Stars — They’re Just Like Us: Holiday Edition

The stockings are hung and the menorahs are lit, which can only mean one thing: Celebrities are ready for the holiday season!

While most people wait until the Thanksgiving table has been cleared to start decorating for Christmas, Hanukkah and other festive holidays, December-obsessed stars such as Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson and Neil Patrick Harris have been known to get into the spirit with their families months in advance.

“I’ve always loved Christmas so much my entire life,” the “All I Want for Christmas Is You” singer, who coparents twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-husband Nick Cannon, told USA Today in November 2019. “Santa comes and visits us every year in a sleigh with real reindeer. If you don’t think I of all people know Santa, then I don’t know who does.”

The American Idol alum, for her part, loves the holiday season so much that she surprises Kelly Clarkson Show viewers with Christmas-themed segments whenever she feels like it — even if it’s in the middle of summer.

“Why just celebrate holiday cheer in December when we can rejoice all year?” Clarkson, who shares daughter River and son Remington with estranged husband Brandon Blackstock, exclaimed in an October 2019 episode as fake snow fell on her studio audience and the sound of jingle bells filled the room. “That’s what ‘Ambush Christmas’ is all about! … You never know what’s going to happen. Like, you might get in a snowball fight unexpectedly. But there’s one thing you can probably guess: Presents for everyone!”

Meanwhile, the How I Met Your Mother alum and his husband, David Burtka, who are also huge fans of Halloween, deck their five-story brownstone in Harlem, New York, with Christmas decor each year. They also throw a massive party every December that Santa Claus himself attends.

“We’ve been together for over 15 years, which is a lot of holidays. And every holiday you wind up buying a throw pillow, a new Nutcracker, or something. And we’ve kept it all,” Harris told Architectural Digest in December 2019. The Life Is a Party author, who shares twins Harper and Gideon with the actor, chimed in, “On a scale of 1 to 10, we’re an eight-and-a-half to nine with decorating.”

As the holidays approach, scroll through the gallery below to see how stars are just like Us when it comes to baking Christmas cookies, decorating their houses and so much more!