Why My Christmas Decorations Stay Up Until January 6th

Heading into the new year, I'm always ready to get organized and to get life into a routine again. Aren't you? It just seems like it's the best time to feel re-vamped and ready to start a fresh year. But, it makes me so sad to see Christmas decorations be put away right after Christmas. There's still 11 more days of Christmas to be celebrated! :)

Growing up Catholic, it always made me wonder why people talked about the 12 Days of Christmas as though they started before Christmas. The 12 Days of Christmas actually starts on Christmas Day and lasts until Epiphany, the day that the Three Wise Men paid homage to Jesus Christ. Now, I realize that Jesus wasn't actually born on Christmas. It's a representation of his birth, but it's the reason we celebrate this wonderful season of joy. The acts that took place after the birth of Jesus Christ are just as important to me as a Christian, though. I put up the manger and absolutely love my nativity set, and it seems wrong to put it away until Epiphany. I have friends that actually put out the Three Wise Men and move them closer to the manger, so that they "arrive" on Epiphany, which I think is an awesome idea.

Catholics, as a majority, used to wait until Christmas Eve after noon to put up their Christmas tree. While I do wait until after Thanksgiving, I don't wait that long. Truthfully, it's because I love this season so much, and I can barely wait until after Thanksgiving. But, the Christmas season is different than the Advent Season, the four weeks before Christmas, so this is the reason that the Catholic religion observed an appropriate time of decorating later than the traditional time period that we now know. I long for the time when Advent begins to decorate the Christmas tree, and I am thankful for the almost six weeks of celebrations.

I have nothing against those that put their Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving or take them down the day after Christmas. In full honestly, I 100% understand both sides. But as I have been reading the countless updates and facebook statuses regarding taking down Christmas decorations, I felt it was important to discuss the reason I keep them up just a little longer than most. Either way, it was a wonderful Advent and Christmas season, and I'm sad to see it go. Yet, I'm excited for this new, fresh year and all that lies ahead! May you all have a blessed 2015!

Countdown to Christmas/Advent Calendar Tutorial

There are so many cute Christmas decorations around that count down to the big day. I thought about buying one of them, but for the price, I thought maybe I should just create something of my own. Unfortunately, I'm a little behind since Advent has already started, but my thought was that there is still plenty of time to enjoy doing special things each day leading up to Christmas. That's when I googled "advent calendars" and found this tutorial. I loved it, but I didn't want to spend much money. So I decided to make it out of things I had lying around my house instead, and it turned out pretty well, I think!

You will need: magnetic frame/board of some sort, printer (with colored ink), cardboard (I used old folders for the backing because it's what I had), magnetic tape, scrapbook paper, labels, pen, scissors, glue stick/tape, scrapbook letters (optional), ribbon (optional)

To make this, I simply adhered scrapbook paper to a magnetic dry-erase board I wasn't using with tape. I want to be able to use it again if I don't keep this around for future Christmases, so I figured that was the best option. I then printed the numbers from the tutorial linked above (thanks Davet Designs!). After cutting them out, I traced each one onto the cardboard folder I had and cut that out as well. This is so it is strong enough to stick to the magnet and hold. I used double-stick tape and glue (ran out of the glue stick, but that worked best) to paste the number to the cardboard. Next is the fun part! I wrote down 24 holiday ideas for the Advent season. These were my suggestions:

1. Put up the tree.
2. Decorate the tree and house with holiday decor.
3. Go ice-skating.
4. Put up Christmas lights.
5. Watch "Elf."
6. Celebrate St. Nick's Day.
7. Read a Christmas story together.
8. Do a Christmas craft.
9. Drive around and look at the lights.
10. Enjoy a cider beverage and watch a show together.
11. Go skiing.
12. Make gifts for friends.
13. Watch "A Christmas Story."
14. Purchase gifts for family together.
15. Make Christmas cookies.
16. Make holiday chex mix.
17. Visit Temple Square to see the lights.
18. Make a holiday meal together.
19. Donate or volunteer together.
20. Take Christmas treats to a neighbor or co-worker.
21. Take Honey to play in the snow and have a snowball fight.
22. Skype with the families.
23. Attend Christmas mass together.
24. Open stockings on Christmas Eve.

The last two would probably be best on the 24th, but the rest can be put on any date you think they should correspond to. I'm having fun with my husband trying to complete the tasks, and so far, we've done pretty well! If you have kids, it would be fun to incorporate things like, "Build a fort by the tree," "Do something nice for a sibling," "Enjoy a treat from Mom or Dad." I am excited to re-do this when we have kids! :)

I simply wrote them on labels and pasted them to the back of the numbers. I then added the magnetic tape to each number and hung them like so on the board. I added scrapbook letters and a ribbon to make it cuter, but the options are endless! Or you could do it with the magnetic tins like Davet Designs suggested. Just have fun with it! :)

How are you celebrating this Advent season?