Christmas really is the best time of the year—but once the presents are unwrapped and the lights are turned off, we’re left with just the sweet memories (and a garage full of boxes to haul back in). Taking down the Christmas decorations can be a bit of a bummer. But what if you turned that chore into a new tradition instead?
We put together a creative after-Christmas date night for the two of you—a way to clean up the holidays together, capture your favorite memories, and reward yourselves with some quality time when all the work is done. January doesn’t have to be dull and gray. Here’s how to plan your Take Down the Holidays date.
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Table of Contents
Start With an Invitation
Let your spouse know it’s time to pull out the Christmas boxes with a cute Take Down the Holidays invitation. Handing over an invite makes it feel like a real date instead of a chore—it helps you carve out the time and sets a fun, together-tonight tone. {Clear your schedule, honey! It’s you-and-me time!}
Create a Christmas Memory Jar
While you’re cleaning up the tree and decorations, take a few minutes to reflect together. Add a printable label to any jar (a large glass jar with a lid works perfectly) and print out a stack of note cards. Jot down your favorite moments from the season using thoughtful prompts like:
- My favorite holiday tradition is…
- I look forward to Christmas because…
- One of my favorite Christmas memories this year was…
Tip: print plenty so you can do this activity every single year. Over time, your jar fills up with memories and thoughts that become a treasure to pull out and read together each holiday season.
End With a Flirty Date Card
This is the best part! When all the cleaning is done and the holiday boxes are stored away until next year, surprise your spouse with the Take Down the Holidays date card. Let them check a circle to pick the activity, and spend the rest of the evening however you like—a well-earned reward after the hectic holidays.
(Love the little brown tree in the trash can? These adorable printables were designed for us by Joanna of Cutify Creative.)
How to Make It a Yearly Tradition
The magic of this date is in the repetition. Pick a night in early January, print your set of printables (the invitation, the memory-jar label and cards, and the date card), and make it your official end-of-the-holidays ritual. Pack up Christmas together, add this year’s memories to the jar, and finish with your date card. Before long, taking down the tree becomes something you actually look forward to.
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Grab your printables, clean up the holidays, and enjoy some quality time with your sweetheart. Happy new year! And for more end-of-season fun, make a date out of taking down the Christmas tree, or try our three day-after-Christmas dates.
After-Christmas Date FAQs
It’s a creative after-Christmas date night where you and your spouse pack up the Christmas decorations together, capture your favorite memories in a keepsake jar, and reward yourselves with a fun date card at the end. It turns an end-of-season chore into a tradition you look forward to.
Treat it like a date instead of a chore! Send your spouse an invitation, play some music, reflect on your favorite holiday memories as you pack up, and plan a little reward at the end—like a flirty date card that lets you pick an activity once the work is done.
It’s a simple keepsake you create together: add a printable label to a large glass jar and fill it with note cards where you each write down favorite holiday memories and traditions. Do it every year and the jar becomes a treasure you pull out and read together each Christmas.
Any time you’d normally take down your decorations—usually the first week or two of January. Picking a set night each year turns it into a ritual and gives dull, gray January something cozy to look forward to.
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SO cute! I didn’t really set anything up this year (moving bleh!) but saving this for next year!
I love all of these ideas Amanda! So fun!