Themes – There are several options: You can use one single theme for your entire home or create a different theme for each room. How to do it? It all depends, certain families might prefer one colour that dominates all others, some a set of matching ornaments that appear all over the house.

Leave nothing untouched – How about bringing Christmas in to unusual spaces, such as the bathroom? It can be much fun to decorate unusual places. Don’t forget practical thinking – refrain from using materials such as paper or water paint in wet areas and watch for places that produce heat – I’m sure your home to be “burning with enthusiasm”.

The Christmas tree – If you opt for living trees, make sure you’re going to cut the stump with a fresh cut and put it in water immediately. You want to cut it diagonally, making the area of absorption larger. Set reminders and check the water level a couple times daily for the first week and refill if needed. If you have space in your home, it’s fun to put a tree in the smaller rooms as well. Get a mini-tree for the kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom, and get it to match with the theme of its surroundings.

Fake snow – Instant snow can be so much fun, it doesn’t melt and can produce many hours of joy.

The big snowman – Why not make a snowman right in your living room this time? You have two options – either you can use fake snow or paper, glue, a couple cheap inflatable balls and white textured paint. The rest is up to your imagination!

Lights – Instead of mimicing the presentation of a Christmas store, think about using lights with slow transitions and new colours that will accent the best features both outdoors and indoors as well. Often it’s just the matter of changing the light bulbs or use suitable coloured sheets.

Candles – Candles are an element which shouldn’t be missing from any Christmas decoration. The easiest way to make them more attractive and personal is to get blank candles of any colour and use three dimensional textured paint.

Christmas garland – Garland is one of the best tools to cover door frames, window frames and the edges of mirrors with. Don’t forget to secure the decorations with tape or something similar.

Reusing Christmas cards – You can cut out elements from Christmas cards, old or new, and put them on various items, such as curtains or tablecloth.

Bells – Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the bells. With ribbons, you can tie them together and knot at the top. Drape the bells over a door knob, this way they’ll ring every time as someone enters or leaves. Watch out, it might get a tiny bit irritating after a while!

As always, there are no limits for your imagination! Christmas is a great excuse to entirely change the feel of your home. It will not only bring a little variation but will affect you and your family’s mindset – which can result in stronger bounding and many wonderful memories that you will never forget.

MINIATURE “MINI” CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTS

Mini lights were introduced in the 1970’s as a solution to the excessive power consumed by C7 and C9 lights. Their lower wattage, brilliant sparkle and diversity make them an ever popular choice.

The quality of Christmas tree mini lights will dictate the life of the bulbs; the less expensive the string, the shorter the life. Inexpensive string lights only last about 300 hours, plan on replacing them every year. The better quality mini lights can last up 2,000 hours but will cost you more.

Most Christmas tree mini lights come in strands of 50 or 100 bulbs but other choices are available. Some string lights are designed to stay lit even if a bulb burns out (this is called “wired in parallel”). Be sure and replace the burned bulb promptly as the voltage to the remaining bulbs will increase and reduce the life of the string lights.

DECORATING WITH CHRISTMAS TREE MINI LIGHTS

The important thing to remember with incandescent Christmas tree lights is to never connect more than three strings together.

Mini lights are suitable for both indoor and outdoor decorating. They are mostly used in indoor trees, outdoor shrubs, around tree trunks, as window borders and as accents to other decorations. Basically anytime a large amount of small points of light are needed for the desired affect.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN C7 and C9 LIGHTS

C7 and C9 bulbs are generally considered traditional outdoor Christmas lights. Their large size makes them easily visible and bright.

The difference between C7 and C9 bulbs is mainly the size of the bulb and the wattage. They are available in either 2,000 hour life (120V) or 3,000 hour life (130V). C7 light bulbs are about 2 inches while C9 light bulbs are about 3 inches. The wattage varies anywhere from 3.5 watts up to 10 watts depending on the bulb size.

C7 and C9 lights use screw type sockets so bulb replacement is easy.

DECORATING WITH C7 & C9 LIGHTS

Because these lights are large, they make an excellent choice for decorating large outdoor trees and shrubs, building perimeters, fences or anywhere that a “classic” holiday look is desired.

Once again, you can only connect up to three strings together at once.

ROPE LIGHTS

Rope lights are the “new kid on the block” in holiday light choices. Essentially rope lights are just mini lights encased in a PVC jacket. There are a multitude of colors available and a variety of lengths making them an easy and affordable choice. Retail stores generally sell them in lengths of 3, 6 and 8 feet. Rope lights can also be purchased in spools of 50 and 150 feet for larger projects. Rope lights sold in spools can be field cut at 3 or 6 foot intervals for custom looks and designs.

DECORATING WITH ROPE LIGHTS

Rope lights are an excellent choice for creating figures, designs and as accents for walkways, handrails and borders. Their flexibility makes them perfect for creating shapes like snowmen, reindeer, wreaths and the like. They are limited only by your imagination.

One thing to note with rope lights is that if one bulb burns out, then a section anywhere from 3 to 6 feet will also burn out. If you have a long continuous run you can splice in a new length. If you’ve purchased short lengths then the entire rope light will have to be replaced.

The quality of the rope light will determine its dependability, so as you evaluate your choices bear in mind that the less expensive rope lights may have to be replaced much sooner than their more expensive counterparts.

Decorating with lights is the most effective way to create a festive atmosphere any time of the year. We’re all accustomed to seeing Christmas lights in the winter and Halloween lights in fall, but string lights can be used for any special occasion. Select the right string lights for your project and you’ll be pleased with the brilliance and sparkle they give to any holiday or event.