Christmas Decorations Salute the Gingerbread House

Christmas decorations are a true staple of the holiday season, positioned side by side with the Christmas tree. But many times we post so many pictures of awesome Christmas trees and lighted houses, that we fail to honor the beloved craft of the gingerbread house. Gingerbread houses are edible Christmas decorations that are painstaking to create and an absolute pleasure to behold. The skill that is used in creating gingerbread houses is not bestowed upon just anyone, and often gingerbread houses become the main focal point of a home. Kids love to imagine eating the candied walkways and windows, and adults admire the talent and time, reminiscing childhood storybook memories.

To find a gingerbread house recipe, simply search online or open any holiday recipe book. Days, sometimes weeks of work, get put into the most impressive gingerbread houses of the season. Below are some of the gingerbread houses we tip our hat to. These are gingerbread houses with Christmas decorations!

LED Christmas Lights Keep Decor Cool

LED Christmas lights are a great way to make a local and global impact this year. Besides the huge energy savings, LED Christmas lights also stay cool to the touch for as long as they are on. There is never a fear that placing LED lamps on a table cloth or through a garland might lead to fire, and children will never burn their fingers when they touch the LED bulbs.

How do LED Christmas lights stay cool to the touch? There is a lot of detailed informative specifications regarding Led Light Bulbs, but the basics are that LED Christmas lights use approximately 90% less wattage than incandescent lights, resulting in a reduction in heat. Incandescent lights use 80-90% of their power just in heating the bulb hot enough to shine a bright light. LED light displays can stay on all day long and continue to stay cool through the evening. Use LED Christmas lights to highlight signs, wrap tables, thread through centerpieces and wreaths, and dangle from walls and ceilings. Live Christmas trees can be lit using thousands of LED lights and the bulbs will never heat up. LED lamps are also encase in acrylic plastic, leaving the bulbs virtually unbreakable.

Christmas at the North Pole

Christmas is a season that can be drawn out to last forever for young children. Kids have big eyes that are just lit with excitement all season long. Parents often look high and low for ways to indulge their happy children's fantasies through movies, stories, trips to visit Santa, and holiday concerts and plays. At NorthPole.com kids can email their wish lists to Santa, hear and read Santa stories, and even chat online with Santa. Puzzles, recipes, games and more all await kids and their parents. The Santa Tracker is up and running on Christmas Eve to track Santa's location as he travels across the world in his sleigh, delivering presents to sleeping children. The NorthPole.com even provides a Good Deed Calendar for parents to keep track of their wild child's behavior.

Advent and musical Christmas decorations are another festive way to keep kids excited all season long. Advent calendars count down to December 25th, often revealing either a holiday tip, small gift, musical elf, or piece of candy behind each door. Traditional Christmas music can be played through animated decorations that children can turn on and off easily, and front lawns are lit with bright red and green lights.

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Outdoor Christmas Decorations

Outdoor Christmas decorations add excitement and a thrill to the holiday season. Everyone loves to drive by the houses that are well lit with Christmas lights, and lawns that are decorated with nativities, candy canes, animated elves and Santa. Some neighborhoods are cooperative in their decorating efforts, striving to present the best display for visitors to drive by and slow down in admiration. Others are passionate, wanting to represent every aspect of the holiday in their small front yard, or to hang snowflakes from every branch on the property. From elegant and clean to colorful and wild, everyone loves a good display.

Ideas in outdoor Christmas decorations include lining walkways and driveways with light stakes, mini Christmas trees, or walkway candy canes. Net lights are great for bushes, starlight spheres and snowflakes look best handing from bushes and trees, and trunk wraps cover entire tree trunks with light. Santa, snowmen, penguins, and other festive motifs are excellent for attracting squeals of delight from children, and can be placed anywhere on the lawn. Many outdoor nativity sets are available for spiritual decorations, ranging from Italian Fontanini to Peanuts. Classic greenery includes wreaths on windows, doors, and fence posts.

Add some light to your life with these festive Christmas homes!

Using Christmas Mini Lights in Crafts

Christmas mini lights are used all year in crafts and decorating projects. Mini lights can be purchased in strands as short as 7' and as long as 75', as well as battery operated. Battery operated lights offer extra freedom, for use on centerpieces, floral arrangements, and more. For extended battery use, choose longer lasting LED battery operated lights.

One novel craft idea is to use mini lights in empty wine bottles, and decorate for kitchens and parties. Colleen Hendley of Cumming, Georgia uses clear mini lights in various colored wine bottles to create unique accent pieces that can be given as gifts or used in the home. Adding decorative grapes, fabrics, and characters keeps each wine bottle an artistic pleasure.

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Pre-Lit Christmas Trees for Your Holiday Cabin Retreat

R Neck of the Woods Cabin
North Georgia Mountains

Pre-Lit Christmas Trees are the perfect decorative touch to Christmas cabin retreats. Many families and couples choose the quiet mountain solace of a log cabin for their Christmas holiday vacations, and adding a Christmas tree transforms a beautiful cabin retreat into a magical Christmas cabin. It is important, however, to choose the right tree for the perfect cabin environment.

The TruTip Canadian Fir prelit artificial Christmas tree is my recommendation as that perfect tree. The 4.5'H tree would be the best choice - it would take up only a small amount of space, and can be decorated with many less ornaments. These are important factors when spending the holidays away from home. It can be very difficult to pack and unpack the large amount of ornaments it would take to adorn a taller tree, and many families choose to still put up their trees at home, even if they plan on traveling Christmas Day. A taller tree also fits in a much larger box or storage bag, so trying to pack the tree itself is much more difficult if the tree is large. Cabins are often professionally decorated, and it may be difficult to find room to put up a 7.5' or 9' tree. Choosing a 4.5' tree allows less ornaments to be packed, and less room to be used.

Canadian Fir Tip Detail

The Canadian Fir is prelit with clear mini lights for a festive glow, which eliminates the hassle of wrapping strings around the tree. The Canadian Fir carries the TruTip trademark, which promises the most realistic and natural looking tips and needles by using PE and PVC construction. Its trunks and branches are covered with imitation bark, giving the tree an elegant and rustic quality. If you are dreaming of a holiday cabin retreat this year, don't forget to bring along the perfect Christmas tree to complete your dream vacation. With Christmas Day falling on a Saturday this year, cabin rentals will get reserved quickly, so don't wait too late!

Brown Bear Bungalow Cabin
Blue Sky Cabin Rentals, North GA Mountains