We will say, however, we can only imagine what that garage door looks like in the daylight!

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

Snowball Blaster – The Game

LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) have been improving over the past few years, and where they once just showed red, they now come in a wide assortment of colors.  Along with the improvements in the colors has also come drops in prices, and while not as cheap as the old incandescent bulbs, there are some definite advantages.

One of he most annoying things about most traditional light strings has to be the old “one burns out, the whole string goes out”.  Well, with LEDs, you get to skip that headache.  That along just about sells me on the concept.

Secondly, they draw less power.  Now, when you’re talking about a tree you won’t see a huge savings, but if you’re someone who heavily decorates the outside of your home, then you could see a significant reduction in your electrical bill for the holiday season.

Thirdly, and possibly the most important, if you use a real tree each year, the LEDs produce next to no heat.  Every year we hear stories about real trees catching on fire because someone forgot to keep it watered.  The less hear you have in or around the tree, the better.

Now, what we would suggest is possibly no making a change this year, but wait until after Christmas for the clearance sales and pick them up for next year.

Have you made the switch yet?  Do you like them?

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

LED Christmas Light Cut Down On Electricity And Heat

Are you aware that the US Consumer Products Safety Commission states that 165,000 people a year seek emergency medical care for ladder related injuries?  The American Journal of Preventative Medicine conducted a 15 year study between 1990 and 2005 of ladder accidents, and there was a whopping 2.1 million recorded with 97 percent of those taking place at the home.

Christmas Décor by Cowleys, a professional decorating service in New Jersey has been nice enough to release a list of safety tips for those of you that insist on going up on a ladder.

• Carry a cell phone especially if you’re working solo. That way, if you have an accident and need help, you can call someone.
• Climb slowly and surely, always facing the ladder. Leave yourself plenty of time. Accidents often happen when someone is hurried or distracted.
• Avoid the temptation to lean off to the side of the ladder and reach. Instead, always reposition the ladder so that it has four points of contact with the working surface, and pressure on each leg is proportional. Ladders are sensitive to weight shifts and it is easy to loose your balance.
• Never prop a ladder on top of another object. Inspect both the floor surface and upper surface where the ladder is positioned. If slippery, the ladder may slide away from the climber.
• Don’t carry heavy or bulky items as you climb. Always maintain three points of contact with the ladder; two feet and one hand or two hands and one foot. Carrying materials in hand is a major cause of ladder slips. Pull them on a towline or have them handed up to you. If using fall protection equipment such as lifelines, lanyards, and harnesses, seek proper training in the use and selection of that equipment. It must be assembled properly to work properly.

One we would add is make sure someone knows you’re going up on the ladder, and let them know when you’re done.  While the cell phone is a great idea, it’s best if someone knows you’re going up beforehand.

If you are doing outside decorations this year, please be careful.  And if you do, be sure to share with us links to the pictures of your handy work!

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

Remember Ladder Safety When Putting Up Your Outdoor Decorations

October 9th and 10th there are ornaments rolling out that include new series, continuations of the series, and if you get there soon enough, there are some new limited editions to boot.  There is the odd randomness of a Harley Quinn ornament from Batman comics & cartoons, and the first non-Jack Skellington character from The Nightmare Before Christmas in the form of the Mayor of Halloweentown.

Oddly, I was in Philadelphia two weeks ago on vacation and randomly decided to step into a Hallmark store and found the limited editions for this weekend already on display, and available for purchase.  I won’t say which store it was as that may get them in trouble, but they were willing to sell me the limited editions, but none of the regular editions that are debuting this weekend.  They head them all behind the counter, and they even let me look through the display models, but all they would let me purchase was the limited ones.  No clue what they were thinking, but I certainly wasn’t going to argue with it.

Is there any ornament you are looking forward to picking up this weekend?

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

Hallmark Debuts More Than 100 New Ornaments This Weekend

So, yay Disney!

In what the company is calling a “preview”, they have put the first of their 2010 Christmas ornaments up for order, and there are some pretty cute ones.  Definitely take a moment to check them out, and, really, who wants to buy JUST Hallmark ornaments over and over?

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

Disney Breaks Out The Christmas Goods

While last week we complained about stores putting up Christmas decorations already, there is a way to put up your Christmas decor now, but disguise it with Halloween items.  The idea is go ahead put up your Christmas garland now, and then on top of that you put Halloween themed decorations, or better yet, fall-themed garland.  You can get garland that looks like leaves changing color at just about any craft store, and this will carry you through Thanksgiving for sure.  When it comes time to decorate for Christmas, you simply take off the fall/Halloween items, and viola, there’s your Christmas garland ready to go.

The side benefit of this is that it will make your fall decorations look fuller, and if you wrap enough of the other decor around it, people won’t even be able to tell from a distance what is underneath it.

So, why spend all that time decorating twice when you can do it one go?  It’s how we decorate our porch, and it works every time!  (And no, that picture ins’t our porch)

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

Get Double Use Out Of Your Outdoor Christmas Garland

Stores like Hobby Lobby are already laying in their Christmas decorations, and if you want to get the best selection possible, now is the time you should start looking.  True, you’ll be paying full price, but sometimes you have to do that just to find the things you really want/need.

For instance, our garland was … well … it was looking sad to be blunt, so we knew we were going to have to replace it this year.  We’ve already done this and had our pick of the different choices because we hit it early.  Sure we could have waited until after this Christmas season to get stuff on clearance, but who knows what we would have found left over.

So, get out there and start replacing those things you feel need some freshening up before I get there and beat you to them!

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

Start Your Christmas Decoration Shopping Now

The video shows some of their 12,000 sq. foot display room at their offices in Huddersfield, and it really is the sort of display everyone wishes they could set up in their own home each year.  Although I’m not quite sure what’s up with the chimp-looking Santa and the brief scene of pirates …

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

Christmas Decoration Showroom

With your kids at home for the summer, you’re bound to hear a lot of moans about “I’m bored!”  Instead of giving them a couple dollars to go buy junk food, or setting them down in front of the TV, why not start working on some crafts for this coming Christmas?

Now of course we aren’t talking making a gingerbread house in July (ignore the picture in this post on that part), but instead things like making ornaments.  Name a grandparents that wouldn’t love getting a handmade ornament from their grandchild.  Exactly, you can’t do it.  Instead of waiting to until a week before Christmas when everyone is busy, you can do it now and take your time with the project.

And also think about the lessons you can teach your kids with this.

• Christmas is about a spirit of giving, and you can keep it in your heat all year long.
• Handmade gifts can always beat store bought ones.
• It’s never too early to get an “assignment” done.

So it may seem a little odd to be making a Christmas ornament with fireworks going off, but it can keep kids entertained while teaching them sneaky lessons about life and family.

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

Summer Activities To Prepare For Christmas

Welcome to Bronner’s.

Bronner’s opened in 1945 and has become a year-round physical and online store carrying over 50,000 Christmas related items.  The physical store is open 361 days a year, and is the size of 5.5 football fields.  If you can’t get to the store in Frankenmuth, Mich, you can also shop their online store, but wouldn’t it be more fun to visit the store in person to see all of the dioramas they’ve set up?

I can’t say I’ve ever been near Frankenmuth, but after learning of this store, and seeing videos of it, I sure would like to go, preferably in the summer so I could at least be half way between Christmases!

Post from: RememberingChristmas.com

Bronner’s Year-Round Christmas Shopping