I slowly begin taking decorations down the day after Epiphany. Just a bit every day and finish it up (except for the Nativity scene and door wreaths) the day after the Baptism of our Lord which is the end of the Christmas season in both the traditional and current calendars. The Vatican also takes their decorations down after the Baptism but leaves up the Nativity scene until Candlemas. I used the following as my guide, which helped to explain the confusion that usually surrounds this and has to do with the difference between what is actually the celebratory Christmas season and what is the Christmas cycle in the liturgical calendar.
"Also, the Christmas season always ends on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord in both calendars. I have never found any traditional Church calendar that continued the “Christmas Season” all the way through Candlemas. It is more of the “Christmas Cycle“ that one can see prolonged Christmas focus for 40 days of Christmas which ends on Candlemas. The Christmas Cycle is different than the actual Christmas season. After the Baptism of the Lord, the Christmas Season ends. The priest wears green vestments, and “Time After Epiphany” begins.
The green in the “Basic Cycle” or “Tempus per Annum” is not a celebration like the Easter and Christmas seasons, but does continue to focus on the Manifestation of Christ. It is not Christmas anymore, but a time of spiritual growth, applying the gifts we have learned through the Advent and Christmas seasons. And it is a time of rest before the Easter Cycle begins. But the time is not the Christmas “celebration.” No one says it is still Easter as the summer months continue or on All Saints Day, or the Solemnity of Christ the King, even though that time could be considered part of the “Easter Cycle.” The same rules apply to the Christmas Cycle. The green vestments signal a time of no feasts.
The Vatican takes down the Christmas decorations after the Baptism of the Lord, except the crèche/nativity scene. There seems to be more indication that keeping up the Christmas decorations is a cultural custom rather than an official religious Tradition."
