Chances are if you are reading this blog post you live in the United States so you know how we decorate and celebrate Christmas.  We trim a Christmas tree, exchange gifts, have bountiful meals, decorate our houses inside and out, bake cookies and more.  But, how do other countries celebrate this religious day?  This 7 part series will cover many areas of the world and are grouped by geographic areas.  Part 1 covered North & South America, Part 2 India & Africa, Part 3 Italy & Greece, Part 4 Scandinavia, Part 5 China & Russia, Part 6 France, Switzerland & Germany and Part 7 the United Kingdom.

Italy
A nativity scene is the center of decoration where guests kneel and musicians sing before it.  The figures in the nativity scene may be hand-carved and very detailed.  The manger is topped by a pyramid like structure where fruit, candy and small presents may be placed on its shelves.

In Rome cannons are fired on Christmas Eve to announce the holiday season.  On January 6th, the Epiphany, presents are exchanged.  La Befana (i.e. Santa Claus) delivers punishment for the bad and presents for the good.

Greece
Gifts are usually exchanged on St. Basil’s Day, January 1st.  Christmas ranks second to Easter as far as importance of the major holidays.  Children visit their neighbors on Christmas Eve offering good wishes and singing carols. Christmas trees are rare in Greece. A daily ritual transpires where basil is wrapped around a cross and hung from a shallow wooden bowl with a small amount of water in the bowl. One family member dips the cross and basil into holy water and sprinkles each room in the home.  A fire burns day and night for 12 days from Christmas to the Epiphany or January 6th to ward off evil spirits.  On St. Basil’s Day, January 1st, presents are exchanged.

Continue reading our series on Christmas Decorations & Celebrations around the World.  Part 1 covered North & South America, Part 2 India & Africa, Part 3 Italy & Greece, Part 4 Scandinavia, Part 5 China & Russia, Part 6 France, Switzerland & Germany and Part 7 the United Kingdom.

Chances are if you are reading this blog post you live in the United States so you know how we decorate and celebrate Christmas.  We trim a Christmas tree, exchange gifts, have bountiful meals, decorate our houses inside and out, bake cookies and more.  But, how do other countries celebrate this religious day?  This 7 part series will cover many areas of the world and are grouped by geographic areas.  Part 1 covered North & South America, Part 2 India & Africa, Part 3 Italy & Greece, Part 4 Scandinavia, Part 5 China & Russia, Part 6 France, Switzerland & Germany and Part 7 the United Kingdom.

India
Christmas is a major celebration in India beginning on December 24th and continues until New Year’s Day.  Christians attend mass in churches but in major cities Christmas Festival (as it is called) is celebrated by all religions and is a national holiday.  Christmas trees are decorated with stars, balloons and images of Santa.  Festivities such as baking, lighting candles and caroling are participated in by all.  Students of all denominations participate in nativity plays and caroling.

Christians in India actually start their Christmas preparation at least a month in advance by indulging in spring cleaning and shopping.  Everyone receives new clothes for the festival and gifts are bought for children in the family and for friends.  Those working away from their family come home to celebrate.

Decorations in India are based on their location.  Christians from Southern India light clay lamps on the rooftops and walls of their houses.  Rather than embellish an evergreen tree, they decorate banana or mango trees.  In Northwest India, Christians go caroling every evening for a week.  In Mumbai, homes are decorated with large stars and nativity scenes.

Africa
Carolers walk throughout their village in the morning singing songs.  Christmas worship is a major celebration whereby attendees give presents near the Communion table.  December 26th is Boxing Day, a public holiday and a day of relaxation.

South Africa
Windows are decorated with wool, tinsel and sparkling cotton.  On Christmas Eve, children hang their stockings.  Christmas trees are not common but pine branches adorn people’s homes.  A decorated Christmas tree will be surrounded with gifts for the children. 

Ghana (Africa’s West coast)
Churches decorate the church and residents their homes four weeks before Christmas.

Liberia (Africa’s West coast)
An oil palm is used for their Christmas tree and may be embellished with bells. At church the Christmas scene is enacted and carols sung.  Dinner is eaten outdoors in a circle followed by games and then fireworks at night.

Continue reading our series on Christmas Decorations & Celebrations around the World.  Part 1 covered North & South America, Part 2 India & Africa, Part 3 Italy & Greece, Part 4 Scandinavia, Part 5 China & Russia, Part 6 France, Switzerland & Germany and Part 7 the United Kingdom.

Chances are if you are reading this blog post you live in the United States so you know how we decorate and celebrate Christmas.  We trim a Christmas tree, exchange gifts, have bountiful meals, decorate our houses inside and out, bake cookies and more.  But, how do other countries celebrate this religious day?  This 7 part series will cover many areas of the world and are grouped by geographic areas.  Part 1 will cover North & South America, Part 2 India & Africa, Part 3 Italy & Greece, Part 4 Scandinavia, Part 5 China & Russia, Part 6 France, Switzerland & Germany and Part 7 the United Kingdom.

North America
Canada
Canadians decorate pine Christmas trees with ornaments, enjoy Advent calendars, Christmas cookies and gingerbread houses plus leave presents under the Christmas tree.  Santa Claus brings the gifts down the chimney and sets them under the Christmas tree on Christmas Day and flies from house to house with his 9 reindeer, just like the United States.

In Quebec, the French speaking part of Canada, people may put a decorated Christmas tree both inside and outside, adorned with colored lights.  On January 6th, Christmas ends and residents make a cake which has a bean inside.  The person who finds the bean is the king or queen.

Mexico
A small artificial tree, bush or even a branch from a real tree is the norm for their Christmas tree.  Piñatas containing money and candy and are scattered after the children repeatedly strike the piñata and break it open.  Mexicans decorate the outside with large, colorful lights and an elaborate nativity scene is a staple for most Mexican’ families.  The poinsettia plant was brought to the U.S. from Mexico in 1928 by Joel R. Poinsett where it became popular due to its bright red color.

South America
For countries that exist in this region,   Christmas falls during their summertime.  People in South America celebrate Christmas very religiously.  The manger at Bethlehem is the central focus where an entire room is often filled with an elaborate nativity set.  The display is landscaped with elaborate scenes and includes small figures such as shepherds with their flock, the Wise Men crossing the desert, trains and sailboats.

Brazil
Falling snow is represented by placing pieces of cotton on a pine tree.  Fresh flowers are used to decorate the house, fireworks and huge Christmas trees of electric light displays are seen in the skies of major cities. Nativity scenes are common and displayed in homes, stores and churches in December.  Father Noel brings presents.  Midnight mass is attended by devout Catholics.

Guatemala
The nativity scene is the primary focus for Christmas decorations. Children find their presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning, but adults do not exchange gifts until New Year’s Day.

Venezuela
Daily early morning mass is frequented by the religious from December 16-24th.  In major cities residents roller skate to mass and many neighborhoods close the streets to cars until 8:00 am.  After mass, tostados and coffee are shared by all.

Continue reading our series on Christmas Decorations & Celebrations around the World.  Part 1 will cover North & South America, Part 2 India & Africa, Part 3 Italy & Greece, Part 4 Scandinavia, Part 5 China & Russia, Part 6 France, Switzerland & Germany and Part 7 the United Kingdom.

In Part 1, I provided ideas on creating your own table centerpieces for the holiday using bowls and wreaths.  Part 2 will cover using servicing platters, baskets and vases to create an elegant look for your Christmas table.

Serving platters can be used as the base for centerpieces too, just make sure you won’t need them for dinner!

• Add some colored stones or marbles around 3 candles of different heights and you have an instant centerpiece!
• Candles of different heights surrounded with pine cones, greens, or floral picks looks good.
• To make a unique design surround plain candles with cinnamon sticks and tie with string or ribbon.   It looks great when the cinnamon sticks are odd lengths and they smell great too. 
• One of my favorites is to surround a short vase with straight candy canes (i.e. without the curve).  Keep the candy canes in place by tying holiday ribbon around them.  Add red roses or red carnations to the vase.  Very elegant!
• Buy or wrap small boxes in a graduated size.  Stack them with the largest on the bottom and smallest on the top, tie a ribbon around them, topping off with a bow and place on a platter or cake stand.

I would be negligent to not provide ideas on using vases or baskets for centerpieces.  The nice thing about vases or baskets is they can be found inexpensively at dollar or craft stores and spray paint is an economical method to transform an old vase or basket into your color scheme.  Keep in mind that bowls with a flat bottom also work well to display a flower arrangement.  Craft stores carry floral foam to insert fresh or faux flowers.

• Alternate inserting flowers and greens into the floral foam until full.
• For smaller vases, insert just one larger flower.
• An assortment of bells looks good in a clear vase.
• Fill a basket with greens, and then add floral picks with fruits or other holiday trim including small ornaments, red berries, thin tree branches and ribbon.  Spraying tree branches silver or gold makes a beautiful accent.
• Make a 2 tier centerpiece by inserting a chalice type vase inside a larger, shorter vase.  You could decorate each layer totally different yet coordinating for a festive look.  Add greens, candy canes, stars, angels and candles and you have created a masterpiece!
• Solid or wire sleighs can be filled with floral foam and then greens.  Alternate inserting red and white roses or carnations along with small ornaments, red berries, a thin candle and bows.
• Spray paint an old bowl gold (punch or truffle bowls look great!) and add greens with gold ornaments or gold décor such as angels, fruit or flowers. Do not spray paint any item you ever plan to serve food in!

I hope I have given you some new ideas on decorating your table for Christmas.  In most cases if you need more than one centerpiece, it is best to stick with one theme and make small changes to each arrangement.   This provides a consistent theme but uses your creativity by altering each arrangement by adding different accent pieces.  Read Part 1 for centerpiece ideas using wreaths and bowls.  Happy Holidays!

Christmas is almost here and hopefully your presents are bought and wrapped and your menu planned.  Now your attention will be on decorating your table (s) for Christmas dinner.  I have found so many beautiful and creative ways to turn your Christmas table into something spectacular that you can create yourself and would like to share some of these with you.

Wreaths surrounding candles always makes a beautiful centerpiece.  However, there are many ways to decorate a wreath and you can buy small artificial wreaths from craft stores to use for this purpose.

• On top of the wreaths add floral picks which are available in pine cones, little Santas, candy canes, fruit, flowers and many other styles.  Add a few small ornaments and ribbon and you have a beautiful centerpiece.
• Buy the can of faux snow that you use to put stencils on your windows and lightly spray the wreath.  Add small white ornaments and other white décor such as birds, ribbon, angels or other holiday related items. Add one large white candle in the middle.
• Who ever thought of using pink at Christmastime?  Anything goes now a days – just be consistent and carryout that color throughout your decorating scheme.  That means, pink or mauve table cloths or runners, pink/mauve napkins, candles, etc.  Try not to use the exact same color, but instead use objects in the color family such as pink, dark pink and mauve.  You can make this centerpiece using other colors also – all blue for Hanukah, red, green, or whatever your preference is.

Bowls aren’t just for food anymore!  If you have some beautiful bowls, you can fill them with an assortment of items to make a gorgeous centerpiece.

• Candles in a clear flat bowl sitting on top of faux snow with a few greens added are simple, but elegant.  You can also add any holiday related item in the bowl to give it more color.  Examples include colored stars, elves, snowmen, etc.
• One large red amaryllis sitting on top of red cranberries in a hurricane vase (or other tall clear vase). Tie a 2” ribbon around the bottom of the bowl and you have a beautiful centerpiece.
• Create a holiday scene inside a wider clear vase by adding colored stones or marbles (craft store) at the bottom and small figurines inside. These could be Mr. & Mrs. Claus, elves, or whatever holiday items you may already own.  Add a few miniature Christmas trees or candles, some small ornaments, or a little house that Santa will visit.  You are only limited by your imagination and if you need ideas, there are plenty online.
• Using a wide clear bowl, fill 2/3 way with water.  Add a few faux green plants at the bottom and top with cranberries, which will float.  Surround the bowl with live greens and throw in a few cranberries or faux cranberry garland.
• Fill any clear bowl with round ornaments.  I prefer using more than one color ornaments but like the look of solid color ornaments for this purpose.

I hope I have given you a few new ideas on how to make your Christmas table centerpiece. Don’t forget you can use these ideas for all occasions.  In Part 2 we will cover using serving platters, vases and baskets with flowers to make your Christmas table look beautiful.

The fireplace and its mantel is often one of the highlights of living or family rooms. For Christmas season there are many ways to decorate your mantel so that it enhances the room and looks beautiful.  I have listed ways to decorate your mantel and have it be unique and easily changed from year to year.

On the mantel

• Garland – Green garland, with or without lights, can be placed behind or in front of other items on top of the mantel.  Many faux garlands include pine cones and red berries, or you can do it yourself by inserting floral picks from a craft store.  Fresh pine branches on the mantel smell wonderful and white faux snow looks beautiful instead of the green garland.
• Candles – Candles in different sizes, but usually in the same or coordinating color, can be interspersed among the garland.  Large silver candles shaped like Christmas trees look great with a white faux snow around the candle.  Red and white or green and white striped candles look jovial in front of the garland.  Tree toppers can be used in between the garland rather than on top of a tree.
• Vase/hurricane vase – Fill these with red flowers, gold or silver sprayed pine cones or coordinating ornaments (think silver and blue ornaments).  Small glass containers filled with small round ornaments can provide a miniature version.  Another choice for a festive look is filling the clear containers or vases with red and white striped mints (or the green ones).
•  Hang individual ornaments from an ornament stand and place on the mantel.  Pick an ornament to coordinate with a color or hobby theme.  View our selection of ornament stands at Christmas Ornaments.com.

Above the mantel

• Wreaths – A large wreath above the mantel is a great attention getter.  The wreath in the accompanying photo incorporates all red glossy different sized ornaments, but you can use any color or even any hobby related items to create your own wreath.
• Pictures – Wrap pictures in Christmas gift wrap with ribbon.  I use the more expensive wrapping paper for this purpose so the pictures look elegant on the wall.
• Letters – Large (6-8”) letters that are spray painted can be hung on the walls in holiday sayings such as “Joy”, “Ho-Ho-Ho”, “Peace”, “Noel”, “Mistletoe”, “Believe”, “Angel” and “Hope”.

Below the mantel

• Poinsettia plants – Two poinsettia plants on the floor flanking the front of the fireplace add beautiful color to this area.
• Stockings – This is pretty much a given.  There are many cute stockings that can be hung from the fireplace.  Adding each family member’s name in glitter glue personalizes each stocking.
• Garland - If you are not into stockings, you can string garland from the mantel, draping it into half circles.

I hope you will be able to use some of these mantel decorating ideas to make your home a little more beautiful during the holiday season.  Happy Holidays!

In the past two blog posts, I have given you ideas on how to decorate your house to extremes.  To me this means that every wall, floor, ceiling, stair railing, table, couch, chair, and door is fair game for decorating.  Did I miss anything?  I actually only decorate the rooms guests will see or that are the main rooms we live in:  foyer, kitchen, living, dining, family and bathrooms.  But those are enough rooms to still go to decorating extremes!

When it comes to the bathrooms, I get a little carried away.  Normal towels are removed and replaced with colorful Christmas towels with the hand towels having cute sayings embroidered on them.  I have a golden sleigh that holds decorative hand-made soap with various soap tidbits inside such as poinsettias, bells and holly.  Holiday rugs blanket the floors and the shelves have been sprinkled with small ceramic or wood Santa’s, elves and snowmen.  The normal liquid soap dispenser, air freshener and tissue holders have disappeared and substituted with Christmas themed decor.  And, of course, the walls have been embellished with smaller holiday decorations.

The kitchen has assorted ceramic and wood holiday figures on the counters, bowls of ornaments, and hanging ornaments from the main kitchen light.  A Santa that spins up and down hangs from the pot rack and a decorated wood boy dressed in holiday clothes stands in the corner.  The kitchen table has Christmas place mats that I bought at a craft fair and a centerpiece with gold and red round ornaments surrounding the greens.

The dining room is especially festive because everyone will be eating here.  There is a large Christmas centerpiece with beautiful green and red candles, pine cones, holiday ribbon, and brightly colored ornament balls.  Red strands of beads and loose greens adorn the chandelier.  Gold candle Christmas trees are set on the holiday table cloth, large red ribbon bows are attached to the back of each chair and each additional table has a fresh flower holiday arrangement.  Silverware has been rolled into Christmas napkins and wrapped with ribbon and placed by each setting.

An inexpensive way to use items you already own such as pine cones and tree branches is to spray paint them in colors such as silver, gold or red.  Stand the sprayed branches in any tall vase or planter; display the sprayed pine cones in a basket, bowl or vase and add the same colored ornament balls into the container (think silver sprayed pine cones mixed with silver round ornaments).  It looks very elegant.

You can also take any clear container and fill it with strands of beads, whether it be jewelry type beads or garland beads that you would normally put around the Christmas tree.  Craft and dollar stores sell clear/green glass containers and larger glass decorative stones that would look festive.

In front of the fireplace I have a bowl of pine scented pot pourri and three elves.  A large wreath above the mantel completes the look.  Of course, don’t forget to hang the mistletoe from a ceiling!

I hope that you have obtained a few new ideas to make your house warm and festive this holiday season.  For more ideas read our recent blogs that cover decorating the entrance way, foyer, family & living rooms.

Poinsettias are an easy way to add color around your house.  To find more information on poinsettias read our article, Things You May Not Know about Poinsettias, at our sister site, Christmas Ornaments.com

In our prior blog post we discussed ideas to make your entrance enchanting and your foyer festive.  This part will provide you with easy, inexpensive ideas to decorate your tables and walls to the extreme.

On the walls in the foyer, family & living room, I have many items I have purchased at local arts and craft fairs.  There are several wooden holiday signs, a Santa that moves, snowmen, elves, angels, and large wooden ornaments strung together to hang from the wall.  I also hang items that were made out of cloth which are easily hung using only a thumbtack.  These include reindeer, candy canes, candles, poinsettia, gingerbread men, giant stockings, and a bag of toys.  If you can use a coping saw and sander, or can sew, you can duplicate many of the items inexpensively that I have bought at craft fairs.

I suspend a few extra large ornaments from the ceiling in various rooms using ribbon or glitter pipe cleaners, and smaller ornaments from a light in the kitchen.  A wooden light with wood crossbars works well to hang normal size ornaments.  Attach a thin ribbon (1/2” or less in width) through the ornament hanger, tie the ribbon at the other end and tuck under the wood crossbars.  I vary the length of the ribbon and colors of the ornaments but usually use solid colored glass ball ornaments for this purpose.  Keep the length of the ribbon short enough so the ornaments don’t touch people’s heads.  It is amazing how great this looks yet it is so simple to create.

One of the more creative, yet simple concepts includes taking any festive bowl, including clear glass, and arranging a group of different ornaments in a bowl.  I turn the ornaments so the top hooks face inward so no one can see it.  You can set the ornaments on shiny colored decorative grass (craft store), holiday tissue paper or with nothing underneath.

Other favorite ideas I use:

• Cover pictures on walls with beautiful wrapping paper and ribbon.
• Place assorted Christmas pillows with cute sayings on them along with stuffed holiday characters from Santa to the Grinch.
• Drape lighted garland across the fireplace mantel with little holiday knick knacks in front.
• Hang Christmas stockings from the fireplace mantel.
• Cover tables in hand-made quilted runners.
• Fill Christmas embossed bowls and dishes on each table with chocolates and nuts.
• Add festive rugs and wooden holiday characters that stand in the corner in any room.
• Use yarn, ribbon or colored thin rope to hang your Christmas cards on the walls.
• Hang wood or cloth holiday characters on your walls.
• Do something different with decorating your Christmas tree this year – make it a “themed” tree and decorate it all in one color or one type of ornament, such as music, sports, dogs, etc.
• Fill baskets with candy canes, ornaments or scented pine cones wrapping a ribbon around the container.

If you are looking for decorating ideas read our article, Christmas Table Decorations, at our sister site, Christmas Ornaments.com

Read our recent blog for ideas to deck out your entrance way and foyer.  In the next blog you will find decorating concepts for the bathroom, dining room & kitchen.

Christmas time is my favorite time of year.  Yes, it’s the busiest especially when you own two ornament sites, but I love decorating my house for the holidays.  There are so many great, inexpensive decorating ideas that I’m not sure where to begin. In the next four blog posts, I will provide you with ideas on how to decorate your house to extremes.  To me this means that every wall, floor, ceiling, stair railing, table, couch, chair, and door is fair game for decorating.  Did I miss anything?  I actually only decorate the rooms guests will see are the main rooms we live in:  foyer, kitchen, living, dining, family and bathrooms.  But those are enough rooms to still go to decorating extremes!

First, let’s start with your front door entrance.   We won’t cover exterior decorations except the entrance, as that would be too long (and an excuse to write another blog post!).   I recently purchased a small 2’ live evergreen tree in a pot and added some red bulbs and ribbon.  I positioned it on the step into the alcove in front of my entrance door.  I used to buy the candy cane shaped wreath from my local grocery store to hang from the front door but now that we carry a pre-lit wreath with red berries and pine cones, I will have to buy one of those. I apologize for the plug but there’s a lot to be said about buying items that last more than one year and don’t shed their needles and make a mess.

Strings of white blinking lights are stapled (use a staple gun) to the alcove frame surrounding the entry way and faux garland is draped around the door to the house.  A wood reindeer personalized with our family name greets guests by saying, “Welcome to our House” with our name on a plaque below the reindeer.  Visitors can wipe their feet on the light bulb rug before they enter the house.  It makes a beautiful entrance.

Second, the foyer is what your guests will see next so I like to decorate a lot in that area.  Suggestions include:

• Christmas doorknob hanger decorations that let you know when someone enters from the bells ringing.
• A large snowman light added to the second story foyer window facing the front, surrounded with small red lights, make the windows stand out from outside.
• Garland wrapped around the stair rail leading to the upstairs.  Each year I attach different items to the garland to make it unique.  Sometimes I have used ornaments, holiday floral picks, and ribbon.  One of my favorite looks is created by adding light-weight plastic cherubs that come in gold or red.  Each cherub is posed in a different position with a musical instrument so there is variety to the display.  You can attach them with floral wire, decorative pipe cleaners, or the ties you get with certain garbage bags.  Garland with small lights also looks great and you can still add your favorite trimmings.
• Although I don’t decorate upstairs, I do add poinsettia plants on every other step going upstairs.

I hope I have provided a few ideas that you may have overlooked.  Ideas for decorating your walls and tables will appear in the next blog post.  The last part will give you decorating ideas for the bathroom, dining room & kitchen.

The Facebook Handmade Ornament Contest is over and we have some winners!

First prize in the Adult category is awarded to Stephanie Lawrence Kiger for her metal star & Christmas tree ornaments.

First prize in the Teen category goes to Christine Jean for her stuffed partridge ornament.

There were no entries in the children’s category.

Honorable Mentions are awarded to:
Lottie Campenella for her purple ornament with the palm tree graphic.
Laura Zupko for the beaded ornament.
Erin Blakeley for her felt owls.

The first prize winner in each category receives a $50 Ornament Shop.com gift certificate plus a 2011 personalized ornament.  The honorable mention winners each receive a $20 Ornament Shop.com gift certificate.

Congratulations to everyone who entered the contest!  We received some very creative handmade ornaments.  Winners were chosen by the number of “Likes” each ornament received, with honorable mentions being selected by Ornament Shop.com’s owner, Dianne Weller.  You can see all entries on Ornament Shop.com’s Facebook page.

We recently provided you with an idea on how to use wreaths to decorate your house at Christmas time using smaller wreaths.  Today we are giving you ways to decorate a larger wreath to show off your creativity and have some fun at the same time.

Supplies: 
One large artificial wreath of any size, or smaller ones for children, light weight non-breakable ornaments and holiday decorations, holiday ribbon, plant wire or decorative pipe cleaners.  Keep the ornaments and ribbon size in proportion with the size of the wreath being used.  Picture courtesy of Good Housekeeping.

Directions:

1. You have several choices for using the ribbon.  You can tie 1 large or several small bows and attach to the wreath using the plant wire or pipe cleaners.  You may also wrap the ribbon at an angle around the wreath, leaving some green wreath between the ribbon.
2. Cut the plant wire long enough to go around the wreath plus an inch or two and secure an ornament or other holiday decoration every couple of inches.  Alternate placement of the decorations so they are not in a line around the wreath.  You can use a glue gun but wire secures the decorations more securely to the wreath and you don’t have to worry about burning yourself.  However, if you are attaching breakable ornaments, you may want to use super glue or a glue gun to secure the ornament cap to the ornament.
3. Add smaller items such as bells, flowers, and other holiday decor in between the ornaments or decorative items to fill in the spaces.  I have seen some wreaths totally covered and others where the green of the wreath shows through and either way they look beautiful.
4. Use a wreath hanger to hang from your front door or from a staircase railing.

Tips:

• This is a great way to refresh or salvage outdated wreaths that you may already own.  Carefully remove the unwanted decorations and prepare to create your masterpiece!
• Craft stores sell floral picks, which have a small artificial decoration on one end and a green stem on the other end.  They come in a variety of styles and colors and work well for inserting into Styrofoam, planters, and wreaths.
• Choose colors that coordinate together or to match a room's color scheme.
• Themed wreaths are very popular yet unique. Decorate your wreath all in angels, fruits and berries, poinsettias, musical instruments, flowers, ornaments, Santas, or any hobby.  There is no limit to what can be used to create a personalized wreath!
• Be sure that the depth of your wreath doesn't exceed the distance between your door and storm door.

To purchase a pre-light wreath with pine cones and beautiful red berries, go to our sister site, Christmas Ornaments.com.

Thanksgiving is almost here and soon after I will be decorating my house for Christmas.  There are many artistic and unique ideas where you can use wreaths for decorating.  I’d like to share one of my favorite ideas for decorating for the holidays using wreaths.  They also make great projects to do with your children.

Supplies:

For each wreath you want to make, buy 1 - 12” diameter wreath, 6 feet of 2” wide solid or print holiday ribbon, green plant wire (need wire cutter) or decorative pipe cleaner and 1 – 9” colorful Holiday paper plate. If you have children, you could have them color white paper plates with a holiday theme.

Directions: 

1. Using a single hole puncher or craft hole cutter, make a hole in the paper plate about 1” from the top of the design.  Insert the plant wire or pipe cleaner through the hole and secure to the wreath.
2. After cutting 6 feet of the ribbon, fold in half and wrap the middle of the ribbon around the top of the wreath and tie once.
3. Hang the wreath from a window latch, railing or other secure means such as a nail.  Extra ribbon can either hang down or be curled using scissors.
4. Repeat for the quantity desired except vary the hanging height of each wreath by reducing the ribbon length.

Tips: 

• You can obtain artificial wreaths in many sizes from craft stores.  I recommend using artificial wreaths, rather than fresh ones so you can keep your wreath and use over again.
• Using different colored holiday paper plates, whether homemade or store bought provides a colorful, decorative display.
• The wreaths look good in front of windows, but can be hung from anywhere.
• Smaller wreaths will also work – just use smaller plates.
• Ornaments or other holiday decor can be hung inside the wreath instead of the plate.

Coordinate your ribbon with the plate colors.  Solid red, green, or print ribbon goes well with Christmas plates; blue ribbon looks good with Hanukah plates.

If you are looking for a wreath that is pre-light with beautiful red berries and pine cones, view our wreath here.

Although many people decorate their Christmas tree traditionally whether it is an artificial or real tree, others like to use their artistic ability and create something unique.  I have gathered some of my favorite unusual Christmas Trees for your viewing enjoyment. They are decorated with a variety of materials and some are even edible!  

If you are looking for high quality artificial Christmas trees in a variety of sizes and shapes, check out our sister site, Christmas Ornaments.com and look under Accessories & Decorations, then Trees & Wreaths. You can also find adorable ornaments for every interest, hobby or activity that you can image, including current trends such as video game player, scrapbooking, cell phone user and more!
If you’ve got an unusual Christmas tree in your house, please share it with me and any stories “attached” to it….I’ll include it in our blog, the next time I write about trees.”

Book Tree	Upside Down Tree	Noodle Tree
Teddy Bear Tree	Vegetable Tree	Potato Tree
Tie Tree	Donut Tree	Bottle Tree
Crate & Wreath Tree

Now that Halloween has passed, it is officially Christmas season, at least for buying gifts.  Many of us prefer to get our shopping over early because we become busier as the holiday approaches.  I would like to share with you what type of homemade gifts you can find at your local craft fair and hopefully give you some different ideas for gifts this year.

The craft fair I attended this past Sunday was held at a local high school and was better than expected both in quantity offered and quality.   I have more than enough Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas decorations and was determined not to buy any decorations.  So much for that thought!  I couldn’t resist the inexpensive, adorable handmade gifts and decorations.  There had to be at least 100 crafters selling their wares and they offered a wide variety of distinctive products.

I purchased a lighted glass block decorated inside with Chicago Bears plastic players, footballs, jerseys, a Bear’s flag, and goal post.  For holiday décor I bought a Thanksgiving table centerpiece, a sign painted with a cute snowman, Christmas cloth place mats and an adorable elf doll about a foot high.

For women, there was handmade oak furniture, food, jewelry, quilts, candles, purses, and clothes decorated both in holiday designs, flowers and contemporary art.

For a grab bag gift I bought a hand-painted glass popcorn bowl which I will fill with microwave popcorn and popcorn salt.  Speaking of snacks, I was able to taste many homemade dips using pretzel sticks and bought several packages to accompany the handmade pottery dip holder.  It has a small bowl at the top to fill with dip which sits atop a base you can fill with ice to keep the dip fresh.  The pottery colors were beautiful and I don’t have to worry that someone may already have the same item.

For children’s gifts you can find hand painted shirts, sweatshirts, and quilts in various children’s styles.  You can buy step stools with the child’s name painted on the top and lap boxes with a chalkboard top that slides out to reveal storage for chalk and coloring books.  Child-size aprons with miniature cooking tools in specially sown pockets, baby doll clothes, puzzles and wood cars are just a few other items to be found.

For the men in the family I purchased embroidered sweatshirts that had sarcastic sayings about your favorite sport team vs. their competitors and MLB clocks.  There were bean bag games, alphabet architectural signs, sports decorated nut or candy holders, and funny bar signs.

It appears that you can find many one-of-a-kind gifts at your local arts ‘n craft fairs this holiday season, and most will personalize while you wait.  Most fairs are small (<100 vendors) but you can get through those rather quickly and they may only charge a nominal entrance fee ($2) and offer free parking.  The larger craft fairs offer more selection, some higher quality products and more expensive selections but will generally take at least half a day to view everything.

So, if you are looking for unique, handmade gifts, consider the arts ‘n craft fairs that will be popping up in your neighborhood between now and Christmas.

If you like handmade ornaments, you may like our handmade clay ornaments made by a woman who creates these for us in her kitchen!

Sometimes the best gifts are the ones you make yourself.  But how often have you started projects too late and decided you didn’t have enough time to finish?  This year we've decided to give you a little incentive to start early, have some fun, and hopefully motivate others to make their own gifts too!
 
We invite you to join the Hand-Made Christmas Ornament Contest, sponsored by Ornament Shop.com. All entries will be posted on Facebook and winners will be chosen by popular vote!  Rounding out the contest includes awards for ornaments based on creativity and the material used, with honorable mentions selected by Dianne Weller, Owner of Ornament Shop.com.
 
There will be categories for children, teenagers, and adults so everyone can participate!
 
Entering is easy. Simply use any materials such as dough, clay, wood, fabric, glass, paper, ceramic or anything else you want to use as a medium.  Submit a photograph of your ornament, the amount of time spent to make it, and the story or inspiration behind your creation.

The submission deadlines are as follows:
Kids     – November 11th
Teens  – November 18th
Adults  – December  2nd
 
Winners get their ornaments featured on Facebook and Ornament Shop.com as well as receive an official Personalized Award Ornament with their name and date!
 
Of course, you get to keep your creation too! So that's one gift you can check off your list!

The U.S. operations division of Blachere Illumination, The Christopher Shop in Christopher, IL, has grown into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-end commercial Christmas displays.  They supply illuminated displays for shopping centers, casinos, hotels, municipalities, Disney World, and Sea World.

The company was founded in 1971 in France and has expanded into several countries:  Germany, Holland, Belgium, South America, United Kingdom, and the United States.  The Southern Illinois company began as a test site in 2007.  The president of the company, Ronnie Brown, met the owner of a small Christmas business called Trogolo, at a trade show in Las Vegas.  Brown accepted Trogolo’s offer to rent some space from him in Christopher, Illinois.  Before you knew it, Blachere bought Trogolo and began expanding.

Blachere Illumination is currently creating a 15 foot sphere tree for Disney World’s Christmas celebration and illuminated sails to go on a pirate ship at a Christmas display at Sea World.

The company employs about 50 employees in their peak season.  They have grown every year, reported 11% growth for 2010 and expects the same for 2011.

To discover the history of Christmas Tree Lights, read our article "Christmas Tree Lights From Candles to LED’s".

Stanislaus National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, was selected to provide the 2011 Christmas tree for the U.S. Capital.  A 60’ red fir will be chosen in the fall, then cut down on November 5.  After cutting, it will be mounted on a double flatbed truck and will tour California for eight days.  A specially designed frame will keep the tree’s shape and a water bag will keep it moist.  After traveling throughout California the tree will be transported to the front lawn of the Capitol.  It will be installed on November 28 and will follow with a tree-lighting ceremony in December.

There are several activities that only Californians are invited to participate in:
1)  5,000 homemade outdoor ornaments are needed.  (Indoor ornament requirements have already been met).  Outdoor ornaments should reflect the “California Shines” theme and represent how the rich cultural and ecological diversity make   California shine.
2)  One boy or girl, age 5-17, can win an all-expense paid trip for him/herself and a parent or guardian to light the tree with House Speaker John Boehner. Entries must be postmarked by Sept. 30.
3)  Although the tree is donated by the State of California, donations of cash, products, or services are welcome.  In addition to paying for the transport of the tree, food and hotel for the tour members, packaging tape, boxes, and other supplies are needed to package the ornaments.

Outdoor Ornament Rules & Requirements
1)  Should reflect the “California Shines” theme of cultural and ecological diversity of California.
2)  Not all ornaments may be selected and are not returnable.
3)  They must be 9-12 inches in length and weigh less than ½ pound.
4)  The ornaments must have holes for hanging.
5)  They must be durable and weatherproof for outside wet and snowy conditions.
6)  If possible, use reflective materials, preferably recycled or natural components.
7)  Use a simple design on both sides of the ornament that can be seen 25-70 feet in distance.
8)  A completed Ornament Submission Form must be included in the shipping box.
9)  Deadline is September 30, 2011!

For more information and forms required,  go to the official site of the Capital Christmas Tree 2011: 

We previously wrote about some summer-time Christmas stress reducing concepts, but now that it is closer to Holiday season, we would like to provide some additional ideas to minimize Christmas stress.  Fall is a great preparation time for the holidays before it gets crazy.

Christmas Lights: Take out and test all of your lights and put batteries in those decorations that require them.  We don’t recommend putting up your lights in September, but there is nothing wrong with putting them up while the weather is good especially when you don’t have to turn them on until holiday time.

Personalization:  Now is the time to order gifts to be personalized.  This could be ornaments, children’s toys, jerseys, t-shirts or Christmas cards.  If you didn’t buy your cards on clearance at the end of last holiday season, then check online for deals or just to have them in your hands earlier than the stores will. 

Christmas Cards: If you plan to send out picture Christmas cards, take the picture now and get it to the printer before everyone gets too busy.  Update your Christmas card list with any new addresses, then sign, address and stamp the Christmas cards.  You can even order Christmas stamps from the post office online!

Christmas Letter: If you write an annual Christmas card letter, start working on it.  This way, you won’t be rushed and what you want to share will be easier to remember than if you wait until December.  You don’t have to seal your cards until you are ready to mail them just in case you want to add something to the card such as a newsletter or picture.  If you plan on writing a newsletter but want to start on your cards now, insert the signed card into the envelope with the opening facing outwards so you can slip something in the card without taking it out.

More Stress Reducers: Fall is also a good time to polish your silver, paint the house, or practice the new recipes you’ve been saving.  More details on polishing silver and tasks that can be done ahead of time to reduce Christmas stress levels can be found in our article “Last-Minute Christmas Shopping Tips”.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Visalia, California, raised more than $4,000 in August, 2011 from over 350 people bidding on 33 artificial decorated trees.  They call their annual fundraiser, Festival of Trees. 

Each tree had a theme and were decorated by volunteers.  Some of the tree themes included one with Disney & Micky Mouse decorations, an Easter tree, a star is born tree, a St. Patrick’s Day themed tree, and a coffee themed tree.

Attendees could buy tickets and submit the tickets into a jar in front of each tree. There was a 50-50 raffle of which more than $1800 was collected. 

Caritas Christi charity programs will distribute the money earned for underprivileged families, buying school supplies, helping feed people during the holidays, and helping children visit their parents who are in prison.

To create a “Music” themed Christmas tree, click here to see our selection of 48 music ornaments.

The first Christmas tree with electric lights belonged to Edward H. Johnson in 1882, who worked with Thomas Edison.  Since that time there have been many improvements both in style and efficiency.  You can buy round spherical lights, lighting nets, mini lights, icicle lights, rope lights, curtain lights, garland lights, solar lights, and LED lights.

LED’s burn bright, don’t get hot and use less electricity.

Christmas novelty lights are some of the most fun.  These strings of lights are usually shaped like an object such as Santa, gingerbread, snowmen, candy cane, reindeer, tree, snowflake, angel, candle, bell, poinsettia, and holly & berry.

There are mini lanterns, lighthouses, pine cones, guitars, peace symbols, hearts, four leaf clovers, flip flops, sea shells, and lights with your college name on them.

If you like animals or other creatures, you can find dogs, fishes, bears, moose, turkeys, horses, pigs, cows, bats, spiders, alligators, cardinals, butterflies, and of course, pink flamingos.

Drink and food include hot peppers, pears, peppermint candies, cupcakes, Popsicles, pizza, wine bottles, cocktails and beer mugs.

For the non-Christian, there are menorahs, Star of David, and Hanukkah lights.

Brand name lights may include Elmo, Peanuts (Charlie Brown), M&M’s, Hello Kitty, Sesame Street, Coca Cola, Budweiser, Betty Boop and even Elvis!

Sports minded people may like their tree decorated with basketball, football, soccer, baseball, ballet, fishing, life vests or sailboats.

Lights that cater to your personal activities or hobbies include cowboy boots, assortment of tools, red tractor, bullets, firemen trucks, firemen hats, campers and luau related.

As you can see, it is possible to give some pizazz to your Christmas tree and show off your personal interests or hobbies at the same time.

To read about the beginning of Christmas tree lighting and the latest and greatest lighting, LED’s, see our article, "Christmas Tree Lights From Candles to LED".

History of Christmas Tree Lights

It is no surprise that the famous inventor, Thomas Edison, hung strings of electric lights in 1880, the year after he invented the incandescent light bulb.  Edward H. Johnson, a friend of Thomas Edison, was the first person known to use electric Christmas lights in a home.  These lights did not become widespread right away due to their cost and the expense to have an electrician install them.

Sometime around 1917, Albert Sadacca (as legend goes) asked his family, who owned a novelty business, to manufacture affordable strings of lights.  Sales were slow at first but as more people embraced household electricity, stringing Christmas lights around the tree became more common.

Improvements in Christmas Lights

Once upon a time we all had to deal with the old-style Christmas light bulbs.  They were huge, had thick cords, generated heat, came in limited colors, and you couldn’t link them together.  In the 60’s, mini lights became the rage but if one bulb blew you had to check each bulb (out of 25-50) to locate the bad one.  The next big improvement allowed one bulb to burn out while the rest remained lit.  

During the last few years, LED (light- emitting diode) lights have become the rage.  They are smaller, yet burn brighter.  They don’t get hot so you can combine many strings together.  This also allowed LED’s to be permanently wired on a fake tree so you never had to install or remove the lights each year.  In addition, they come in many colors, shapes, and sizes.

Last, but not least, LED lights use a fraction of the electricity the old lights used.  Since they have been out a few years now, their cost has dropped significantly.

You can find out more information on LED’s from this article “LED Christmas Lights”.

Mother always said presentation was just as important as the food, and having a great looking table puts everyone in a festive mood.  An easy method is to start with a solid color tablecloth, then place a lace tablecloth or 2 lace runners on top of the solid tablecloth so the solid color shows through.  Next, lay a runner down the center, perhaps in a festive Christmas design that coordinates with the bottom solid tablecloth.  You could even lay down runners the short length of the table and use them as placemats.

For the centerpiece, make sure it is not so tall as to obstruct each other’s views.  Inserting battery powered LED lights into centerpieces has become popular because there are no cords getting in the way, they remain cool to the touch, and are small so can be easily hidden.  Tables where the food or desserts may be served buffet style can be decorated with clear vases or bowls filled with colorful ornaments.  

Kids are usually hyperactive the closer you get to Christmas, so keeping them busy benefits both parents.  Have the kids help in decorating name cards, filling Christmas favors, or posting pictures of each person by their place.  Children could also fold napkins and set the table with silverware, or roll the silverware in a Christmas napkin, then secure it with ribbon. You may like the look and festivity of placing candles on every table and lighting them just as people are sitting down.

Most important, however, is to do the entire setup the day before the holiday, along with baking any desserts, and as much food preparation as possible.  This will take some stress off the holiday plus allow you time to buy anything you realized you were missing.

More ideas can be found in the article “Christmas Table Decorations”.

Holly and ivy have been used by Christians for Christmas decorations for centuries.  They look lovely in a centerpiece or a hurricane vase.  It is fairly easy to grow both of these to use for decorations, but they each have different requirements.

Holly

The holly plant is a dramatic expression of the traditional Christmas colors, filled with red berries contrasted against the dark green leaves.  However, keep away from children or pets, as eating the red berries can cause vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea.  Winterberry is the holly that is native to the United States.

Plant the holly in acidic soil topped with peat moss, keep moist and place in direct, natural sunlight.  The female is the one that grows the berries which usually last from late fall to early winter.   Holly comes in various sizes and leaf types and English Holly is the one we are most familiar with in the United States.

Ivy

Ivy leaves can vary in the size and color of their leaves.  Ivy grows best in a hanging basket, or on the edge of an object such as a table or window sill which permits the leaves to grow out and down.  Ivy plants do not like direct sunlight and will even grow where the light is poor.

You can start the plant with either seedlings or from a store-bought plant.  Ivy needs moist, but not wet soil, and will flourish in most any type of dirt.  You can add peat moss or compost to enrich the soil.  Use a plant food product once a week and grow in cool temperatures.  You can control the size of the plant by cutting the ends of the roots.  Both the berries and leaves are poisonous so keep out of reach of children and pets.

To learn how to grow Silver Artemis, Tarragon, and Wormwood plants to use in Christmas decorations, read our article “A Christmas Garden:  Grow Your Own Decorations”.

Many of us still like to go to the farm and cut down our own Christmas Tree.  More often though you may be purchasing your tree from a local stand set up in a business parking lot.  Either way, if you have a live tree you know how important it is to keep it watered, which can be a nuisance to do for an entire month.  But if you don’t keep your try moist, you risk fire from the lights on the tree and needles falling off in large quantities (which is why using a tree skirt is a great idea for clean-up).

When you return from buying your Christmas tree, immediately store the trunk in a bucket of water.  This will prevent the sap from coagulating at the base of the trunk, which prevents water from entering the trunk to keep it moistened.  Don’t forget to prop up your tree so it doesn’t fall over.  However, it is recommended to cut off at least ½ inch of the trunk before placing the tree in water to help the tree absorb enough water.

You can use the standard, less expensive tree holders which allow for water to be added, but is inconvenient if you don’t use some type of monitoring device (see below).  The stand should provide one quart of water for each inch of trunk diameter. Try to position your tree away from heat sources, which tend to increase the rate of drying.

Once in the stand, be careful to keep the tree trunk under water.  Sometimes there may be water in the pan, but it is not providing water to the trunk since it is not submerged.  In the first week, a tree in your home will consume as much as a quart of water per day!

There are many water monitoring devices available on the market.  You can buy a simple sensor that beeps when the water level is to low to a variety of reservoirs.  One that we liked only costs $9.99 and uses your own 2 liter pop bottle to fill with water. You tip the filled bottle over and place in the base which has a hose that runs to the tree base.  It will keep 2” of water in the tree stand as long as you can see water in the soda bottle.

For more detailed instructions from the National Christmas Tree Association and information on several more reservoirs, read the article titled “Christmas Tree Watering Tips”.

One way to keep kids from driving you crazy at this time of year is to get them involved in Christmas decorating or other holiday projects.  Make decorating the Christmas tree a family project and have the kids make homemade ornaments and gifts. There are kits at craft stores you can buy, or you can buy pre-cut multi-colored strips and make a chain they can glue together to put around the Christmas tree.  Even if you need to buy colored paper and cut it yourself, this is an easy project and works especially well for young children who may not have a lot of coordination yet.  Using some of the fancy-edged scissors or unique papers found in the scrap booking department can add a little pizazz to your strips.

Give the kids a homemade ornament project: Spray different colors of spray paint on top of a bucket of water (in the garage, without the cars inside!).  Do not stir or mix the paint.  Use stiff wire to run through the top of white ball ornaments and then dip the ornament into the water several times.  Hang the ornament over a plastic drop cloth and allow to dry.  Continue to add different colors to the water to create unique ornaments with different colored swirls on each ornament.  To remove any paint color you no longer want to use, run a paper towel over the top of the water or on the side of the bucket. You can buy cardboard buckets in the paint department to eliminate clean-up.  Although bright colors are attractive, using black and gray or beige and brown together make beautiful ornaments and gifts.

A great gift idea for grandparents is to buy the glass drink coasters that hold pictures.  You could even have the kids take goofy pictures of themselves, then cut with safety scissors, and insert into the opening under the coaster.  These are usually on sale at department stores around the holidays.  

Children also love to help their parents bake cookies or desserts, and since many of these can be made ahead of time and frozen, it will save you some time as you get closer to Christmas.

Make an aroma-filled tabletop evergreen tree. To learn how, check out our article, “Family-Friendly Christmas Tree Table Centerpiece Project”.

Jennings Osborne , known for his extravagant Christmas light displays, passed away July 27, 2011 in Little Rock, Arkansas at age 67. A wealthy Arkansas philanthropist, who made his money from starting and selling a medical research facility, Osborne transformed his home into a 3.2 million-light festival every December.

His Christmas decorations and lights brought joy to as many as 30,000 visitors annually and snarled traffic around his house for miles. The local power company wound up assigning Osborne his own transformer after he darkened part of his neighborhood when turning on his display. Pilots stated they could see Mr. Osborne’s lighted house from 80 miles away! By 1993, the display grew to include over three million lights, two 80-foot Christmas-tree-shaped masts, a calliope, a carousel, a steam engine driven by Mickey Mouse, and a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year sign in letters six feet high.

Despite purchasing homes on both sides of his to minimize the impact to neighbors, they filed a suit in 1993 stating that his decorations were a public nuisance. He lost the lawsuit and had to remove most of his decorations. The Walt Disney Company, wanting to continue Osborne’s tradition, sent four 18-wheelers to pick up more than 2 million lights. Many of his decorations still shine every Christmas season in Orlando as part of the “Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.” Below are pictures of his house and Disney World.