I love the idea of extending the holiday season as long as possible 😊 We’ve generally kept the tree up until mid-January—the point at which I felt keeping it up wasn’t eccentric any more, it was just procrastination. But you (and your poll results) have inspired me—lights stay up until February… *Plus* I am going to cook a special Epiphany dinner. Thank you so much for this sweet treat of a post!
I am fascinated to learn about the influence of Queen Victoria on the Christmas Tree's American popularity; I always assumed everybody else was jealous of all the fun the German immigrants were having with theirs! What a lovely woodcut and portrait of familial Christmas Bliss in the early days of the "Victorian Era" before people thought of it as such!
It is odd that Americans didn't just copy German immigrants' Christmas trees, isn't it? It seems so obvious that it was a fabulous tradition! And yes, I love the woodcut; it's such a sweet scene.
Oh Erin, I wish we could all celebrate Epiphany together - those pictures of your parties look like SO much fun!! And I really love the older tradition of keeping Christmastide until Candlemas...we do it somewhat step-wise, removing a lot of the Christmas things after Epiphany, but still leaving some greenery etc. up until Candlemas.
Our kids have grown to LOVE Epiphany and seem to have the rhythm embedded now - to the point that after Christmas comes, they start asking "When is Epiphany?!" We bake a cake (just hide M&M's inside it), and we've made a tradition of watching the "We Three Kings" scene from the old California Raisins Christmas special. 😂
Thank you, Kristin! That would be a fantastic Epiphany party! I like your process of gradual decor take-down after Epiphany. What looks festive in the dark of December can start to look clutter-y in the harsh light of January. With the short Advent this year, we managed to decorate very little. But keeping the coziness going with greenery and candles makes good sense when it's cold outside. Also a great ides to bake in M&M's-- love it.
I love the idea of extending the holiday season as long as possible 😊 We’ve generally kept the tree up until mid-January—the point at which I felt keeping it up wasn’t eccentric any more, it was just procrastination. But you (and your poll results) have inspired me—lights stay up until February… *Plus* I am going to cook a special Epiphany dinner. Thank you so much for this sweet treat of a post!
I am fascinated to learn about the influence of Queen Victoria on the Christmas Tree's American popularity; I always assumed everybody else was jealous of all the fun the German immigrants were having with theirs! What a lovely woodcut and portrait of familial Christmas Bliss in the early days of the "Victorian Era" before people thought of it as such!
It is odd that Americans didn't just copy German immigrants' Christmas trees, isn't it? It seems so obvious that it was a fabulous tradition! And yes, I love the woodcut; it's such a sweet scene.
Oh Erin, I wish we could all celebrate Epiphany together - those pictures of your parties look like SO much fun!! And I really love the older tradition of keeping Christmastide until Candlemas...we do it somewhat step-wise, removing a lot of the Christmas things after Epiphany, but still leaving some greenery etc. up until Candlemas.
Our kids have grown to LOVE Epiphany and seem to have the rhythm embedded now - to the point that after Christmas comes, they start asking "When is Epiphany?!" We bake a cake (just hide M&M's inside it), and we've made a tradition of watching the "We Three Kings" scene from the old California Raisins Christmas special. 😂
Thank you, Kristin! That would be a fantastic Epiphany party! I like your process of gradual decor take-down after Epiphany. What looks festive in the dark of December can start to look clutter-y in the harsh light of January. With the short Advent this year, we managed to decorate very little. But keeping the coziness going with greenery and candles makes good sense when it's cold outside. Also a great ides to bake in M&M's-- love it.
I love the sweet picture of napping by the tree! Valentine's or otherwise!!
Thank you! The light of the tree does add to the cozy atmosphere.