[disney]How Do You Decorate for Christmas?[/disney]

[Jules]

I thought talking about something else would make a nice change, and after all it is the start of the Christmas season.

But first, a little story from me.

As a child, I absolutely loved Christmas and it was always my favourite time of the year. I remember the day my mum would start taking out the decorations as one I'd be looking forward to for months on end. Back then, in my country it was customary to start decorating on or after 8th December. (It was important to do so after the feast of the Immaculate Conception.) I think very few people observe this these days. I suppose, with life steadily becoming crazier, it pays to decorate early and enjoy the fruits of your labour for longer!

Unfortunately, my mother passed away when I was 13. Life got messy (or messier ... as it wasn't too good at the time to begin with - but that's a long story.) I lived with my dad, but for a variety of reasons, my home was distinctly lacking Christmas cheer for 17 years. I think along the years I became resigned to the fact that I'll never be able to decorate my house again.

About three years ago I could finally start carrying out some home improvement. I decluttered a number of rooms and fixed others. There's still plenty of work to be done in many places (replastering, repainting, etc.), but at least many of the rooms are now tidy. It was then that I realised that I could decorate in time for Christmas 2019!

So, this is my third Christmas with a lit and decorated house. I am in the process of decorating right now.

I think it would be fun to share pics of our homes. People decorate differently. Some are elaborate and precise; others are less picky and more spontaneous (think Arthur's den in Arthur Christmas. ) I'd like to post pics of my tree later.

If you don't like to decorate, feel free to participate anyway. Christmas is different for everybody, and can bring forth feelings of happiness, peace, nostalgia, but also sadness and despair - depending on the person's past experiences.

Pssssst! If you have any Disney-inspired decor ... do share.

[blackcauldron85]

I really don't decorate for Christmas, but I LOVE Christmas and would love to see everyone's decorations!

[Escapay]

As a kid, the main "Disney" thing that I always associated with Christmas was my Li'l Playmates Disney Magic Kingdom Play Set, a Christmas gift I received when I was three and a half years old. Home movies from the time show me opening the box with my aunt, who helped me unwrap the little figures from their plastic bags. The castle now sits on top of my Disney shelf in my loft, having been retired from playtime for many years and now as a display piece and childhood relic.

Sometime in the late 90s, my younger brother had a Disney beanie plush phase which resulted in several holiday-themed plushes being bought and displayed around the house. Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit from Mickey's Christmas Carol, a nutcracker version of Mickey Mouse, some other wintery kind of plushes. One of the gifts that keeps on giving was this plush train that had Mickey and Minnie in it, and if you squeeze Mickey's hand, he and Minnie do some kind of dance and sing along. I remember at the time thinking, "This is so stupid, why is Reuben asking for a stuffed toy train for Christmas? He won't do anything with it except trot it out for one month at the end of the year." But now enough time has passed that have aged the toy into sentimental nostalgia for days gone by. So even though my teenage self was questioning the practicality of it then, the passage of time has made me now long for the days when we'd pull it out of storage and see them do the little dance once more.

Since moving to Orlando, the amount of Disneyness in Christmas decorating has multiplied over the past several years. My first Christmas season in Florida, I went to a secondhand theme park souvenir shop and picked up little plush ornaments of Jaq and Gus-Gus from Cinderella that's become a Christmas tradition to put on the tree each year now. In addition, every year the Disney ornament collection continues to grow thanks to new designs and anniversaries that result in unexpected ornaments for the likes of The Fox and the Hound, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver & Company, The Rescuers Down Under, and even Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Several ornaments are so good on their own, I keep them on my Disney shelf simply as little statues rather than put them away in storage just to put on a tree for a month. For example, one of my Christmas gifts last year was an ornament of Cinderella sitting in the chair waiting to try on the glass slipper. So much Cinderella merchandise is always in her fancy sparkly dress, but I always liked her in the plain clothes she wore. Thus, it was a great surprise to get the ornament for Christmas.

Likewise, Disney also released an ornament of Princess Aurora in her Briar Rose dress during the "Once Upon a Dream" sequence, with her dancing with the prince-ified Owl and animals. It's always been one of my favorite scenes in the film, and so having it in little statue form (whether or not it goes on a Christmas tree) was a delight. And again, it's for the version of Aurora that rarely gets merchandise, since they prefer showcasing her in the pink or blue dress. This year, one of the newest ornaments is Flora and Merryweather arguing amidst a blue-pink-splashed dress. I'll need to pick it up sometime this month.

Stepping away from ornaments but still in the "little statue" realm, back in 2017, a plastic figurine playset for Mickey's Christmas Carol came out in The Disney Store, marking the first time (that I knew of, at least) that the 1983 movie had action figures made. I put the play set on my Secret Santa wish list that year thinking nothing of it, so was pleasantly surprised when my Secret Santa actually got it for me. It's become a decorating staple now, either ending up on the coffee table or the kitchen table each year. This year, it calls the kitchen table home.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the Disney decorating we do, but it's probably also because anything Disney is kind of second nature in my town that I become so used to it that I don't notice anymore.

Albert

[Jules]

Ah, Scaps. Your Disney-themed Christmas tree ornaments sounds drool-worthy. Now I feel really silly never seeking out Disney-themed decorations. Then again, as mentioned earlier this is only my third year decorating again, so it's certainly something I'll seek out in the future!

I must admit that from local stores I've never come across Christmassy Disney ornaments, and we never got a Disney Store here. (I probably haven't looked hard enough.) A few years ago I did come across some absolutely gorgeous Disney-licensed Swarovski crystal figurines. But, as you can imagine ... they were pretty pricey!

I'm trying to remember what Disney-themed Christmas gifts I received as a child, and I'm finding it rather difficult. I remember getting a lovely Clementoni Beauty and the Beast puzzle (1996ish), with an image of Belle and the Beast on the balcony following the ballroom sequence.

I think for Christmas 1997 I also got a Lion King-themed lunchbox set. It also included a plate, a bowl and one of those drinking cups that had glittery water within it. Sadly the water completely dried out years later. Also, my lunchbox was stolen during the school break. I realised this because I came across the lid in the playground, and then found no lunchbox in my bag! I was furious, and while I don't really remember who stole and DEFACED it, I recall they were caught and dealt with.

I remember my brother getting me a "talking" Little Mermaid book, as well as quite a few figurines purchased from a Disney Store in the UK. I was still very young - maybe four or five, and I do not remember whether they were actual Christmas presents, or simply stuff my brother brought back with him after the trip abroad. (It might not have been Christmastime to begin with!)

Unfortunately the majority of these items have since gone missing, but I still have all the figurines.

For example, one of my Christmas gifts last year was an ornament of Cinderella sitting in the chair waiting to try on the glass slipper. So much Cinderella merchandise is always in her fancy sparkly dress, but I always liked her in the plain clothes she wore.

So glad I'm not the only one who likes Cinderella's work clothes! Now I'm expecting Duster to politely clear his throat in the background.

Confession: As a child I always thought Cinderella looked even lovelier in the pink dress the mice fixed up for her, rather than the sparkly ballgown.

[blackcauldron85]

Albert! I wasn't even thinking ornaments, but you're right that those can be displayed outside of Christmas and are fairly affordable. That's great that you've gotten some from different movies. (I just remembered that I do have a Pixar ornament set that I've never used since I haven't had a tree to put them on.)

I've definitely received Disney (and Muppets) presents as Christmas gifts. As a kid I remember: TLM nightgown; TLM, B&tB, + TLK shirts; TLM, B&tB, + TLK art kits & trading cards; cups (sparkly water TLM, TLK water bottle with a twisty top so the straw could come out); lots of soundtracks and VHS and storybooks (I also had the 'talking' TLM book, I remember getting TLM, B&tB, Aladdin, and TLK books); I had a Disney train set when I was a kid that I wish I still had. I got the Aladdin toy figurine set and the "Barbie" dolls of Ariel, Eric, Jasmine, and Aladdin.

As an adult, Disney posters and shirts and DVDs and some jewelry (I'm not a jewelry person, but I got Cinderella carriage matching necklace and earrings, Mickey necklace). I'm sure there's more.

I LOVE Cinderella's pink dress! And I like her work outfit.

[Wonderlicious]

I think, to some extent, I've always made a loose association between Disney and Christmas. There are, of course, a number of Disney films with Christmas themes or scenes, but my association of fantasy and fairy tales with Christmas (the whole Santa mythology, the British pantomime tradition) means that a good number of Disney animated films don't feel out of place as holiday viewing. Growing up in the 1990s, it would be very rare for a Disney film to be shown at any time of the year other than around Christmas or New Year (particularly animated films or films featuring some animation like Mary Poppins), and we often got Disney videos and other merchandise as gifts. Then there's the fact that new major Disney animated films regularly get released in the run-up to Christmas.

In the past couple of years (where I've had a Christmas tree of my own), I've gradually added a slew of Disney ornaments from the Disney Store or Shop Disney (they're the same type Escapay is describing). What I like about them is that they often have some more obscure characters and films, and even with ornaments based around popular films, they showcase characters and designs that aren't featured as much in merchandise or marketing (Cinderella and Briar Rose not wearing their ball gowns, as Escapay mentioned, is a good example). I've controlled myself to some extent and tried to limit myself to one or two a year at most, and there are some years where I've not bought any for whatever reason. However, I've still amassed a few (often purchased during Black Friday or in the post-Christmas sales), and I put a decent number of them up every year.

The Sword in the Stone, 2014
Brave Little Tailor, 2014
Maleficent, 2017
Peter Pan, 2018 - this looks pretty when backlit by some tree lights
Mary Poppins, 2018
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, 2019 - so bizarre I had to get it
Headless Horseman, 2019
Three Caballeros, 2020
Alice in Wonderland, 2021
Fantasia, 2021