In my house growing up, we traditionally spent Black Friday and the weekend after Thanksgiving decorating the house. Since we bought a live tree we wouldn't get that for another few weeks (and it often stayed up until it was needle-less in February) but the Christmas season started at the same time as the leftover turkey.
Now that I have my own house (and a fake tree), I have had to start my own traditions, but I still decorate on Black Friday. It's a great excuse to avoid the shopping that I can't stand. While I have lots of my old traditions, it's been fun to look for new ones as well. For the first time this year, the Dude and I made gingerbread houses (albeit from a kit we bought from Target). They turned out pretty well...that is, until the Texas weather went from almost-winter to almost-summer in about 12 hours and all the icing melted. We'll try again next year!
After talking about it the last few years, the Dude hung Christmas lights outside this year and I think they look great! ...even if my pictures don't reflect that. We are definitely not in the running for the most
Griswold-ish house in our neighborhood, but we aren't the Grinches either.
Since I'm still making my own traditions, I've enjoyed looking at what others do. I've always kept most of my decorating in the living room, dining room, and kitchen, but after I saw this picture I think I may move it in to the library next year!
Has anyone else started their own traditions when they moved away from home?
