by Rick Badman

Created on: October 22, 2008   Last Updated: October 28, 2008

There are the traditional Christmas ornaments that we are familiar with and the traditional ways to do Christmas decorating. A tree is nice and lights hung outside on the side of the house, on trees and bushes, and along the driveway are festive. Unless you want to spend a lot on LED lights that will be brighter and shine longer than conventional Christmas lights in order to save electrical costs, stick with the old fashioned bulbs. They are relatively inexpensive and don't run up the electrical bills if you connect them to a timer before connecting them to power. They should come on shortly after sundown and stay lit for a few hours during the night. It is a waste to have your Christmas lights shining at 3:00 AM when almost everyone is asleep and won't come around to view the Christmas decorations.

Home-made decorations are a nice change of pace and allow members of the family to participate in the Christmas decorating. Small children like to have their artwork hung up for everyone to see. Encourage them to draw pictures appropriate for Christmas. If you have a Christian home, center the artwork around Christian themes. If your children draw or color shepherds, wisemen, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and angels on construction paper, cut the figures out and hang them from the tree if you have one. A little thread looped through a hole in the top of the figures and tied to branches on the tree will keep them on nicely.

For older children, building a manger out of strips of sturdy cardboard or tongue depressors that can be purchased in pharmacies can be fun and last for many Christmases to come as long as they are handled carefully. A simple doll wrapped in handkerchiefs with ripped up newspapers for bedding can be the baby Jesus lying in the manger

Pine cones are festive and great Christmas ornaments for the wreath, the tree, all over the house where Christmas guests congregate. They are also free. Prepare for Christmas decorating no later than fall when you can collect the cones and pine needles if you want to use them in place of straw. They are not dusty like straw and can be thrown into the fire later if you have a fireplace. Make sure they don't fly around when they're ignited since they are light and flamable. They should release a pine aroma just like pine cones should.

An effective decoration which should be illuminated even when the rest of the lights are out is either a star or an angel at the top of the tree. LED lights can provide sufficient light to illuminate the decorations and allow midnight snackers to see as they go by the livingroom. If you have small children who still believe in Santa Claus and a fireplace, if there isn't a fire in it, go ahead and place either LED lights or a spot or flood light in the fireplace pointing up the chimney. When it is on at night you can tell your children that you want Santa to see their house from the sky so that he can land his sleigh better. It may require a light socket and extension cord plus a stand for the light. But it will keep the children expecting Santa to arrive. Place the light in the fireplace on Christmas eve before going to bed. Make sure you awake before the children and move the light. When they see it has been moved and there are presents under the tree they may think Santa did it.

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