We’ve just finished updating our site with our new premium Christmas trees for 2009. Five of these trees now come with long lasting, energy saving LED lights. All of these trees are extremely realistic, with molded PE tips. You have to get really close to these trees to tell they’re not real, and even up close you may have a hard time being able to tell. So if you’re in the market for a new Christmas tree this year, be sure to check these out!
LED Christmas Lights
We’ve just finished changing all the lights on our site, from a combination of incandescent and LED to all LED Christmas lights. Over the last two years we’ve been replacing our incandescent lights with LED’s in our store, and they’ve been such a big hit that we’ve decided to quit selling incandescent lights online. For any of you who don’t know the difference between LED and incandescent lights, here are the basics:
While they are a little more expensive to purchase initially, you’ll save money through lower electric bills and not having to replace burnt out light strings and bulbs…not to mention time. Here’s a review comparing LED to incandescent Christmas lights by Consumer Reports.
When LED lights first came onto the market, many customers didn’t like the quality of the white light. Now, there are several different versions of LED white lights that will certainly satisfy anyone:
Above are images of LED “wide angle” and “M5″ styles, with “warm white” on the left and “pure white” on the right. If you’re trying to replicate the look of an incandescent light, the warm white LED lights are what you should get. However, many people do like the look of the bright, pure white lights. Regardless of which color you choose, we’re sure you’ll also find LED lights to be superior to incandescents.
Image from Scrap 'n Stamp Canada
Here’s another excellent Christams card tutorial for making Christmas cards with glitter. Not only is it a great tutorial, but you can also find everything you need to make Christmas cards and crafts at the Scrap ‘n Stamp online store. Making your own Christmas cards is a great way to get into spirit of Christmas, and they’ll mean a lot more than if you had purchased them already made in a store.
Christmas Decorations in Shop Window
I recently came across a post on organizing Christmas decorations that I thought was worth sharing here. If you’re reading this blog, it’s likely that you’ve got a lot of Christmas decorations yourself, and you know that packing and unpacking them each year can be a chore, along with finding a place to store them. The above article has some great tips including storing ornaments in plastic containers, using labels to identify the contents of boxes, and keeping lights from getting tangled.
This post on how to organize your garage also very much applies to Christmas decorations. Getting rid of decorations you don’t use can likely free up significant space, and there are plenty of options that don’t involve throwing your decorations in the trash.
If you’ve got any organizational tips, please leave them in the comments below!
From Helen's Craft Haven
If you’re considering making your own custom Christmas cards and looking for inspiration, check out this beautiful Christmas card design from Helen’s Craft Haven. This woman knows how to make a Christmas card!
New Site Design
Our online Christmas store now has a new look, and a lot has changed besides the design. You can now create wish lists, see all orders placed on the new site in the my account section, and check the status of your orders including tracking numbers for shipments at any time.
We’ve also recently added plenty of new commercial Christmas ornaments, with a lot more to come in the next couple of weeks. So check back for more updates soon!
Have you ever wondered why we hang ball ornaments and bells on our Christmas trees? We did a little research on the history and symbolism of Christmas ornaments, and we found some fascinating answers!
Giant Commercial Christmas Tree
Although Christmas is still a little more than two months from now, outdoor Christmas decorations usually begin to go up around Thanksgiving Day. With about one month left until they start appearing, cities and companies wanting to display items like giant artificial Christmas trees are quickly reaching the end of their opportunity to purchase commercial Christmas decorations in time for the 2008 season. Click here to read more »
If you’re crazy about Christmas, you should definitely check out My Merry Christmas Forums. They’ve got sub-forums and threads on everything you can imagine: Christmas in the News, Traditions and Memories, Food & Decorations, Christmas Media, and a lot more. Click here to read more »
We’ve just added a number of new Christmas garlands to our site we’re sure you’ll love. They’re broken into two categories: traditional and decorated. Our traditional garlands come both unlit and pre-lit with a great variety of foliage, for both residential and commercial use. The Olympia Pine Garland is our most popular commercial garland and can be used both indoors or outdoors. It’s 9′ x 18″ with 100 clear lights.
Our decorated garlands also come pre-lit and unlit, with red berries and apples, pine cones, and frosting. For 2008 we also have a new selection of beautiful mantle garlands, including the Burlington Mantle Swag shown in the image above.
