home from college during Thanksgiving. My husband now realizes that he lost the battle of holiday spirit because both my daughter and I love having it up early. I just checked my photos from last year, and the tree was up and decorated by November 10th! LOL!” – Liza
“I like to put up my decorations long before Thanksgiving because Christmas decor is amazing and magical! For me, I just love sitting on my couch in the early morning hours, drinking my coffee, and looking around at all the festive decor and my beautiful lit-up Christmas tree.
It makes me feel cozy and so excited about the holiday season. I’m that person – that person who’s obsessed with Christmas. I love the cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies, all the yummy seasonal foods, drinking hot cocoa, gift-giving, and just the feeling I get during this time of year! I could go on and on… lol
So unlike my sister, Bryn, I like to enjoy our festive decor and Christmas tree (with all the meaningful ornaments) for more than just 3 weeks. When Halloween is over, it’s time to get decorating!” 🙌 –Collin
And one of our Hip sidekicks goes ALL out for Christmas!
“You guys are totally going to think I’m nuts, but I used to start the day after Halloween! My dad and I used to enter our city’s decorating contest and we would hand make & paint decorations every year! We had to be done decorating early for the judging to take place, hence starting crazy early.
My dad, unfortunately, passed away a few years ago so I did a display by myself that year in honor of him.❤️ I later moved out and now that I live in an apartment so I tend to decorate the day after Thanksgiving like a sane person. LOL.” – Erika
But enough about us! When do you decorate? 😍