Christmas Storage

While nearly everyone enjoys Christmas and the season, few look forward to the after Christmas cleanup and storing of all the Christmas decorations. Fortunately there are several options for storing your Holiday Decor that not only help protect your items but also make it much easier to pull them out and use them next year.

Personally I think Christmas Trees and Christmas Lights are two of the most difficult items to store properly, but I love this new Light Rack Christmas Light Storage Bag. It has two wheels so you just roll your lights up on them. Each wheel holds about 150 to 200 feet of lights depending on bulb size. Get a few of these and it’s no problem rolling up all those outside lights and then next year simply unrolling them to put them back up! Now for the Christmas trees there are a few options, but you have to decide, do you want to take your tree apart or leave it standing? If you want to leave it standing, you can use the TreeKeeper Artificial Christmas Tree Bag. With this storage bag you can even leave the decorations on if you want, but be careful what you store near the tree as you don’t want a pile of heavy boxes falling over and smashing all the ornaments as they hang on the tree. But if you want ease of storing your tree anywhere then the best option is to take it apart in sections and store it in a Large Artificial Christmas Tree Bag with wheels on one end making it easy to move. Garland can also be stored in these Canvas Artificial Christmas Tree Bags, either with the tree if there is room or in their own duffel bag.

With the big and difficult items out of the way it’s now time to store those ornaments and wrapping paper. My personal favorite is the Telescoping Christmas Ornament Storage Box, this one is great because you can have it right next to the tree and with it being telescoping the ornament tray is right there! It just makes it much easier to take the ornament off the tree and place it in the tray right there at waist high. Now for those that do not mind bending down to place their ornaments in something, you can use the Christmas Ornament Storage Bag where it sits on the floor or on a table and you can bend down to put the ornaments in the trays. And to store all the beautiful wrapping paper that you have left over I use the Christmas Wrapping Paper Storage. It holds your paper, bows and ribbons in one convenient storage bag, so you can find it all next year.

Lastly, and the easiest, it’s time to store those wreaths. There are typically 36 inch Christmas Wreath Bag and 48 inch Christmas Wreath Bag wreath storage bags. If you have smaller wreaths you can store several 24 inch wreaths in a 36 inch bag. And if you have a couple of 36 inch wreaths, rather than get two 36 inch bags you could get one 48 inch bag to hold them both. Now you have managed to store all your Holiday Decor quickly and effectively, so put this Christmas Storage in the attic, garage or shed and then sit down and have a nice cup of hot chocolate to reward yourself!
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Christmas Decorations

Christmas is the best time of the year. It’s the time to bring out all the decorations from Christmas Storage that you’ve accumulated over the years and a great excuse to go out and add some new ones too. I’ve found that each person is different in their decorating technique, some like to start outside and move in, while others like to start with the inside and move out. Myself, I’m the inside to the outside person and I like to start with the Christmas Tree. I love lights on the tree, but I hate putting them on the tree so I have an Imperial Fir Pre Lit Artificial Tree, the optimum word here is pre lit with about 800 lights on it so it looks really nice. Next I like to put some Pre Lit Northern Pine Garland on the mantle going behind the Chubby Nutcracker Stocking Holders which have to set at the front edge to hold the Stockings for Santa.

For the rest of the house I like to put Nutcrackers around the living and dining rooms and accented with some Battery Operated Candles which seem to fit in most candle stick holders. I like these candles because to turn them on you just push down on the top rather than pick them up and turn the switch on the bottom and being LED they last a very long time. Also on the dining room table I like to put some Battery Operated Lights in and around the centerpiece. Now for the front door, I like to use a Battery Operated Wreath so I don’t have to worry about cords getting smashed in the door or cords moving where someone might trip over them. In the entry way I have found that a small grouping of a two, three and four foot Pre Lit Alpine Display Trees adds a wonderful touch.

Now on to the outside, where Christmas Lights seem to be the first thing to go up around the house and trees. You have to decide if you want to Save some Green in the long run by going with LED Lights and lower that December electric bill now or go with the traditional Lights Strings. There is also the Nativity Scene to set up, with Nativity Figures and the Wooden Nativity Stable. Or you could go with some Large Decorations like the Illuminated Gift Boxes or the Gingerbread Boy or even the Illuminated Candy Cane.

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Christmas Ornaments

I love Christmas. Today with the world getting ever smaller, we have access to Christmas Ornaments and ideas from all over the world. As well as sending our own ideas for decorations to the rest of the world. So its time to pull those ornaments out of their Ornament Storage Boxes and use them!

One of my many favorite ornaments is the Glass Pickle. This ornament has a wonderful story about it, from a small region in Germany. The idea was that the Glass Pickle is to be hidden on the Christmas Tree last and the first child to find it on Christmas Eve receives an extra gift. Other favorites are Nutcracker Ornament Sets, these usually come four to six in a set. They can be hung on the tree or placed around a center piece or really anywhere around the house to add that extra festive mood. Theres even Wooden Namecard Holder Nutcrackers for the dinner table.

Shatterproof ornaments have also come along ways in just the last couple of years. They are made of a durable plastic, and Shatterproof ornaments can look as well as a hand-blown glass ornament, with the added bonus of not shattering and sending glass shards throughout the room. They also come in as many different styles as the glass ones, from Santa, Snowmen and Nutcrackers to Trains, Airplanes and Lava Balls.

But the one sure thing to always bring out the Christmas spirit is Christmas Lights. Wither you use the energy saving  LED Lights, or the long lasting LED minis or LED C7’s or the more traditional Candle Tip Clear or the regular C7, they all light up a child’s face. There are also Battery Operated Candles which can be used to decorate the house or used with Large Decoration, where you could place the candle in the hands of Nativity Figures or around a Nativity Scene. I still drive thru neighborhoods where most of the houses are decorated with lights, where each street has a theme and you cant help but feel the peace of the season.
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Shatterproof Ornaments

Over the years ornaments have really grown into their own art like the Glass Pickle Ornament, there are beautiful hand crafted ornaments, glass that is hand painted or hand blown glass shaped into a variety of ornaments. While all of these can look exquisite, they all have one thing in common, they break! And not only do they break, they can explode, sending shards of glass into every corner of a room. With most adults it’s not a problem, but for anyone with young children you only have 2 options. Option 1, put a fence around the Christmas tree, while this does keep the children away from the tree it also has the effect of losing you the parent of the year award. Option 2 means leaving the nice, breakable ornaments in their protective boxes until the children are old enough to pay for broken items or have moved out of the house.

But now there is a third option. Shatterproof Ornaments have come a long ways. No longer are they merely a dull plastic bulb, now they come in hundreds of shapes and sizes and looks.  There are ones with glitter and classic glossy and snowmen and nutcrackers and even trains! Now you can show off the beautiful, the cute, and the exquisite ornaments for all to see and enjoy.

Now while Shatterproof means what it says in that the ornament won’t shatter or explode into a thousand pieces across your room, it does not mean unbreakable! Shatterproof ornaments are made of durable plastic. While some of the shatterproof ornaments might bounce and not break, this is more of an exception than the rule. As even if it didn’t break once time, it might break the next time it’s dropped. But if or when it does break, that’s all it does, it simply breaks and the pieces stay close at hand. Then the real family fun begins, seeing who can glue the pieces back together again with the least amount of line and glue showing.
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The Nativity

The Nativity refers to the birth of Jesus Christ as it is written in the Gospels of the New Testament and various other writings.

In the Gospel of Matthew and of Luke of the New Testament we find detailed accounts of the birth of Jesus Christ. These Gospels both tell the story that Jesus was born of Mary who was given to be married to Joseph and that he was a descendant of King David. They also tell of his heavenly conception, that an angel of the Lord appeared to Mary to tell her that she was to be the mother of the savior of the world. All this while she was a young maid soon to be wed to Joseph. Once Joseph found out Mary was with child, he was going to call off the wedding, but an angel of the Lord told him that Mary was carrying the Messiah and for him to go thru with the wedding, both were obedient to the word of the Lord.

At Christmas time many people show their remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ by having Nativity re-enactments which helps to show that they believe Jesus is the Christ, the God of the Old Testament and the Messiah of the world. All this is done during the celebration of Christmas to reinforce that Jesus is the reason for the season! Jesus gave his life for all of us, so during the celebration of his birth people give gifts to others in remembrance of his gift to all of us.

Nativity Scene

The Nativity scene is a portrayal of the birth of Jesus Christ as it was given in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament. Nativity scenes can be small and simple or large and elaborate or even living nativity scenes, which use real people. The minimum nativity scene would have baby Jesus, his mother Mary and Joseph, they can be in a stable, cave or free standing. Many individuals like to make it a bit larger, by adding some animals that might have been in the stable and by adding other people mentioned in the Gospels, like the magi, shepherds and angels.

The first known Nativity scene was a living scene to help inspire devotion to Jesus Christ, it was created by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1223. The idea quickly caught on and soon communities all over Europe were setting up Nativity scenes. Today many of the figures are made of resin or fiberglass, which are placed in a Large Nativity Stable.
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Halloween

Halloween is a holiday that is celebrated every year on the last day of October. While today it is mainly a commercial or secular holiday it seems that its origins come from the Christian holiday All Saints Day and the Celtic, summers end celebration.

Today Halloween celebrations include a variety of activities, such as wearing costumes like a Witch to parties or while trick or treating. Others go to haunted houses or stay home and watch scary movies or carve pumpkins into jack o lanterns. While for others its all about the chance to decorate for another holiday.

History
While many people believed that Halloween began with festivals from ancient Rome or festival of the dead, which is held in several countries, it is mostly attributed to a Celtic festival called Samhain, which means end of summer. Briton had a similar festival that celebrated the end of the lighter half of the year and marking the start of the darker half of the year.

The ancient Celts thought that on the day of the end of summer festival, that the border between this world and the next became thin, this allowed good and bad spirits to pass through from the other side. This meant that bad or evil spirits had to be warded off which led to people wearing costumes and masks, making yourself appear as a bad spirit to blend in so they would not attack you. But good spirits or those of ancestors were invited home and honored. These festivals were also the time to make sure you had enough supplies for the coming winter months. 
Today the name Halloween comes from the Old English era, with many of the traditions having been added to from ancient days to modern times.

Origin of name 

The term Halloween is first recorded to have appeared in the sixteenth century and seems to have been a variant of the older term All Hallows Eve which is the night before All Hallows Day. The All Hallows Day is a direct tie in to the All Saints Day, where those who have passed on are praised for their good lives and good works.

Halloween Decorations 

Today a lot of research has been conducted, using many surveys in the United States and found that today 53.3 percent of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween. They were also expected to spend more than $5 billion in costumes and decorations, up significantly from just $3.3 billion the previous year.

Every year people all across the country will decorate their yards as well as their homes for Halloween. Thousands or Pumpkins are sold every year. Children and adults alike look forward to activities such as carving the pumpkin, putting up the Orange and Black Halloween Lights, making spider webs from rolls of cotton or hanging Witches that Fly and Cackle. These are just a few of the more traditional types of Halloween Decorations. There are many more available in stores and online. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. See more at Holiday Home Decor.

Saving Green by Going Green

The incandescent light bulb has changed very little since its creation well over a hundred years ago. They are still a glass bulb with a thin filament inside, where it is either a vacuum or has inert gas, an electric current is sent through the filament making it hot enough to produce light. Unfortunately while they are inexpensive to produce they are very inefficient, having roughly 90 percent of the electricity it consumes emitted as heat instead of light and generally lasting only around seven months. 

To help cut energy demands as well as cut green house gas emissions worldwide, many countries in the last decade have passed new energy bills to phase out the use of inefficient incandescent bulbs. Some countries started as early as 2005, the EU began phasing the 100 watt bulb out in 2009, you can still use these bulbs but they are no longer sold in the EU. The US is planning to start this in 2012 under an energy billed signed into law by President Bush in 2007 called the Energy Independence and Security Act.

Even though energy efficient bulbs may cost four times as much or more as an incandescent bulb, they last many times longer and usually pay for themselves in just four to five months from the energy saved. There are a number of new energy saving light bulbs out, with the compact fluorescent lamp and the LED lamp being two of the most popular. 

While Holiday lights are not in danger of being phased out, why would you want to spend money every year for new bulbs when you could buy LED bulbs that would typically last many years and the savings in your electric bill would typically pay for them in the first year of use!

Why would you want to spend money every year replacing burned out Incandescent Christmas Light bulbs? There are many LED Christmas Lights that will last many years and the savings in your electric bill could pay for them in the first year of use! Check out the different types of LED Mini Christmas Lights, LED C7 Light Sets and even LED C9 Christmas Lights.

 

C7 Multi Colored Super Mini Light Caps

Super Mini Light Sets are the only mini lights with the interchangeable cap system. With the Super Mini Lights and decorative C7 Super Mini Light caps you have the flexibility to create your own unique decorative lighting effects.
The C7 Super Mini Light caps are the same size and shape as a C7 bulb. Mixing them with the Super Mini Lights adds a very unique effect to your Holiday Lighting.
Add clear Super Mini Lights to any Christmas Tree, Wreath or Garland. Then use the Super Mini Light Caps in all one color or any combination of colors to create your one of a kind Christmas Lighting. You can also use the Super Mini Lights and Caps to decorate doors and windows. Use your imagination.
Don't use them just at Christmas, use them year round especially on your patio! Create a spectacular Southwest design by adding red and green Super Mini Light Caps and string them around your patio. Complete the look by adding some Chile Pepper Light Ristras or a Red Chili Pepper Wreath.
Take a look at all our LED Light Christmas Light Sets and our Chili Pepper Lights.

LED Lights

In the beginning of light-emitting diode or LED manufacturing, steel diodes were the norm. Steel was cheap and plentiful, but it has the drawback of rusting. To stop the rust many companies began to coat the steel with a zinc compound and they began to look at other materials to stop rust. So today most manufacturers have moved away from using steel alone, some have gone to copper, but making LED’s is already more expensive than regular bulbs, so using copper which is very expensive adds a lot more to the cost. Copper does have the advantage of not rusting and being one of the most conductive materials on the planet. But there are many other metallic compounds that also do not rust and that are also great conductors and have the added bonus of not costing as much as copper.

Today LED lights are very popular, one of the main reasons is the energy savings as LED lights typically use less than one tenth that of an incandescent bulb even for battery operated candles. Another reason is that the color does not fade. With incandescent bulbs the bulb is painted and with time this can flake and or fade. But an LED emits the color that it’s supposed to be, while many have the bulb colored as well this does not affect it really. Since LED’s are like mini spotlights the cover for them tries to defuse the light for better visibility, as with a C7 or C9 many have a strawberry effect on the bulb to defuse the light, and on the mini’s they often use a convex or concave on top to help defuse the light to the sides more. So energy savings, bright true non fading colors and very long lasting are what helps to make LED’s so popular.
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Flameless Hand Held Candles

Candles have been around for thousands of years to help illuminate the dark. Anciently they were most often made of tallow or beeswax or some natural fat byproduct. Today candles are usually made with paraffin or resin and last much longer than the ancient candles did.

While candles can be scented and help create a certain ambiance they do have the drawback of having a flame on the top. Candles with flames are a leading source of residential fires in the U.S., homes and churches have burned down due to these candle flames. So today there are flameless candles that usually use a Light Emitting Diode or LED as the light source. LED’s are far safer than an open flame or even an incandescent bulb as they generate no heat, so even touching the LED is safe. Because of there being safer many churches and schools are encouraging people to use them to lessen the chance of starting a fire.

Now there are several different types Flameless Hand Held Candles, some are sealed and meant to be thrown away once the battery dies, even though the LED bulb is still good.  Better quality Flameless Hand Held Candles allow the batteries to be replaced, extending the use of the candle. Some Flameless Hand Held Candles have a twist cap on the bottom where you twist the cap and the batteries fall out. Better quality Flameless Hand Held Candles have the batteries in a cradle that fits inside, so you can pull the cradle out of the cover casing and easily replace the batteries. With proper care your Flameless Hand Held Candles can last a long time. These Quality LED Choir Candles are perfect for churches, for choirs, for schools having graduations, as even small children can hold them without getting burned!

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A History of Nutcrackers

The term nutcracker is used to describe a device that is used to crack nuts. The earliest use of the term nutcracker in English seems to date around 1481, eleven years before Columbus sailed for the new world.

Since the 1400’s Nutcrackers have taken on the form of kings, soldiers and knights carved out of wood. Originally these Nutcrackers actually worked to crack open nuts but today they are merely ornamental, a favorite decoration at Christmas time.

It appears that the carving of wooden Nutcrackers started as a cottage industry in rural areas of Germany that were heavily wooded. For many of those craftsmen it was a way to supplement their incomes. Today it has grown out of the cottage and into a full industry. Many people travel to Germany just to watch a master hand carve a nutcracker and then look to buy and collect them. While many of the more famous hand carved Nutcrackers like Steinbach come from Germany, China mass produces many of the replicas at a fraction of the cost. This has helped to make Nutcrackers more appealing and assessable to a wider population.

Come to Holiday Home Decor to see all of our Nutcrackers.