Already have an account?
Get back to the
Entertainment

Dolly Parton Has the Best Reason For Leaving Her Christmas Decor Up Long After the Holidays

Tags:

Nothing about Dolly Parton is subtle, so we can’t say we’re too surprised to learn she likes to leave her Christmas decorations up well past the holiday season. In fact, the country queen’s house stays holly and jolly even well after New Year’s.

Like most of us, Parton starts by decking the halls the day after Thanksgiving — but none of it comes down until her birthday on January 19th. “I always make them leave my decorations up ’til after my birthday, ’cause I am still celebrating,” Parton (who will turn 75 in January) explained on CMT host Cody Alan’s podcast. She also said she covers every inch she can, including dog houses and the playhouses she has out in the yard for little ones in her family.

Now we all have a perfect excuse for anyone who tries to make fun of us for leaving our festive décor out a bit longer, too. We’re just following in the legendary singer’s bedazzled footsteps!

Aside from the decorations, Parton told Alan that she and her family like to whip up a big meal on Christmas day. “Well, we do all the traditional stuff, like everybody else,” she said. “The turkey and dressing. Sometimes we just bake big fat chickens instead of turkeys, but we do all the hams and the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, and the pumpkin, and sweet potato pies.”

As if that weren’t enough to feast on, she also always makes her mom’s chicken and dumplings recipe (which you can find here). “My family loves that, my mama used to make dumplings so I still do that in addition to all the other stuff,” she explained. “We just love to laugh, sing, and eat like everybody else!”

While chatting with Southern Living, Parton also shared how she and her husband carry on another sweet family tradition. “Mama would always buy daddy a pack of handkerchiefs and a box of chocolate covered cherries and daddy would always buy her a box of chocolate covered cherries and then they just swapped the box of candy,” she said. “Of course, we all ate it, but it was just their tradition. And to this day, my husband and I do the same thing. I buy him a box of chocolate covered cherries and he buys me some.” How adorable is that?

Whether or not you want to keep your Christmas decorations up until Parton’s birthday is up to you, but we can’t think of a better excuse to keep the festive spirit alive — and celebrate the singer, who we’d definitely describe as a real-life angel.

Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items. Use right arrow key to move into submenus. Use escape to exit the menu. Use up and down arrow keys to explore. Use left arrow key to move back to the parent list.