Click Here for great deals on traditional bulbs or specialty lighting such as icicles, flickering lights and bubble lights.

Click Here for great deals on LED lights in all shapes and sizes!

On a tight budget? Click Here for wholesale prices on traditional lights, LED lights, mini lights, commercial grade lights and more.

Here are a few simple things you should consider before purchasing Christmas tree lights…

~The first thing to look for are lights that are UL rated for your purposes, indoor or outdoor use.   Pretty simple, it will be  stated right on the packaging or advertisement.

~Now, decide on your color scheme.  Are you going with an all white-light elegant look or the cheerful multi-colored lights?

~Next, do you prefer steady lights, blinking lights, or the option to change settings?  There are light sets available with a whole range of functions from quick blinking, slow blinking, trailing, flickering and so on.  If you prefer steady lights make sure you have that option as well.

~Finally, are you on the LED bandwagon?  LED lights will cost you more up front but they are definitely worth the investment.  I don’t know about you but I have spent plenty of money on inexpensive, traditional light sets only to have them in the garbage after a season or two. I do not consider that saving money.

LEDs  offer amazing efficiency so if you use a large amount of lighting throughout your house your electric bill will benefit from the investment.  Also, LED bulbs last an incredibly long time.   Some claim 50,000 – 200,000 hours!  They do not get hot so they are safer, especially around children.  And the biggest benefit….if one bulb goes out it does not affect the entire strand!!!!! That alone is worth its weight in gold, isn’t it?!

If you can’t afford to jump into LED lighting with both feet then consider just purchasing a set or two every year to get you started.    But, if you are combining LED and conventional lights  limit yourself to 3 strands connected together or you could blow a fuse.  If you are using only LED lights then you can connect up to 20 strands together – just be sure they are all LED.

Happy Lighting!

By the way, if you see this gift icon it means that the website being mentioned is a great place to find the perfect christmas gift for a loved one OR yourself!!

Here are the best places to shop online for your ornaments…

Blown-Glass Christmas Ornaments

Blown glass is a long time favorite for christmas ornaments.  They are delicate and elegant and capture the light from your tree to make a truly beautiful effect.  Glass ornaments are not just limited to ball ornaments.  As you can see here, glass can be made to capture just about any character and come out looking beautiful.

*Ornament Shop – this site offers a large variety of unique glass ornaments.  Better yet, they will personalize any ornament for you.

*BestOrnaments – a large selection of hand crafted glass ornaments including the exclusive and difficult to find Tannenbaum Treasures and many more all backed by high standards of customer service.  This is where you will find unique and individual designs that you can hand pick for your own personal collection.  Best Ornaments uses top quality artisans from Austria, Poland and Germany as well as importing collectibles from Europe.  Only the best at this site.

*ChristmasDecorations&GiftsStore – here you will find lower prices on an enormous selection of glass ornaments.  You can pick from individual ornaments or packages of matching ornaments.

*Ornaments To Remember -  artisan crafted in Europe and probably the most unique blown- glass ornaments you will find anywhere.  If you have a favorite hobbie or passion chances are you will find an ornament to represent it at this site.  Highest level of customer satisfaction policies and they donate their profits to The Learning Community.  Excellent site for finding a unique gift!

Miniature Christmas Ornaments

Miniature christmas trees are an awesome way to express your creativity.  Everything from spices in the kitchen tree to bows and soaps in the bathroom tree, even the kids can have a miniature tree of their own to express themselves with.  You will not find any shortage of miniature ornaments for every mini tree in your home - take a look…

*HookedOnHallmark - a huge selection of miniature keepsake ornaments from the well known and trusted people at Hallmark.  They even have their mini ornaments available from every year dating back to 1988 and at very reasonable prices.

*ChristmasDecorations&GiftsStore – a wide variety of minis available.  You’ll find lower prices here to accommodate a tight budget.  Many available as boxed sets.

*Bronners – Bronner’s in Frankenmuth, Michigan was founded in 1945 and is the world’s largest christmas store open year round.  They have been around for a while so they are of course no stranger to customer satisfaction.  Their online store offers a modest selection of miniature ornaments but their website is a  lot of fun to look around in.

*MiniChristmas – this site is all mini!  They have a fun selection of items, they even offer crocheted snowflakes and icicles and many other items you probably never knew existed in the world of miniatures.

Vintage/Antique/Collectible Christmas Ornaments

Vintage or antique ornaments set a unique tone to a tree.  They tell an amazing story of days gone by and spark reminiscence in the heart.  A wonderful addition to the spirit of christmas.  Collectible ornaments bring about the opportunity to set a christmas tradition.

*Christmas 4ever – high quality customer service,  a truly unique collection of vintage/antique collectibles and the history behind them.

*Grossmutters Christmas Attic – this site is for the SERIOUS COLLECTOR.  The site owner is Swiss but has a site version in English.  True collectors’ items, many from the early 1900’s, ranging in price from $60-$600.  If you are a true collector you will find this site amazing – enjoy!

*BestOrnaments – vintage glass ornaments at affordable prices.  BestOrnaments is a quality seller with good customer service.

*Lenox - if you don’t know the Lenox name you need to.  Lenox is a market leader in beautiful, high quality collectibles.  I personally have a collection from them and the pieces are stunning.  They offer christmas collectibles and so much more for great gift giving.  Personalization of your purchase is always free.  Top notch customer service.  Excellent site for finding a unique gift!

Wooden Christmas Ornaments

Wood workers do amazing things.  This is probably the category where I have seen the most variety and also the most custom work.  All very beautiful and all very resonably priced.  Enjoy looking around these sites!  Each one offers a very unique style of ornament making so you may want to peek at all of them before picking your favorite.

*Tree Treasures – unique, wooden, hand-painted and/or hand-carved.  You won’t find these in stores.  But you may find a unique gift for someone special and they do offer personalized ornaments.  Excellent site for finding a unique gift!

*Laser Crafters - WOW!  These ornaments are laser crafted and beautiful.  Even more impressive, they can make you an ornament from your own custom drawing!  What a great gift, check it out!  A family owned business since 1993.  Excellent site for finding a unique gift!

*Crafty Owl - hand carved christmas tree ornaments with an old world look and feel.  Reminiscent of vintage German wood decorations – these are really beautiful.  Each is a one-of-a-kind original, signed and dated.  Definitely something special here.

*Special Mention! – the Crafty Owl offers a beautiful and unique piece that makes an awesome gift and a new tradition for a child.  Check out their Reindeer Whistle!  I love it and you will too.

*The Wood Butcher – what an amazing selection of christmas themed and also not so ordinary ornaments.  A huge variety of original, hand-made wooden ornaments at excellent prices.  I am always happy to support a ‘maw-and-paw’ owned business such as this.  They are also happy to do custom work for you.

Fabric Christmas Ornaments

When I first went hunting for fabric ornaments I thought I was going to come across very simple, ‘made-it-in-homec-class’ looking crafts.  Boy was I wrong, check this out…

*The Ornament Girl - finding a place to purchase fabric ornaments online took some digging.  Most places offer fabrics or patterns to do it yourself.  It was worth the effort when I found this site.  These handmade quilted christmas ball ornaments are stunning.  You simply must see these!

Ceramic Christmas Ornaments

*Ornament Shop – a variety of ceramic ornaments to choose from, many of them can be personalized.  Ceramic ornaments are classic and beautiful.  They have a delicate look but can withstand a bit more than glass.   Ornament Shop offers different types of ornaments so just type ‘ceramic’ in the search bar at the upper right corner and you will find what you are looking for.

Personalized Christmas Ornaments

Putting a name or a special date or saying on a beautiful ornament brings it to a whole new level.  It adds a special touch of thoughtfulness.

*Personal Creations – this site specializes in personalized gifts and ornaments.  They offer a wonderful variety of different ornaments, all very beautiful.  I especially like the ‘family’ ornaments.  Good customer service here.

*Ornament Shop -  this site has an enormous selection of ornaments, from glass to ceramic.  If the personalized name cannot fit on the ornament itself they will attatch a small heart shaped gold tag to the top of the ornament.    FREE shipping when you buy 5 or more ornaments or gifts.

*Lenox – stunning, high quality pieces from a market leader.  Every ornament is like a piece of fine china-simply beautiful.   Personalization is free.  FREE shipping on orders over $75.

*Santa’s Ornament Shop – this is another site with an enormous selection – ornaments for sports, music, occupations, memorials, weddings, pets, special interests, military and so on.  Good customer service and FREE shipping when you buy 5 or more ornaments.

There are endless options when it comes to the type of ornaments you can adorn your Christmas tree in.  You can mix it up and use a wide variety of different ornaments or you may want to follow a theme.  If you follow a theme, which will  it be?  Elegant glass ornaments or nothing but animal ornaments?  Just about any theme that you love is available as an ornament – from Thomas Kinkade to Lenox and Vera Wang – You really can’t go wrong no matter what you choose to decorate your tree with.

 Certainly a tree is not complete without garland and topper.  You can choose from so many styles to create a special look.  Garland is available in shimmering, plush strands of tinsel or beautiful, elegant strands of beads.  Toppers come in everything imaginable, from disney characters and vintage angels to traditional stars and lighted crystal.  This is where you bring it all together.  Take a look at the style and feel of your tree and its ornaments and you will get a feel for what you need to make the perfect finishing touch.   Do a little window shopping at the places below to see all the different styles available and have some fun creating your perfect tree.

Christmas Central - an easy to navigate website with a beautiful selection of garlands.  Everything from pre-lit or traditional to berry or beaded.  Good customer service.  As an added bonus – they have beautiful tree toppers here too!

Bronner’s –  if you like traditional garland Bronner’s offers a wide variety of artificial greenery garland.  This is a family owned store with good customer service.  Two in one shopping here – they have a huge selection of tree toppers!

Christmas Tree Hill – small but beautiful selection of beaded garlands  at very reasonable prices.  Tree toppers here too!

ChristmasDepot – if you are on a tight budget Christmas Depot offers several bead garlands at incredibly cheap prices.  They also carry a very life like greenery garland, made in the USA.

If you are feeling particularly festive you might consider making your own garland.  Here are some ideas to get you started.

 

The addition of tinsel as a decoration was brought about by the legend of the Christmas Spider…

The day before Christmas the mother of a family made a huge effort to get her home clean so it could be decorated and made ready to be blessed by the Christ child on Christmas. The spiders fled before the vigorous onslaught of the broom. They scurried away to hide up in the furthest reaches of the attic.

The house was cleaned and decorated with great care. A Christmas tree was brought in and adorned with ornaments and decorations. That night, when the family had gone to bed, the spiders returned to the main rooms of house to see what the flurry of activity had been all about. They were delighted by the beauty of the home. The Christmas tree was the center of attention, however, and the spiders ran to the tree and danced throughout its branches so they could admire each and every one of the ornaments. Of course, to do this, the spiders had to spin their webs, so the tree was soon wrapped with strands of dull gray spider silk.

In the morning, the Christ child came to bless the house. The tree was beautiful to him, for after all, the spiders were among God’s creatures, but he knew the mother, who had worked so hard to clean the house, was not likely to view the webs the same way. The Christ child touched the spider webs and they began to glisten and glimmer and turn to sparkling garlands of gold and silver.

In the morning, the entire family gathered about the Christmas tree and exclaimed that it had never looked so lovely! Only the mother knew that the sparkling strands were a true Christmas miracle and not some last-minute decoration. Since that time, it has been tradition to bedeck the tree with garlands and tinsel. While the mother still chases the spiders away for cleaning on Christmas Eve, she remembers and honors the Christmas miracle by hanging a spider ornament among the branches of the tree.

 

CAUTION

Tinsel is a beautiful addition to any christmas tree but please be cautious about using it if you have dogs, cats or children in the house that are prone to eating foreign objects.  Cats in particular are known for chewing and then ingesting the longs strands which can easily become twisted up in the intestinal tract and cause blockages that will require surgery to repair.

 

Here are the best places online to shop for your tinsel…

*Bronner’s -  beautiful silver, gold or iridescent angel hair tinsel strands for a very reasonable price.  Bronner’s is a high quality site with high standards of customer service.

*Blumchen & Company – this is for the serious tinsel decorator… authentic, old-time metal icicles, made in germany out of real pewter!  And at a very surprising price!

*1000Bulbs – your traditional, store bought, very inexpensive icicles.  So cheap, in fact, you might want to pick up a few bulbs while you’re there.

 

 

 

Decorating with miniature christmas trees is a really fun way to bring christmas to every room in the house.  What I really like about it is the unlimited possibilities and the opportunity to change things up and not be limited by that one tree.  Maybe you have always longed to do that elegant white tree or maybe you have a passion for bingo – well, whatever you can imagine can be made into a miniature christmas tree.  Any tree you create is sure to bring joy, laughter or a great conversation piece to your family and friends for the holiday season. 

 

 

 

 

Here are some links to get the best ideas for starting your miniature christmas tree collection and how to do it…

*Country Living - here are a few pictures of some simple but elegant mini trees 

*Essortment - this article discusses details about what you can use as a mini tree and decorating ideas for a tree for every room

*Associated Press Article – this article gives ideas about decorating a mini christmas tree with kids

 

Now if you need to know where to get mini lights and mini ornaments take a look at the best christmas tree decorations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simple, goofy, elegant and everything in between.  Mini trees can be whatever you want them to be because they are so small and easy to do.  No-where-near the time commitment that you give to a full size tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at this clever idea, perfect for the kitchen.  I imagine it would look great with oranges as well – maybe even some orange zest sprinkled around for a great look and a great smell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a more traditional looking tree in miniature form.  You could adorn it in traditional ornaments or you could pick your favorite subject and you are sure to find mini ornaments to accomodate.  How about dogs, cats, trucks or even puzzles.  Browse the available mini ornaments, pick a theme and cover your mini tree from head to toe.  What fun! 

Just a few updates to show you and my new purse. Follow me on twitter at: www.twitter.com/jerreeb and follow my blog: www.jerreeb.blogspot.com