Most Popular Christmas decorations

If you're looking for ideas to help you decorate your home for the holidays, you may be interested in learning more about the most popular Christmas decorations. Knowing what types of decorations are the most common can help you brainstorm ideas for giving your home a festive touch.

What Are the Most Popular Christmas Decorations?

Decorating for Christmas is a big business. It is estimated that Americans spend approximately $15 billion on new holiday decorations for their homes and businesses each year. The most popular items to purchase include:

• Candles
• Garlands
• Roping
• Swags
• Ribbons
• Poinsettias
• Christmas tree ornaments

Traditional Christmas decoration motifs include:

• Santa
• Reindeer
• Snowmen
• Snowflakes
• Gingerbread house with gingerbread men
• Candy canes
• Nativity

The most common color scheme for Christmas decorations is still red and green, although blue and silver seems to be a close second. However, if you're looking for something a bit more unique, there are plenty of unusual Christmas decoration options available.

You can see ideas for some of the most popular Christmas decorations by reviewing the following slideshows from LoveToKnow Christmas:

Handmade or Made in China?

It appears that the vast majority of Christmas decorations in the United States have been made in overseas factories, with China earning the honor of being America's number one supplier of Christmas cheer. But, as people become more socially conscious and search for ways to put a personal stamp on their holiday décor, the demand for handmade holiday decorations continues to grow.

If you are looking for sources for handmade Christmas decorations, try visiting:

• Locally-owned businesses
• Seasonal craft fairs
• Online specialty shops

To learn how to make your own Christmas decorations, visit LoveToKnow Crafts.

Christmas Trees: Real vs. Artificial

When discussing the most popular Christmas decorations, you may be wondering whether people prefer real or artificial Christmas trees. Unfortunately, finding accurate statistics to compare these purchases can be difficult. For example, 32.8 million live Christmas trees were sold in 2005, compared to 9.3 million artificial trees. However, since an artificial Christmas tree will last for several years with proper care, families do not need to purchase a new tree each year. In informal surveys of people across the United States, Christmas tree preferences appear to be about equally split.

Whether real or artificial, the most popular varieties of Christmas tree are:

• Balsam fir
• Douglas fir
• Fraser fir
• Noble fir
• Scotch pine
• Virginia pine
• White pine

Christmas in July

If you're the type of person who is prone to procrastination, you may be shocked when Christmas decorations start to appear in your favorite stores before you've packed away your summer clothes. In some locations, you can see partial displays of Christmas merchandise up in July and August-several months before Halloween! The reasons for displaying Christmas merchandise so early vary from store to store. In the case of craft stores, people do need to purchase supplies for making gifts and decorations well in advance of the actual holiday. For discount and department stores, however, early Christmas displays are a way to judge shopper preferences and to help work up some enthusiasm for the upcoming holiday season.

As far as decorating your home, the most popular day to begin putting up Christmas decorations is the day after Thanksgiving. When taking down decorations, some people start on December 26, while others wait until New Year's Day. However, there are no hard and fast rules regarding Christmas decorations-as long as you have them up before Christmas and taken down by Valentine's Day!