Another thing we do is to put pine boughs around all of the woodwork of our family room, and lace white lights through them. It's gorgeous to turn them on.

I think that is my favourite of yours.

Our house is all decorated, except for the tree. We always cut ours down, so it's a tad early to do that if we want it to last until at least New Years.

-What do you put at the top of your tree? An angel? A star? A bow?
A star.

-What's your opinion on tinsel?
It's pretty sprinkled on the tree after it has been decorated ... but a royal pain to take off afterward.

-Do you decorate the outside of your home too?
Some. Not extravagantly. With coloured lights on a few of the bushes. Sure looks pretty when the snow falls and is blanketing them.

-What are some funny stories that are associated with some of your decorations?
Wow, good question. I can't think of anything offhand, although there must have been some good ones when the kids were young. Ah, here we go, with a weirdly funny story: a few years ago we cut down a balsam, which sure made a beautiful sight in our living room all lit up for Christmas. We like to leave our tree up as long as possible, and usually if we get it mid-December, it lasts until mid—or even near the end of—January. But that year, this must have been one tough tree, because it was still up—and thriving—in March! I think we finally took it down just before Easter, which was early April that year. Oh, the comments we got.

-What are the most prized parts of your Christmas decorations?
My nativity scene that I bought in Nigeria in 1978, made of thornwood.

I do have clear mini-lights around our main floor, which I leave up all year 'round. The rooms are so pretty with only their warm glow on, especially after the Christmas-y decorations have all been taken down.

I will have a new sort of Christmas this year - in my new home, and with a tree sourced from a different place. The lovely family who grew trees in two fields just outside the city (near my old home) have sold their land, and I drove past on Sunday but found no signs up to suggest the new owners will sell "living" trees (cut them down with a saw while you wait).

Now that I have a new home, anything I did before does not have to apply.
I would appreciate new ideas for my decorations this year.

I've enjoyed reading about your trees, Digs. Sounds like fun!

When we were growing up all those years ago, we didn't set up the tree until the evening of my dad's birthday, December 18. It was a fun way to close out his birthday celebration. (Incidentally, because he was born so close to Christmas, his French-Canadian parents gave him "Noel" as a middle name).

(Waiting so long almost sounds quaint now that Christmas begins making its way into retail stores in September )

About 25 years ago, my parents began traveling to Texas for the winter ("snowbirds"), so we would celebrate Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving, right before they left town. That almost sounds crazy now, but it actually came to have a lot of meaning. Our shopping would be done early, so we could enjoy December and all its special events with little stress.

-What do you put at the top of your tree? An angel? A star? A bow?
When we were children it was a star, at least until one of us bought an angel tree-topper.

-What's your opinion on tinsel?
It's okay in moderation.

-Do you decorate the outside of your home too?
I live in an apartment now, so that's impractical. But growing up, we'd put lights on a pair of pine trees out in the front yard.

-What are some funny stories that are associated with some of your decorations?
Not the decorations exactly, but as kids it was fairly common for our cat to climb into the Christmas tree.

-What are the most prized parts of your Christmas decorations?
Decorations received from siblings or parents over the years. Some of them don't really have a lot to do with Christmas (like Darth Vader) but bring up memories of brothers and sisters now spread across the US.

Family heirlooms that aren't mine but still full of memories: My parents have several colored glass birds that are close to 100 years old. They're kind of ugly and really fragile, but are memories of grandparents.

They also have a ceramic nativity set bought for $1 shortly after they were married in 1950. It's in surprisingly good shape.

I put up my Victorian Christmas tree this afternoon. It would have been really nice to have had some help, as it took me about 3 hours to do it by myself. . . but it really is quite beautiful.

For the Mrs., and I we have the tradition of putting up most, if not all, our decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving.
These include;
-A artificial tree. We stopped using real ones about fifteen years ago when the last one shed every needle within a week of buying it. Not difficult to get up, and no worries in disposal every year.
-Used to have an Angel, but have been putting up a star the last few years.
-Can't recall our ever using tinsel. I think my parents used it, and found it to be a mess cleaning later.
-We always light up at least a part of the house, but nothing elaborate. We also put up a Manger scene. Light up plastic. I know, it seems tacky, but add the effect of a homemade wooden manger, and it looks rather charming from the road.
-We have a few miniature mangers for in the house.
-Once in awhile we set up a village set we have been adding to through the years.

-What do you put at the top of your tree? An angel? A star? A bow?
It's an angel. We used to use this old store-bought sparkly angel until one year we couldn't find it. My sister made this cute one that we used for a few years, but it got lost and the other one turned up, so we're back to using it.
-What's your opinion on tinsel?
We don't use it. It sounds like it would shed a lot, though.
-Do you decorate the outside of your home too?
At my Nana and Papa's house we'd have light-up plastic snow man. But now days, no (minus one year when Valia and WinterStar strung up indoor lights on our porch pillars). We tried convincing our parents, but alas, no lights.
-What are some funny stories that are associated with some of your decorations?
We dropped the tree on Valia one year. I don't think it was on purpose, as it was when we were taking it down (but, of course, with my sisters you never know).
This year, Meadow and her boyfriend dug up a tree in the pasture. But instead of taking a plastic bucket (like Valia and Winter had done the past year) they took a big, ceramic pickle crock. They put the tree in and filled it with dirt before coming back uphill and into the house. Although I'm sure it wasn't funny for them (it took a lot of effort and I imagine was painful), the rest of us find it hilarious.
-What are the most prized parts of your Christmas decorations?
A real, fairly large egg that was decorated and made into a music box is one of our family's favorite decorations. I also like a small red cradle (I used to always 'play' with it as a child) and a small, plastic teddy bear that traveled round the tree (but mainly lived in the cradle).
There were also two small girls with blue and white bell-shaped skirts, that Winter and I always loved hanging up.
Last year, we were also given a red-yarn family of dolls (one for each of us) which we also really like.

I finally have time to post here

-What do you put at the top of your tree? An angel? A star? A bow?
An angel, I make a new one every year because somehow we always seem to lose the old one by the time Christmas comes around, and now it's just become a tradition

What's your opinion on tinsel?
if it's good quality and not too bright or shiney then I like it. We use it a lot when decorating our home, I think most Russian families do

-Do you decorate the outside of your home too?
Nope

What are some funny stories that are associated with some of your decorations?
Last year we lost the usual Christmas tree stand and it was already Christmas eve and we needed to get the tree up. so I got out this huge glass vase that we have (I think it's an old vase my grandma gave us, it's made out of super thick glass and is really just the most outlandish thing ever made by man) The Christmas tree was face and pretty small so I figured it would hold, I put the tree inside and filled it with balls of yarn to make it stand and it worked, but it looked REALLY weird, and everyone couldn't stop laughing at how it looked. I told them if they didn't like it they were free to come up with something else

-What are the most prized parts of your Christmas decorations?
we have a beautiful ceramic nativity that a friend sent to us, we put it up in the living room. Oh and I have pinecones that I collected at the forest near my grandma's dacha when I was like eight, we painted them gold and even though we've lost just about all other decorations from when I was that old, the pinecones stuck around, I usually arrange them somehow on my desk, and hang a few up on the tree

We dropped the tree on Valia one year. I don't think it was on purpose, as it was when we were taking it down (but, of course, with my sisters you never know).

We're going to get a real tree today (in about ten minutes) I'm super excited because we haven't had a real tree for almost ten years!!!! We'll decorate it with my sisters and my niece once we get home (we're also going to put the manger scene up when we get back. We're so behind with decorating the houes this year