Christmas is coming. It is time to get those old boxes down from the attic or up from the basement and check what you have left from past Christmas holidays’ that is still in working order. Many of us when searching through the box of Christmas decorations find that some of them perhaps should not have been kept so long and others will bring a nice warm feeling on remembrance of previous Christmas celebrations.

Before or after you get the Xmas tree, you will need plenty of decorations to have on hand for that special decoration time. Starting early is great advice so that you can ensure you have working lights, adequate ornaments and plenty of tinsel. When you have checked your current stocks you can get on with the job of searching for replacement and extra items, or get the children interested and have them make some new ornaments for this years Xmas tree.

In my family we would generally have a living Christmas tree. We would search for a tree that was a little small for our house and we would do this with the intention of having it for the following year as well and perhaps the next if it didn’t out grow our house. The potted Christmas tree would then act as a pot plant in our house during the Christmas period. After Christmas we would take the Xmas tree outside and plant it, and care for it until the next Christmas season.

There are a variety of approaches to the decoration of your Xmas tree, and there are no hard and fast rules. What suits your family may not be suitable for others but there are a number of items that can be used. I have mentioned tinsel and Christmas lights but the range of decorations in the way of ornaments is extreme. There are Santa ornaments, reindeer ornaments, angels, stars, ornamental fruit, sparkling balls and the list goes on.

In my family we would also use candy cane to decorate the tree, and when my brother and I did not eat them too quickly, we would also decorate our tree with individual wrapped chocolates. We would wrap the chocolates in small little parcels of cellophane and use a gold or silver twist tie to attach them to the Xmas tree. The only concern with this form of decoration, candy, chocolate or fresh or dried fruit for example, is that you have to make sure there are no insects waiting for their Christmas treat from your Xmas tree.

One of the most common of all Xmas tree decorations is Christmas lights. With advances in technology and low cost manufacturing the types of lights available now are very economical. Whether you have flashing lights, static lights, multi-colored lights or single colored lights you will find there are many options and very low cost choices out there. Some of these Christmas lights even play a tune so if you haven’t been Christmas light shopping for a while you will no doubt be amazed at the choices.

Christmas lights are not limited to use only on Xmas trees. They can be used in various strategic places throughout the room that you have your Xmas tree to add a little special extra atmosphere. They look great on the outside of the house as well as looking good to others from the outside of your house.

Our Christmas tree always had a silver star on the very top, this star being taken down off the potted Christmas tree every year, stored in a box and bought out for next Christmas. I guess this star would in effect be our Christmas tradition, belonging to our family alone. Of course many families have traditional ornaments that they use annually but those of you who have participated in this kind of tradition will easily remember what yours were.

For this years Christmas tree preparations, after you have picked out your Xmas tree and started your decoration process, perhaps some of the above ideas and recollections of my own Christmas will give you some ideas to make additions to your current decorations.