Christmas Decorations that Make an Impression

Christmas decorations are one of the best parts of the holiday seasons. From waving Santas to colorful LED fields of light, homeowners love to show off their personalities through holiday decorating. Everyone loves Christmas decorations, whether elegant and tasteful or a yard filled with every decoration that still works. Below are a few that have caught our eye:

Previewing these images brings to mind the importance of understanding Christmas power consumption to keep from experiencing a Griswold Christmas lighting. Many of these infamous decorators will surely be switching to LED lights if they have not already, both for visual impact and because more lights can be put together - sometimes as many as 125 sets! A quick calculation for power requirements is as follows, taking on the example that we are working with 100 5-watt bulbs:

100 bulbs x 5watts = 500 watts

500 watts / 120 volts = 4.17 amps

Again, read through the Christmas power consumption article to get detailed information on determining power needs for all your Christmas decorations and lighting projects.

The Stunning Works Of The Ornament Girl

Well Christmas is coming up and products are flying off the shelf as people prepare their place for the most beloved holiday of the year. I was doing some shopping off of our site for some unique gifts and I came across The Ornament Girl during my web travels. Now most of you know that we at Christmas Lights ETC have a wide range of Christmas Ornaments, but sometimes a unique ornament makes for a perfect gift.

We don't mind sharing a little product love to the amazing and talented people out there and Staci from The Ornament Girl deserves a lot of credit. I couldn't get her Christmas themed ornaments off my mind which sparked the urge to write this post. Take a look at some of the unique and highly detailed ornaments which would make for the perfect gift.

Christmas Decorations - Top Performers

When it comes to Christmas decorations, there are always the top performers. Some consumers are only looking for these top performers - the very best, the creme de la creme, the ultimate in quality, appearance, function, and girth. How many ways can it be said? They simply want the best. So which decorations make the grade? Using a hands-on approach, my personal top recommendations in Christmas decorations that make the grade are as follows:

Garland Lights

These garland lights are available in 9' and 18' lengths, for use over doors or railings. Hundreds of mini lights are tightly and neatly wound together to create this spectacular garland light.

Canadian Fir Christmas Tree

The Canadian Fir Christmas tree is a Red Sleigh tree featuring TruTip technology. Absolutely breathtaking artificial Christmas tree with PE/PVC tips and needles for the most realistic feel and color. The Canadian Fir has imitation bark wrapped trunks, short needles, and is just a pleasure to behold. From the adorable 4.5' tree to the 9' tree, the Canadian offers plenty of room for ornaments, is prelit with clear lights, and has a high tip count.

LED Battery Operated Lights

LED battery operated lights are just a must-have all around. The wide angle LED lights cast bright light in all directions, while the bulb size is actually only a small 5mm conical shape. LED technology reduces energy requirements by 80-90%, allowing for less battery changes and smaller battery packs.

Animated Elf and Stocking with Controller

Animated motifs are fun Christmas decorations. This particular item is the Animated Elf and Stocking with Controller, which is a rope light motif in a strong frame for outdoor use. Place this 4'H motif into the ground using the included stakes, and watch with joy as the elves work together to carry gifts up to the stocking.

Starlight Spheres

Starlight spheres are amazing balls of light. Spheres are available in sizes from 6" - 10" in numerous colors. Some spheres even twinkle and shimmer for a celestial appearance. Spheres can be used in so many ways. Hang them from rooftops and ceilings, nestle them in hedges, or place in Christmas trees for use as lighted ornaments. Starlight spheres make quite an outdoor Christmas decoration, and are often used at parties as well.

Walkway Christmas Trees

Walkway Christmas trees can be used along walkways and driveways, or placed into pots and used at entryways. Prelit with clear or multi color lights, and available 2' or 3' high, walkway Christmas trees offer great landscape appeal.

Harvest Gold Garland

Harvest Gold Garland is a thick and heavy garland with gold tipped needles. Loaded with pine cones, gold leaves, apples and pears, this garland is part of the Harvest Gold collection, which also includes potted trees and decorative wreaths.

LED Battery Operated Wreath

LED battery operated wreaths are a very exciting product addition for 2009. One of the biggest complaints people have regarding prelit wreaths centers around the constant battery changes. LED lights, as mentioned above, use 80-90% less energy, allowing for fewer battery changes, and offer brighter light with fewer bulbs. Battery operated wreaths are great in general because there are no wires to conceal, and the wreaths can be placed virtually anywhere and look perfect.

Poinsettia Glass Candle Holders

Christmas candle holders help to create ambiance within the dining rooms and living areas of a home. This set of 3 Poinsettia Glass Candle Holders can hold candles up to 4" in diameter. Red and green painted crackled glass casts light in numerous directions, and the stems are thick and strong. Candle heights are 12"H, 14"H, and 16"H - these are big and elegant.

Musical Holiday Advent House

The Musical Holiday Advent House is a Christmas advent house that lights up and plays music. Hidden within the advent house is a wheel holding ornaments, and each day the doors open, music plays, and a new ornament is offered. Adults and children alike love these houses.

48" Standing Grapevine Reindeer

Grapevine reindeer are carefully constructed out of real grapevines, creating elegant and rustic outdoor Christmas animals. 200 clear lamps light up the night, creating a tranquil vision. Numerous grapevine reindeer are available, including sitting and drinking fawns.

ChristmasLighstEtc.com offers thousands of high quality products, from artificial Christmas trees to candles and card holders. Top performers are items that fly out of the warehouse, get professionally photographed by customers across the country, receive rave reviews, and truly stand the test of time.

Top 10 Christmas Decorations on a Budget

Christmas sales and budget shopping is top of mind to many families this year. While some homes will be enjoying the rich life, decking the halls and basking in the glow of towering 14' artificial Christmas trees while hosting extravagant fancy Christmas parties, other homes will be grasping tightly to the purse strings, and trying to combine festive holiday cheer with reduced incomes and tighter budgets. Now more than ever, it is essential for so many people to make sure their money is being invested rather than spent, and every purchase must make the grade in beauty, quality, and affordability.

6.5' Pre-Lit Cumberland Fir Tree

1. When selecting the Top 10 Christmas Decorations on a Budget, we must start with one of the staples of holiday decorating: the Christmas tree. This is also the same item that many consumers will make a mistake on. Choose a high quality, attractive sale Christmas tree like the Pre-Lit Cumberland Fir, which is priced at an amazing sale price of $159.95 with free shipping.

Sequoia Christmas Wreath

2. Artificial Christmas wreaths are a much better investment than live wreaths, and will last for many years. Choosing smaller 24" wreaths can save hundreds of dollars depending on how you use your wreath. If you want a single wreath for your front door, the pre-lit Sequoia Fir Wreath with 50 lamps will run full retail at $34.95. Some people like to put an unlit wreath in every front window of their home, and attach red bows.

Wireless Christmas Candle

3. Much less expensive than a wreath in every window is a single candle. Christmas candles can start as low as this 8.5" Wireless battery Operated Candle with Stand, which has a sale price of only $2.50 per candle at present. Picking up a nice quantity of these candles provide endless decorating possibilities. Aside from just using in windows, these Christmas candles can be placed on mantles, nestled in with garland and used as centerpieces. These are a great buy, and last approximately 20 hours per battery change, which is much longer than the typical 8 hours. Save on product and on battery costs

48" Christmas Tree Skirt

4. Christmas tree skirts without intricate beading or stitching are much less in price, and keep in mind that a smaller tree skirt is more affordable than a large 58" skirt. If you keep your tree small, then keep your skirt small as well. This 48" Christmas tree skirt is velvet with an ornament applique, and costs only $41.99 at full retail.

Clear Mini Lights

5. Mini lights are always a great buy. Choosing a 100 count light set of premium grade indoor/outdoor mini lights often runs at less than $10 per light set. Most mini lights will only last for so many years, or they get damaged by poor storage and neglect, so replacing lights is often a necessity every few years.

Red C7 LED Christmas Lights

6. LED Christmas lights are all the rage these days, due to their extremely long life spans of 50,000 to 100,000 hours of use, their energy savings of 80-90%, and their cool-to-the-touch safety, but initial costs can be a deterrent for some shoppers. For anyone looking to switch to LED Christmas lights this year but hesitant due to price, red LED lights are the least expensive LED color on the market, and multicolor LED lights aren't too far behind. Choose a colorful LED light, and stay away from the Pure White LEDs if looking to cut costs.

Cardinal Christmas Stockings

7.Big box retailers can really make it big off of consumers with small items like Christmas stockings. Christmas stockings should be strong enough to hang from your fireplace every season, and hold gifts inside. This beautiful cardinal stocking is roomy for gifts, has strong stitching through thick, soft fabric, and there is a coordinating red stocking available. This stocking is priced at only $7.99 per stocking - the lowest priced stocking on our website.

Whimsical Santa Statue

8. Outdoor Christmas decorations are available at low price points, but be aware of reduced quality. Sometimes lower costing decorations can't stand up to winter winds and heavy snow. This fiberglass Santa decoration lights up and can handle a long winter's night. Fun and popular, this outdoor Christmas decoration is currently priced to move. Reduced from $164.96, the 35.5" Illuminated Whimsical Santa is currently only $49.99! All budgets can enjoy that price.

Cardinal Candle Holders

9. These cardinal Christmas candle holders come two per pack and hold tea light candles for a decorative accent to any room or decor theme. For $15.99 for both candle holders, this is an attractive Christmas decoration that can be displayed year round.

Christmas Advent Calendar

10. Christmas advent calendars bring so much joy to children and spirited adults. Often retailers feed off of the parental desire to have an advent calendar for their kids by crafting priceless yet expensive advent keepsakes, or edible advent calendars that need to be purchased annually. This Santa advent calendar is priced at only $18.99 and can be used year after year, becoming a fond tradition in your family history. Additional advent calendars are also availabl with music and animation, and make excellent gifts to give families on tight budgets this year.

Above are the Top 10 Christmas Decorations on a Budget. Stock is at its best right now, before the real rush begins. Better prices can often be found as shopping season begins to end, and especially on Cyber Monday, which is the Internet's version of Black Friday. Cyber Monday always falls on the Monday immediately following Thanksgiving, and many websites offer absolutely insane deals, but often very time sensitive, sometimes by as much as only a few hours. Sign up for email alerts whenever shopping online, and always check back the week of Thanksgiving. Just keep in mind the most popular and often the best priced items will sell faster than the rest, so holding out in the hopes of saving a few more dollars may cause you to miss out on what you really want!

LED Christmas Lights on Houses

LED Christmas lights look perfect on houses, trees, rooftops, and down walkways and driveways. People are making the switch from traditional incandescent Christmas lights to LED Christmas lights every day, and the difference is immediate. LED Christmas lights are known for their energy savings - using as much as 80 - 90% less energy to light than incandescent bulbs. Fanatical Christmas decorators can take great joy at the reduction in energy bills each holiday, and LED Christmas lights have average life span of 50,000 - 100,000 hours, which when broken down seasonally can last a lifetime! LED bulbs are virtually unbreakable, and LED lights burn cool, allowing lights to be left on all day if desired.

LED Christmas lights cast a magnificent and brilliant color, and when used outdoors the difference is often very obvious. Cool whites have a strong icy appearance, warm whites have a soft romantic glow, and greens, reds, blues, and every other color shine so brightly that people can't help but to stop and admire.

LED Christmas lights are also available in numerous sizes, from tiny LEDs on ultra thin wires to large C9 bulbs. LED net lights, icicle lights, rope light, decorations, and even trees are available, allowing homes and businesses to transition completely to LED lighting for 2009. The LED Lights Guide can explain more about the technology behind LED Christmas lights, and also compares the different shapes of the bulbs.

Visit www.lindsaylights.com for more like the above

LED Snowfall Tubes

Blue LED Rope Light

Multicolor C7 LED Lights

Multicolor Wide Angle LED Lights

Pure White M5 LED Lights

Warm White M5 LED Lights

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.