Give Personalized Christmas Ornaments to Everyone on Your List

Your Christmas list has enough names on it to rival Santa Claus in the gift giving department. Unfortunately, the similarities end there because you don't have a team of elves on call to give you a hand. How on earth are you going to shop for presents for all of those people on top of all the other things you need to do to get ready for the Christmas holiday? The perfect solution may just be to give them all personalized Christmas ornaments.


Since you can find personalized ornaments in many different themes, you'll be able to find ornaments that match the interests of the people on your list. They'll appreciate the fact that you put some thought into each and every gift and you'll love the fact that you can do all of your shopping in one place and still give gifts that mean something to each person.

As you shop for personalized ornaments, there are a few important things to consider:

• Double check the spelling of all the names on your list before you place the order. A personalized ornament for “Philomina” will not do you much good if you want to give it to your son’s teacher, whose name is actually Philomena.
• Find out if any events are occurring before the holiday that will involve a name change, such as a wedding or adoption.

Hummels

Have you ever heard of Berta Hummel? If so, then you probably know that she was the artist that inspired the figurines known as Hummels. When Berta Hummel was ordained as a nun, her name became Maria Innocentia Hummel (M.I. Hummel). Her art was later produced into Hummel figurines with permission by the Goebel company.


If you love Hummels you may want to consider looking into Hummel collectibles made for the Christmas season. One such collectible made exclusively for the Christmas store, Bronners, is the Silent Night Chapel Musical Hummelscape. This chapel modeled after the original Silent Night Chapel in Austria of which the song Silent Night was first sung in 1818 on Christmas Eve, is a wind up musical collectible that plays Silent Night. It is made of porcelain and is hand painted. It would make a beautiful addition to any Hummel collection.

You may also want to consider celebrating Christmas with Christmas ornaments featuring Hummel figurines on them. You can purchase a set of four Christmas ball ornaments with a Hummel scene featured on it. These Christmas ornaments are sure to dress up any Christmas tree with a fantastic Hummel feel!

There are also Hummel angels available from the Hummel Angel Bell collection that have the year listed. These ceramic angels bells are beautifully painted and then glazed to make a wonderful addition to your Hummel collection. These little angel bells are about two and a half inches tall and will brighten up your Christmas tree or can even be displayed throughout the year if you wish!

Hummel's are wonderful items to collect and you don't have to limit yourself to collecting Hummel figurines just for Christmas. There are Hummel's available for all sorts of occasions at sites such as Bronners.com.

If you've already been collecting Hummels for years or inherited some from family members, you might also be interested in their value. You should look for certain markings on the figurines to confirm they are authentic. There should be a mold number and Goebel stamp, along with a personal stamp of approval. Like any collectible, condition and rarity of a Hummel will affect its value. Check the Robert L. Miller Price Guide or with a legitimate appraiser to find out the value of your Hummel.

Department 56

At Christmas time, many people put out their Christmas village collection, displaying it on a mantle or some other prominent place. One popular brand of Christmas village houses and collectibles is called Department 56. You can find this collection at many fine retail stores and online.

Department 56 has many different villages to choose from. If you wish, purchase a village church, school house, retail shop, restaurant or gas station from Department 56. You can find these items in the various lines of villages in various themes such as Alpine Village, Christmas in the City, New England, Snow Village, North Pole and Dickens.

Department 56 villages and collectibles offer gorgeous colors and buildings that look incredibly realistic. Besides the lighted buildings, many accessory pieces are available including some with motion and sound to make your village come to life.

Department 56 buildings average around $65 and accessories are around $15, but when they are well cared for they can be a beautiful heirloom to pass down from generation to generation. You can decorate a home for Christmas throughout the years. Men, women and children all seem to enjoy setting up villages and showing their creativity and individuality when displaying them. Collectors clubs across the country have village fever.

Department 56 also makes a popular Halloween village line for those village fans who can't wait for Christmas ever year to display theirs.

Top That Tree with a Tree Topper

So you have your Christmas tree covered in decorations, lights and garland. You have a gorgeous Christmas tree skirt to dress the bottom of your tree. It seems your Christmas tree is complete, or is it? Have you glanced at the top of your tree? Is it looking kind of bare? That's because every Christmas tree needs a tree topper to make the look complete.

Christmas tree toppers are usually an angel or a star that slips onto the very top branch of your Christmas tree. Many times, these toppers light up or rotate around the top of your tree for an added something special.

You can select Christmas tree toppers that exude old world charm, such as one that shows a Nativity with the Star of Bethlehem hovering over. While some families prefer stars, others prefer angels. You can select a lovely gold angel with feathers as wings that will add charm to your tree. If you want something different for your tree topper, you can spend more than the usual $15 to $20 for a topper and purchase a Father Christmas tree topper that runs about $50.

Purchasing a tree topper comes down to personal choice. Like all other Christmas tree accessories, you will find a large amount of choices when it comes to what is available in tree toppers. The important thing is to not forget to finish your tree decorating by adding a tree topper; no tree is complete without it!

And if you plan to use a lighted tree topper, don't forget you'll need to save room to plug it in.

Hand Painted Ornaments

Christmas ornaments adorn Christmas trees and make the tree look beautiful. A way to add to the beauty of the Christmas tree is to put a hand painted Christmas ornament on the tree.

Hand painted ornaments can be personalized to give a special touch, while others are hand painted designs. For instance, Bronners.com offers a variety of hand painted ornaments in several designs and colors.

Who creates these unique ornaments? There are artisans across the country and around the world that paint beautiful scenes and motifs on Christmas ornaments. Some artisans even paint the designs on the inside of the ornament by using a special bent brush.

Because each artisan offers their own special flair to the ornaments, you are guaranteed to have decorations that are dazzling and creative.

The best part about a hand painted ornament is that no one will have an identical one on their tree. No two are alike!

Fontanini Nativity Set

If you are looking for a gorgeous Nativity set, you may want to consider a Nativity set made by Fontanini. Fontanini figurines, which are crafted in Italy, are made with a material that is guaranteed not to break or chip, so they last a lifetime.

Fontanini Nativity sets come individually boxed for each piece purchased. You will also get an Heirloom story card that tells the story about each person a figurine is made for. This is a neat way to refresh your memory about what role each person in the set played during Christ's birth.

For example, if you purchase one of the Three Wise Men, such as Balthazar, a story card will be included in the box telling you about Balthazar. He was one of the Wise Men who brought Myrrh to the baby Jesus and was Prince of Africa and King of Saba at the time of his journey to see the baby Jesus. The 5" Balthazar figurine for the Nativity set, which is the most popular, runs for $16.

If you purchase another of the Wise Men, Gaspar, you will find out on your story card that he was responsible for bringing Jesus the frankincense and was over 100 years old when he went to see the baby Jesus. This 5" figurine will cost $16.

A Fontanini Nativity set is a true family heirloom, an educational one at that. Having a Fontanini in your home or giving a Fontanini Nativity, as a gift at Christmas is a lovely gesture, because these figurines are truly gorgeous.

Choosing Nativities

When you decided you wanted to buy a nativity set, you had no idea there'd be so many different types. Now, you're feeling a bit overwhelmed. How are you going to decide which of the many nativities is right for you? While there are quite a few options to choose from, you can narrow your selection to two or three nativities fairly easily by asking yourself a few basic questions.

• Do you want a nativity that you can add a piece or two to each year? If so, keep that in mind to make sure the set is easily expandable and readily available.
• Do you have enough room to set up a large display? If so, you may want to look for life size nativity scenes. If space is at a premium, you may want to opt for smaller scale or even miniature nativity sets.
• Are you setting up your nativity scene outdoors? You can find lighted displays that are sure to catch the attention of people driving past your home. If your nativity will be for indoor use, lighting may not be an important consideration for you.
• Is durability a big factor? If you are displaying your nativity indoors on a fireplace mantle, you may not be concerned about how fragile the pieces are. However, for outdoor displays or indoor sets that are easily reachable by children and pets, fragile sets would not be a good idea.

Choosing Christmas Tree Skirts

Christmas trees without skirts are like cakes without icing. A tree just looks unfinished when there isn't a lovely, decorative skirt at the bottom. When you are choosing a skirt for your tree, you have two options. You can choose a skirt and build your tree's decorating scheme around it or you can decorate the tree and then find a tree skirt to match.

Christmas tree skirts come in many different themes, from a country style with a whimsical moose appliqué to a beautiful golden brocade skirt with a scalloped edge. As you look for the perfect skirt, keep in mind that it should ideally coordinate with the room's decor as well as the tree's decorations.

You should also think about whether you'll be able to use the skirt more than once. Christmas Tree skirts are very durable and can last for many years. If you don't think about your choice, you'll be stuck with a skirt that is used once and then packed away in that box of decorations you never bother to unpack. Consider shopping for a skirt that matches almost any theme, such as a gold or burgundy skirt with a pattern in the same color on it. Another idea is to look for a skirt with a red and green Christmas theme.

Display Extra Decorations With an Ornament Holder

As you look for a way to display a few extra ornaments on your already crowded tree, you think that there has to be a better option. You could just keep them in their storage containers, but it does seem like a shame to store them for another entire year without having even a few weeks to show off how beautiful they are. Displaying them in a bowl isn't really a great option because they are such fragile glass ornaments that you are afraid they will be scratched or broken. You tried using a mini tree, but it couldn't handle the weight of the full sized ornaments. What you need is an ornament holder.

Ornament holders are decorative metal stands that measure less than two feet tall. They are designed to securely hold a few special ornaments on gracefully curved hangers. Most holders are tree shaped and can hold a dozen or more ornaments. Their filigree design will provide plenty of decorative appeal while keeping your ornaments safe.

If you are placing the ornament holder in a location where people won't be able to easily see all the sides of the holder, you may want to look for a revolving model. This way, all the ornaments will be on display for people to admire and curious guests won't be tempted to try to turn the holder around on their own to look at an intriguing ornament.

However, make sure you purchase ornament holders that fit the type of ornament you are purchasing for. Holders and stands come in different sizes and heights and not all ornaments will fit securely in all stands. So before you start shopping, have a list of special ornaments and sizes (small, medium, large) in mind.

Christmas Tree Toppers Finish Off a Tree

Your tree is a thing of beauty. Every inch is decorated and you can't wait to show it off. However, as you step back for one last admiring look, you realize that something seems to be missing. At the very top of the tree a big blank space sticks out like a sore thumb. Christmas tree toppers are a great solution for dealing with that empty spot on the tree.

Tree toppers are designed to fit easily over the triangular point at the top of a tree to provide a final decorative touch. Most people don't put the topper on the tree until the rest of the decorations are in place. For some, crowning the tree signifies the start of the holiday season. Some even prefer to place the topper on the tree first, particularly if it's lighted, so that they don't knock off any ornaments in the process of decorating.

Traditionally, toppers have angel or star themes. Many people use the same topper for many years. Some even pass a particularly lovely topper down from generation to generation and this well loved ornament becomes a family heirloom.

While you can find many models without lights, why not opt for the extra sparkle of a lighted star topper? After all, if you decide to top a tree with a star, it just makes sense to have one that twinkles.

Creative Ways to Display Ornaments

You'd be the first to admit that you have an ornament addiction. However, this year, you have reached the point where your main tree and your family room tree are both packed with memorable and personalized ornaments. You'd like to show off some of the ornaments that didn't fit on the trees, but you aren't quite sure how. Actually, there are several great ways to display ornaments without hanging them on trees. To display your spare ornaments, you may want to:

Think outside the box as you look around your home for unique containers that could hold several ornaments. A few things you may want to consider using to hold ornaments are antique crystal bowls, large hurricane globes, vintage metal toy trucks and vintage planters made by McCoy, UPCO or California Pottery.

String a piece of garland from one side of the wall to the other and hang a selection of ornaments from the garland.

Decorate your staircase with garland and hang ornaments along the garland at regular intervals.

Tie festive ribbons around door knobs and hang ornaments on the ribbons.

Hook ornaments to your chandelier or tie them to your fan’s pull chain.

Tuck ornaments into empty nooks on your book shelves or in your china cabinet. Use ornament display stands on a mantel, shelf or as a table centerpiece.

Be Safe With Outdoor Christmas Decorations

When you decorate your house and yard for Christmas, it can be easy to lose sight of anything but the fact that your place is perfectly decorated. However, you should never forget that you are dealing with electricity and that you need to put safety precautions first. Remembering the proper way to set up your decorations will help you ensure that the holiday is not marred by a visit from your fire company or a trip to the emergency room. To set up your outdoor Christmas decorations safely, you should:

• Always follow manufacturer recommendations. If the lights you use should be plugged into more than two other sets of lights, it is not a good idea to add a fourth set. Instead, begin a new string and run the two sets of lights to separate spots on your power strip. If lighting is supposed to be for indoor use, don’t string it up outside.
• Check to be sure cords are not running in areas where they could trip family members, postal workers or your paper boy. Keep in mind actual traffic patterns in your yard. If everyone cuts across the lawn instead of using the sidewalk, you’ll have to be very careful where you run your cords.

Take a look at some local Christmas lights and decorations displays to get some great ideas of your own!

Complete Your Tree's Theme With Christmas Light Sets

Maybe you have one or two ornaments in your desired theme, but your tree is looking a bit sparse. You need more than a few ornaments to make your tree seem like it has an actual theme and not a mish-mash of ornaments. How can you give your tree that finished themed look? The answer may be as simple as shopping for themed Christmas light sets.

Stringing several themed light sets on a tree makes the theme you want to create very obvious and helps you carry the theme from top to bottom. Since there are so many different options, you are sure to find lights that fit your theme perfectly.

If you are putting together a tree that reflects your sweet tooth, M&M's®lights, peppermint candy lights and gumdrop lights are all great choices. If you want to add additional lights, consider using red and white strands that mimic the pattern of peppermint candies.

If you love the Snowbabies figurines, decorate your tree to reflect the simplicity and adorable innocence of these collectibles by using soft, white twinkle lights, white and sparkley Christmas balls and streams of long white ribbons to reflect the light and maintain the look of a soft, snowy tree.

For a water themed tree, you may want to consider lights that have black labs, mallards, trout and lighthouses on them. If you prefer an ocean theme, there are flamingo, flip flop and tropical fish light sets.

Sports fans will be able to shop for lights that reflect their love of their favorite sport, from golf to football.

Add the Wow Factor With Christmas Light Shows

You carefully plug in your final strand of Christmas lights, hit the juice and stand back to admire the display. It looks just as nice as last year's display. In fact, it is last year's display, right down to the colored lights decorating the live Spruce by the driveway. You need to shake things up and bring some excitement to your decorating scheme, but you really don't want to change the way you put the decorations up because several years of experimenting have shown you that this is the most attractive display you can create. How can you add a wow factor to your decorations without ruining the beauty of that perfectly balanced decor?

A "Lights and Sounds of Christmas" synchronizer is designed to turn a static light display into a vibrant and exciting show where the lights flash or dance in time to the music playing through the system. You can choose from the large selection of Christmas carols included with the system to set the mood for a party or just to get your neighbors in a holiday mood.

Color Schemes for Christmas Lights

As you drive through your neighborhood, you can't help but notice the difference between your house and all the other homes on the block. They are beautifully illuminated with color coordinated decorating schemes that make them seem tasteful and elegant. Your house looks a bit like you bought a bunch of differently colored lights on sale and them strung them up one after the other. While that might actually be your decorating strategy, you certainly don't want it to look obvious. What you need is an attractive color scheme for outdoor Christmas lights.

• Try using strands of blue, pink, green, red, purple or gold lights on a white home. Simply outline every part of the house with the lights and you will have an elegant, one color look. If your home is not white, make sure you do not choose a color that clashes with the home. A red house would look good with green lights, but may not look very attractive with purple lighting.
• Consider combining your main light color with coordinating accent lighting. For example, if you use blue lights to outline your home, you may want to use clear lights on the foundation shrubbery.

Create a Tradition With Precious Moments

Precious Moments characters are so cute that any little girl is sure to fall in love with them. If you have a precious little girl in your life, you can start a new tradition by giving her a new figurine each year. Of course, you could simply wrap it up and stick the package under a tree, but why not make the tradition special? There are several fun things you can try to make the gift even more meaningful.

Consider hiding the figurine in a spot that is a bit of a challenge to discover and then writing a set of clues to lead your child to the gift each year. Make sure the clues aren't too hard though. A treasure that is never uncovered isn't very much fun.

Create a special shelf with room to hold a nice collection of figurines and hang it on your child's wall when she is not around. Remember to leave plenty of room for the collection to grow over the years. You may want to hang a curtain over the shelf so she doesn't know what is underneath the curtain right away. Allow her to place her first figurine on the shelf and then do a fun activity with her, such as having a tea party.

Create a Country Christmas With Jim Shore Ornaments

You can't get enough of Jim Shore's whimsical creations. The combination of personable characters and colorful bases is absolutely perfect. You've decided to use your collection of Jim Shore ornaments as the inspiration for this Christmas's decorating scheme. It is going to be one colorful country Christmas!

Since Jim Shore ornaments are so colorful and whimsical, one great decorating option is to keep everything else fairly simple. This will allow the ornaments to really shine. A green artificial tree, red lights and red ball ornaments are ideal choices for creating a great backdrop for your ornament collection.

If you'd like a more rustic country look, you may want to buy an artificial feather tree to showcase your ornaments. These trees are so perfectly country that they seem to have been made with Jim Shore ornaments in mind.

Another option is to decorate a miniature artificial Christmas tree with mini Jim Shore ornaments. This little tree can dress up many different spots in the house—from an empty fireplace hearth to a small table in the foyer.

Don’t forget that Jim Shore also makes figurines. They are the perfect gift idea for the special people in your life, especially since you can shop for Disney© Jim Shore ornaments that are perfect for the child or child at heart who loves Mickey Mouse©, Tinkerbell© and all the other favorite Disney© characters.

Create a Family Tradition With Charming Tails

This year you will be celebrating your child's first Christmas. You've heard of people buying an ornament for a baby's first Christmas and that seems like a nice idea, but you want to start a special tradition you can continue year after year as your child grows up. Why not give your child a Charming Tails figurine to commemorate each special holiday and event?

• The "A New Little Sole" figurine is the perfect start for your child's collection. If you prefer to keep to a Christmas theme, there are quite a few winter themed figurines to choose from. You can also opt to give your child a Charming Tails holiday ornament instead.
• Don't forget to shop for a figurine with a monthly theme for your child's birthday. These figurines combine each month's flower and a nice looking faux gemstone with the sweet Charming Tails characters.
• Figurines that commemorate different seasons and holidays, like Valentine's Day and the fall harvest, are a nice way to add to your child's collection during the rest of the year.
• As your child grows up, figurines to commemorate all the special milestones, like graduation and marriage, are also available.

Christmas Car Magnets

You can dress up your mailbox at Christmas, you can dress up the inside of your house and the outside with Christmas decorations and even your trees get pretty twinkling lights to spruce them up. What about your car? Doesn't your car deserve to send a holiday greeting or get in on the holiday spirit as well?

If you want to include your car in your holiday decorating, why not slap a Christmas magnet on the outside of it and call it decorated? But wait, these aren't your ordinary small magnets you put on your fridge, these magnets are made especially for cars, called car magnets. The great news about these car magnets is that they are made from a special material, which won't fade from sunlight or other weather extremes.

Christmas car magnets are about seven inches tall and five inches wide and come in a few Christmas themed magnets just for your car. One Christmas car magnet is that of the Nativity. This black and white car magnet has a beaming North Star, the Holy Family and the words "Merry Christmas" in black and white.

You can also choose a "Joy" car magnet for Christmas as well. The words "Joy" are written in bold red colors with a Nativity scene and the North Star set within the letter O in the word "Joy."

Christmas Decoration Storage

Are you like many people who have tons and tons of Christmas decorations that you set out each year to make your house festive? Do you have boxes full of Christmas decorations? Are you using old cardboard boxes for storing these decorations? You may want to try some of the following tips to keep your Christmas decorations stored well and easy to access as the years pass.

One thing to remember is that many retail stores and chain stores sell plastic totes specifically around Christmas time. These plastic totes are often colored in Christmas colors of green or red. If you purchase some of these storage totes, you will know immediately upon glancing at them in your storage area that those are your Christmas decorations. This will save you from having to dig through clear colored or other plastic totes to look for Christmas decorations each year. Instead, you can simply look for all the totes that are colored green or red and know you have found your Christmas decorations.

You may also want to put a detailed list of what is stored in each box on the outside of the tote. This will save you time when you get each tote out, instead of rifling through each tote trying to see what is packed in it, you can read the outside list.

It is a good idea to store your precious Christmas decorations in a plastic box because your decorations will remain safe from any type of water damage. Make sure to keep the lid tightly closed on all plastic totes that you store Christmas decorations in and expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $15, depending on the size of the tote you purchase. Cardoboard boxes are also a great way to store your Christmas decorations as they are available in many different sizes and comes with dividers inside.

Colored Artificial Trees

If a regular green artificial Christmas tree is too bland for you, you may want to consider purchasing a colored artificial Christmas tree to add a splash of color to your Christmas.

You can purchase an artificial Christmas tree that has white branches and pinecones, which is lovely. But just wait until you plug in the lights that come installed on the tree, these blue lights will light up your white artificial Christmas tree to a gorgeous blue. If you love blue lights on a house at Christmas or blue lights on your green Christmas tree, just wait until you try them against a white tree! Prices can go as high as $400, so you will be paying for this lovely artificial Christmas tree, but it will be so worth it!

You can also purchase a white artificial Christmas tree without the blue lights. Many white Christmas trees come pre-lit with clear or white lights, which just add to the tree's beauty. You can get a tree that is between seven and nine feet tall. Prices on these white artificial trees vary depending on the size, but expect to pay anywhere from $200 to almost $500 at an online Christmas store or any major retailer that offers them.

Colored artificial Christmas trees also can come in other colors, such as black, red and blue, so you don't have to limit yourself to a white tree with colored lights. Your choices for colored trees are so numerous; you may want to purchase one for your next Christmas celebration to brighten up the house!