Do you collect holiday decorations to use from year to year, or do you usually pass them on to someone else or to a charity shop and get new ones? If I really like a holiday themed item, I'll keep it and reuse it for many years. Still, I do like to pick up a few new things from time to time (usually at post holiday sales). For example, I still have a set of wooden bunnies and wooden carrots for Easter that I've had for ages. I think they are cute. I can use Fourth of July stuff for Memorial Day and Labor Day as well. I try to get as much use out of stuff as I can. Some people like to change it up each year though. I do that too, but for me it means rotating the things I already have and maybe adding a couple new things I picked up at a big discount.
I keep the same things year in year out because it's cheaper that way. I don't like to spend too much money on decorations and will often make my own as well. I've still got a load of wooden Christmas decorations that were my great grandmothers for example. I just can't bring myself to throw things out if they're still perfectly usable!
When I was little over 50 years ago there was always a Christmas tree every year to decorate with stored ornaments. Now that I'm a senior citizen I decorate with just a few stuffed animals that I've collected throughout the years. Donated many Christmas and other decorations to the local thrift shops. We've just a few things we put out for all the holidays now that we've grown older that we collected or got as gifts nothing new. Guess when all the children in the family have grown like our family we just have a quiet celebration.
I use the same stuff from year to year but throw in a few new items when something catches my eye. I still have Christmas ornaments that we used to use when I was a child. I kept them because they were ones that my mom had made so they have sentimental value. I will get rid of things if I do not like them or they are broken and gradually replace them with something else. I will usually pick something up on clearance after the holidays so that they are much cheaper then. I do not decorate a lot for all the holidays. It is usually just for Halloween, Christmas, and Easter. Some Halloween decorations can be used for Thanksgiving though so that kind of works out.
Over the last few years I've been downsizing quite a bit. I don't want to be excessive anymore (not that I was excessive compared to most, but most people have far more than they need). When it comes to Christmas though, I had a very hard time compromising. I have so many decorations, especially for the tree and all of them have a ton of sentimental value attached to them. So I've given away all the decor that didn't and I'm keeping the rest. I don't like changing it up every year, because that just ads to waste or exesiveness somewhere down the line.. I much prefer the stuff that holds memories for my holidays.
As long as the decorations are in good condition I would keep on using them until I believe that they are no more attractive to be used. Therefore, I would save some money which I could have to spend on some other holiday arrangement.
I'm not really into changing the decorations up every single year! I like a nicely decorated tree, without it being too, too cluttered. I really spend a pretty penny on mine and bought them from posh stores, so they've kept well, and are still going. So from year to year, I just use the same ones. Of course if something really cute caught my eye, I'd probably go for it. But on the whole, I just use the same stuff over and over until it needs replacing.
We don't decorate anymore because it's too much effort to put up and take down decorations and usually we celebrate occasions in other relatives houses so it's not necessary for us to decorate. We did used to do it though and we do still have some of our old decorations in storage, but they are probably old and dusty by now and would not be of much use. I suppose since they are in containers they must be protected enough that they can still be used but it's not worth the effort to dig them out since we didn't have that many decorations anyway.
We have used the same Christmas lights for many years now, so I think that it's safe to say that we don't really collect holiday decorations. We do give them away though if we think that they are just wasting cabinet space.
We usually use the same decorations, but I will pick up a few new pieces, as some wear and break over the years of being used, as well as pets knocking them off. This year though, I think we are going to do our first themed tree, which will be a lot of fun. We've had the same decorations for 4 years now and it's time that they retire to a family who needs them for their holiday. What are some of your favorite tree themes?
I don't see if there's a need to buy holiday decorations each year. There are people I know who've used the same holiday decorations for decades. Might seem that they are a bit stingy but like them I can reuse the same decorations for about 3 years before I "upgrade."
I don't think holiday decorations should be an issue with regard to cost. Making decorations is fun and they can be made from cheap recyclable materials. My favourite decorations would be dried and preserved flowers which can be made by drying them in sand. Even skillful arrangements of ordinary things like seeds and coloured sand should make interesting decorations.
