Christmas lawn decorations: 2012

Make This Christmas Stand Out With Cardboard Cutouts - Ideas For Holiday Decorating

Tis the season to be jolly, and of course spend a couple weekends out in the yard doing your best to replicate the North Pole. Here are some cool, simple ideas to make sure Santa sees your house from his sleigh.

Lawn Nativity Cardboard Cutout - These high quality nativity scene cut outs would look and work great in any lawn, and would be perfectly suitable for indoor use as well. You no longer have to spend hours setting each piece up individually - just secure the cut out in the ground with some stakes and its ready to be admired. Did we mention you'll save money on electricity by using the cut outs?

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Oversized Christmas Greeting Cards - When you care, you send a greeting card. When you really care, you send an oversized custom greeting card. A delightful gift, giant custom Christmas cards are sure to please anyone.

Make This Christmas Stand Out With Cardboard Cutouts - Ideas For Holiday Decorating

Artificial Christmas Tree Cut Out - If you're the type that appreciates the aesthetics of a Christmas tree, but don't appreciate the needles they leave behind, this new twist on artificial Christmas trees are perfect for your home. The best part is that the dog or cat cant knock these over!

Life Size Reindeer Lawn Decorations - Now you can assemble the whole reindeer gang in your front lawn; Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, Blixem, and Rudolph.

Jumbo Santa Clause - Ahh, Santa Claus, the staple of any Christmas lawn decorations. There's plenty of options to choose from. For instant, you can take a traditional route and go with a Mr & Mrs Claus cut out, Rock and Roll Santa complete with a guitar to play "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."

Giant Coloring Book Santa - Kids are guaranteed to absolutely adore these giant color in cut outs. A perfect opportunity to keep the kids busy on a snow day, you can invite some friends over and keep them busy for a while. When the kids are done coloring, it becomes a custom Christmas decoration for your wall.

Make This Christmas Stand Out With Cardboard Cutouts - Ideas For Holiday Decorating

http://www.holidaycutouts.net

Ideas For Nightmare Before Christmas Decorations

One of the interesting ideas for holidays is putting up Nightmare Before Christmas decorations. A lot of people will surely recognize Nightmare Before Christmas decorations, thanks to the popular movie from Tim Burton. It's such a unique and interesting theme to use during the holiday season. It will be more appropriate for adults' home because it can be a bit scary to some kids. So if you are having an adult party at home during the Christmas season, this theme can certainly be a great idea to begin with. Let us take a look at some tips and ideas on how to come up with such decorations.

Of course, the Nightmare Before Christmas decorations won't be complete without the main character, Jack Skellington. If you are going for this theme, make sure to have him in your Christmas decors. To give him more of that Christmas feel, you can probably add a red and green plaid scarf and tie it to his neck. He will be a great focal point in your buffet table or on top of your fireplace if you host the party. Aside from him, the other main characters of the movie would be great to add. There's Sally, Dr. Finkelstein, Mayor, Lock, Oogie Boogie, Santa, and the Big Witch to choose from.

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You can also get small Christmas ornaments having the characters as the design. The theme will be more complete if you have them in all your Christmas decors. Place some of the ornaments in your Christmas tree and mix and match them with the rest of the ornaments or Christmas balls, ribbons, and poinsettias. Put some of the characters in the garland, or hang them together with the Christmas stockings by the fireplace. You can also hang some on the ceiling where you will be entertaining your guests. You can even make some Christmas cookies or decorations on the table with the Nightmare Before Christmas characters.

Ideas For Nightmare Before Christmas Decorations

My blog provides a great deal of information on great Christmas ideas and also wonderful ideas on Nightmare Before Christmas decorations.

Christmas Decorations Put Retail Store Customers In Holiday Shopping Mood

Leaves are changing colors, the wind is blowing harder, the weather is turning colder and consumers' pocketbooks are heating up for the holiday shopping season. If you're looking to attract holiday shoppers and secure sales, perhaps it's time to step up to retail store Christmas decorations as a solution. Retail store Christmas decorations are an often overlooked facet of the overall holiday marketing mix. But they serve a very vital purpose in any retail environment. They remind customers of the season at hand and, often subconsciously, stir up positive emotions attached to holiday memories and traditions.

Retailers should actually be decorating for every season. But the Christmas holiday season is especially important. It is without a doubt the most vital time of year for the entire retail industry and there is a lot of money to be made by retailers who stay a step ahead of the competition and foster the holiday spirit in their customers.

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Smaller retailers who sometimes feel overshadowed by the price breaks and huge promotions that big box retailers are offering shouldn't be discouraged. Smaller stores have the competitive advantage of versatility. For once, go overboard. The biggest obstacle smaller retailers need to overcome is their own preconceptions of the industry and the lack of creativity that it breeds. Think creatively about the things you can provide that your larger competitors can't and then seize those opportunities.

Christmas Decorations Put Retail Store Customers In Holiday Shopping Mood

Here are a few tips that I recommend to get you thinking in the right direction. Remember, your creativity is the only thing limiting you. Take chances with your retail store Christmas decoration, especially if you feel you have nothing to lose. Try some variations on these innovative ideas:

Wrap it Up: Try something nobody else has ever done before. If you're small enough, wrap the exterior of your store in colorful wholesale holiday wrapping paper (or even just the front if it is too big). You'll be sure to stand out in a crowd and you'll position your store as ready for the holiday season.

Cover it Up: Use holiday tablecloths and throws to cover your existing tables and bins throughout the store. This will serve as a strong reminder of the season and perpetuate the vibe you're trying to create throughout the store. And they can be reused each year.

Dress it Up: Use mannequins and gift wrapped empty boxes to create holiday scenes throughout the store. If you're in the clothing business, dedicate a central part of your store to this type of display and use the mannequins to show off your most popular styles from each department.

Christmas Decorations Put Retail Store Customers In Holiday Shopping Mood

Old Fashioned Christmas Decorations and Where You Can Find Them

The look and feel of an old-fashioned Christmas brings back feelings of nostalgia for simpler, less hectic, and less expensive times. Creating this ambiance in your home is easy with a few simple ideas.

An old-fashioned Christmas decorating theme can range anywhere from Victorian times to classic 50's decorations. It is important to decide on an era and stick with it. Multi-colored lights hark to the fifties, but if you really want to go back in time, think of candlelight, which translates today to become white instead of colored lights. If you can find a yellower light, that is even better.

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The best way to achieve an old-fashioned look is to choose one era and stick with it through your decorating; from door decorations, to centerpieces, to the tree, to even how you wrap your gifts. The colors in an old-fashioned Christmas are the traditional reds and greens. Muting these colors invokes a feeling of history. Instead of stark white, use ivories and the look of unbleached muslin. Think Americana, with cranberry and faded dusky hues, denim, rose, and pine green..

Old Fashioned Christmas Decorations and Where You Can Find Them

Where to find your decorations? If you are looking for actual old authentic pieces think garage sales, thrift and antique stores. Summer is the time to go to garage sales, so think about your decorating scheme all year round. Even in thrift or antique stores, picking up items off-season gives you a better selection and lower price. If you find new things that will work, make them look old by distressing and aging through tea-dyes.

Put your mindset back to earlier times. What do you remember most from your past Christmas? Many things were handmade, so look for things that look hand crafted. Old children's' toys are a good background to begin with. An old wagon or rocking horse will evoke memories of times past. You can fill the wagon with your packages. Prop the horse in front of the tree and set a few stuffed animals on it. A train-track around the tree will also give you an old-fashioned feeling.

When you decorate your Christmas presents, go back to an earlier time. Bags were not a part of old fashioned Christmas. Think vintage wrapping paper, or use brown craft paper to wrap everything.

Some old-fashioned Christmases were elegant, but most were simple and brought the outdoors inside. Bring in lots of evergreen cuttings. You can still use an artificial tree, but in this case it should be one of the newer models that mimic closely what is natural outside. When decorating the tree think of what was in homes of long ago. Candle light, homemade ornaments, a few expensive one of kind glass ornaments, popcorn and cranberries strung on thread, paper chains and paper ornaments. Stay away from intricate and fancy ornaments, which were rarely seen in olden days. Tinsel was generally popular in the

You do not have to spend a lot create an old-fashioned Christmas in your home. You can find many items in attics, basements, at thrift sores and garage sales.

Whether you decide to decorate in the late Victorian era, or go back to a later time, decorating your home in an old-fashioned style for Christmas is a great way to bring a slower time and a simpler mindset to your home during the holidays.

Old Fashioned Christmas Decorations and Where You Can Find Them

Deborah Schultz is a mom of 11, grandmother of 14, and loves to plan and decorate for holidays especially on a budget. If you are looking for ways to cut back on spending and add more joy and meaning to your holidays, check out her website: http://www.homemadeforchristmas.com.

Outside Christmas Decorations - How to Make a Christmas Light Show

The ultimate goal of anyone who loves to decorate their yard for Christmas is to set up a full light show that includes music. These shows can be difficult to set up, but they are spectacular to see and are well worth the effort.

Here are some steps to get your started on creating your own show:

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Do your Research.

Outside Christmas Decorations - How to Make a Christmas Light Show

Before going any further, be aware that setting up a Christmas lightshow as part of your outside Christmas decorations take a lot of time and patience. It can be a great hobby, but it's not as easy as plugging some lights in flipping a switch. So, if you are ready, keep reading.

You are going to need a few items to make this work:

1. A computer to do the programming.

2. A light controller with multiple channels. This is what controls the lights.

3. A software program to program the light controller. This will define when the lights turn on and off in relation to the music.

4. An FM transmitter to broadcast your music. Another option is a pair of speakers on your front porch, but it is unlikely that the neighbors appreciate the same song playing over and over again.

5. The lights! For a complete effect, this should include not just regular lights, but icicle lights, net lights and yard displays.

Organize and Plan.

Now you are getting down to the fun part. To make the show work, you will need to sit down with pencil and paper and design your system. Decide what music you want to play (preferably something that has to do with Christmas), and where the decorations will be. Your plan should include a drawing of your front yard, with sketches and notes on how the show will work.

Buy Your Equipment and Decorations

Now that you have your plan, you are ready to buy your decorations. This can get expensive fast, so do some research to make sure you aren't overpaying. I suggest going through the internet for the software and control box for the lights. A search in Google or Yahoo should yield several results and allow you to compare several options.

Test, Test, and Test!

It's important enough to say again: Test, Test, and Test! The first thing you should do is set up your controller for a single set of lights and make sure you can get it to turn on and off. Then get it to turn on and off to music. Then add a second set of lights and make sure you can get that one to turn on and off. See why this takes so long? It can be tedious, but the results are well worth it.

Set It All Up

After everything is programmed, it's just a matter of setting it up. Hang the lights, set up the displays, and plug it in.

Now, all you have left to do is sip hot cocoa and watch your neighbors scramble to get their decorations looking half as good as yours!

Good Luck!

Outside Christmas Decorations - How to Make a Christmas Light Show

Ryan Harris has celebrated 30 Christmases and has loved every one! He currently has a blog of tips and how-to advice for Christmas decorations at Outside Christmas Decorations.

Animated Outdoor Christmas Decorations Are Moving Christmas Miracles

Once upon a time it seemed that only people who were really honestly wealthy could afford to decorate their homes with animated outdoor Christmas decorations. In most places there were only a handful of people who had the capital to create these displays in front of their homes.

For most of the rest of the people, if you wanted to see animated Christmas displays you had to travel to the mall. The displays that were there at Christmas time were often simply amazing. There were elves that automatically shushed the bad and noisy children with a single fingertip held to the lips. There were reindeer which moved their heads back and forth as if they were looking for Santa.

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There were little candy canes that seemed to dance in a sweet ballet always just temptingly out of reach of the children who waited in line for their chance to speak with Santa.

Animated Outdoor Christmas Decorations Are Moving Christmas Miracles

But the department store windows were truly filled with animated wonders. Being safely ensconced behind panes of thick glass away from the prying fingers of curious children, the Christmas montages that were created by the stores' engineering staff were often miracles in themselves. And people would travel to the mall, just to see the animations.

But that era changed with the invention of the microchip. And for better or worse, now everyone can have their own animated Christmas display in front of their homes. For better, because the internet has made the availability and the price of these modern engineered marvels easy for anyone to obtain. And worse, because some people always think that no matter what the occasion, that more is better and they will buy every single animated Christmas display that they can put their hands on.

No matter, it is your home that you are decorating, not anyone else's house and you are free to roam the wilds of the internet to bring back Christmas treasure. If this sound a bit sentimental, that is very possible. The memories of animated Christmas displays are locked in many people's hearts and that is one reason why these Christmas items are so very, very popular.

People like to relive the good times they had in the Christmases of their youth. And there is really no better way to do that than by creating a beautiful and scenic tribute to the holiday season in the front yard with lovely animated outdoor Christmas decorations. And when you can find them on the internet at a really good discount price, then the Christmas season just made itself glow a little bit brighter.

Animated Outdoor Christmas Decorations Are Moving Christmas Miracles

The internet is ready to serve up a big bunch of bargains on outdoor Christmas decorations with just a little bit of searching online. Visit www.DiscountChristmasShop.com for some of the best bargains on discount Christmas shopping.

The History of Christmas Ornaments

In A.D. 336, an early Roman calendar first mentions December 25 as the date of Jesus' birth. This date was likely influenced by the year-end pagan festivals to celebrate the harvest. Celebrations included specially prepared meals, decorating of homes, gift-giving and singing. Gradually, pagan traditions became a part of the Christian celebrations. Most Christmas traditions such as the Christmas tree and ornaments came from central Europe. The earliest German Christmas trees were decorated with food; apples, onions, pears, nuts, candies, and fruits were placed on a tree.

In the 1800s, glass ornaments were first made in the Lauscha, Germany. This cottage industry involved the entire family. Generally, men did the glassblowing, women did the silvering and the children helped to paint and finish them. These beautiful new glass ornaments began to replace edible decorations.

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In Victorian times, Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, a German, brought the tradition from Germany to his new home in England. Soon all of England was in on it.

The History of Christmas Ornaments

In the 1840s, Europeans immigrating to North America brought with them their Christmas traditions. Prior to that time, Christmas was not widely celebrated in North America. As society became more prosperous, ornaments became larger in size and the colors become more vibrant to reflect the new wealth.

F.W. Woolworth was the first North American retailer to sell glass ornaments. The story goes that he was not too sure about this new product line. However, Woolworth changed his mind by 1890 when he was selling million worth of ornaments in his five-and-dime stores.

Until 1925, virtually all hand blown glass ornaments were manufactured in Lauscha, Germany. By 1935, more then 250 million Christmas ornaments were being imported to the United States. After WWII, the Lauscha area became a part of East Germany. Many glassblowers fled to West Germany and the industry declined. Around this time, Japan and Czechoslovakia began producing ornaments for the North American market

In the 1960's, glass ornaments went out of fashion when the aluminum tree adorned with ornaments of similar shape and color became the rage. Many traditional ornaments were thrown away during this period.

What to Look for in Antique Ornaments

If you're lucky enough to still have any vintage ornaments, hang on to them.

How to tell vintage versus new. Earlier ornaments were smaller than today's modern ornaments. They were usually done in soft colors with hand painted details. You'll notice that the paint may be faded or distressed in areas on vintage ornaments.

Hand blown versus machine made. Remove the stem from the base of the ornament. Ornaments that are hand blown will have an uneven base because the glass blower cannot make a clean break. Modern machine made ornaments will have a smooth even base.

Where to find vintage ornaments. Ebay, flea markets, church sales and garage sales are all good hunting grounds for vintage ornaments.

Prices

Prices can vary from - 0 depending on the ornament and where you buy it.

Symbolism

Fruit and vegetable shapes symbolize the harvest.

Birds represent the biblical messengers that bring God's love and peace to the world. Birds were also symbolic of good luck and good fortune.

Pickle shapes signify luck.

Fish shape is an early Christian symbol for Christ.

Reflectors ornaments (ornaments with geometric concave indentations) during Victorian times, were often called witches eyes and were placed on the Christmas tree to fend off any evil spirits.

Star shapes represent the Star of Bethlehem.

The History of Christmas Ornaments

Martin Swinton does antique appraisals and estate sales in Toronto, Canada. He has worked at an auction house, furniture restoration company and for ten years owned an antique shop. He does caning, cording and rushing repairs, teaches courses on antiques and appears at community events. He can be reached by visiting http://www.takeaboo.wordpress.com

Pumpkin Decorating Ideas for Halloween

Halloween is nearly here once more, and if you're like many people, you'll be making a Halloween pumpkin lantern. Carved vegetable lanterns, or Jack O'Lanterns as they're often known, are part of an ancient tradition that originated with the Celts. However the original lanterns made by the Celts in Europe were usually made from turnips, swedes or mangelwurzels. Halloween lanterns made from pumpkins only became popular relatively recently, after the Halloween holiday started to be widely celebrated in the US, where pumpkins are plentiful. They have since gained popularity elsewhere in the world too, thanks to the relative ease with which they can be carved, and the brilliant orange glow they produce when lit up.

Pumpkins are very versatile and can be carved and decorated carved in any number of ways and it's very easy to produce a lantern that will make a beautiful addition to your Halloween decorations.

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There are two basic approaches you can take to decorating your pumpkin. The first is to carve a face or other design into the flesh, and the second is to paint the pumpkin's surface. You might then like to embellish it further. Of course, you can always combine these approaches, and produce a more ornate and unusual pumpkin!

Pumpkin Decorating Ideas for Halloween

Carving Your Pumpkin

Halloween pumpkins are usually carved, so they can be used as lanterns. Carving a pumpkin can be as simple as creating a couple of triangular eyes and a mouth, or, if you are feeling adventurous, you can make a more complex pumpkin lantern intricate features or other patterns, such as cats, spiders, ghosts, etc, or even non-Halloween motifs. To carve your pumpkin, cut off the top (if you're going to illuminate it with a candle) or the bottom (to provide access for an electric light cord), scrape out the flesh, draw your design onto the surface of the pumpkin, and cut around the outlines with a sharp knife or other carving tool. You might find it useful to pare the interior surface of the pumpkin back in the areas you will be cutting. Your pumpkin is then ready to be lit up.

You can either design your own pumpkin carving pattern, or you can use one of the many that are available (very often for for free) online. Pumpkincarving.com is one site that I recommend if you're looking for more ideas and inspiration.

Painting Your Pumpkin

Painted Halloween pumpkins are not as common as the carved variety, but they are becoming very popular. Painting your pumpkin gives you more flexibility than carving it, and you can create stunning painted Halloween designs that are guaranteed to get a reaction. Don't worry if you think you can't paint - you don't need to be an artist to create beautiful painted Halloween pumpkins! See my site (link in the resource box below) for details of an excellent guide to pumpkin painting, called Pumpkin Painting, Anyone Can Do It. Really! With this handy guide, you'll be producing brightly painted pumpkin masterpieces in no time! Painted pumpkins are also very popular with children, as - unlike with carved pumpkins - they can create their own pumpkin designs very safely and with minimal assistance.

Embellishing Your Pumpkin Further

If you really want to go to town, you can jazz up your carved or painted pumpkin even more. Try sticking on some glitter or sequins, or draping it with strings of sparkly beads. Just be sure not to use flammable materials.

Employ any or all of these pumpkin decorating ideas, and you'll soon have a beautifully scary Halloween pumpkin that will make a fantastic centrepiece for your home!

Pumpkin Decorating Ideas for Halloween

Melania Karel is entranced by all things supernatural and Halloween-related, and is webmaster of Halloween-o-Pedia, a treasure trove of spooky information and resources, including information about pumpkin painting and other forms of decoration.

Christmas Yard Art - Make Easy Yard Decorations for Christmas

Creating Christmas yard art can be as simple as using a Christmas shape template with accessories added. A grouping of different shapes in holiday colors can look very festive in your yard.

First, find a shape that you want to use. Search the internet for "Christmas tree shape" or "Christmas tree template" for example. Enlarge the shape or draw it freehand on a piece of plywood. Christmas trees, presents, ornaments and stocking shapes work particularly well.

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Cut the shape out of the plywood. Sand the edges if needed. Paint the entire shape on both sides in a base color.

Christmas Yard Art - Make Easy Yard Decorations for Christmas

After the paint is dry, using another color of paint add touches like stripes to an ornament or color the toe and top of a stocking shape.

If you are making more than one shape to go together as a grouping, it looks nice to pick a color pallet and stay in those colors. Like red and green are nice and bright. You could paint 2 shapes in red and 2 shapes in green. Another suggestion is using gold, silver and white.

For the stakes, use 2 wooden dowel rods or steel rods for each. Paint these to match your shape. Attach them to the shape with small u-shaped brackets that can be attached with screws. Look for conduit hangers to use as the u-shaped brackets.

Now add some accessories to the yard art. For a Christmas tree shape, string 3" gold bells through some wire and decorate the tree. 3" gold bells are available at craft stores. Add a weatherproof gold star on top.

Add 3" gold metal bells to a Christmas ornament shape. Just string 3 or 4 on wire and let them hang down. Or gather the bells near the top and add some weatherproof holly.

Yard art in the shape of Christmas presents can be easily adorned with outdoor ribbon and the 3" bells.

Another neat idea for yard art is to add "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays from" and your name on a plaque or added to an ornament shape.

Yard art doesn't have to be fancy. Just plain old Christmas shapes do an excellent job!

Christmas Yard Art - Make Easy Yard Decorations for Christmas

Get more free plans for Christmas yard art and Christmas yard decorations. You will also find the Christmas shape templates you need to create your outdoor Christmas decorations, along with plans to purchase for wood yard art.

Tips And Ideas For Office Christmas Decorations

Office Christmas decorations are a great way to have some office fun and add some holiday cheer to your office staff and co-workers. Office Christmas decoration will improve the overall mood and make work more fun for you and your colleagues. Here are a few tips and ideas to help you choose your office Christmas decorations for the holidays.

First make sure that you are allowed to decorate your work area or the whole office.
Remember that your co-workers may not have the same attitude towards the holidays make sure that you don't do it in a way that might be considered offensive for others who don't celebrate Christmas I advise you to discuss plans for Christmas decorations with the entire office staff.
Make it simple because you are all busy and don't have much spare time.
Install a Christmas themed screen saver and wallpaper on your computer.
Use Christmas lights to decorate your workspace or cubicle. It's better to stay away from blinking lights because they may distract you and your co-workers.
Hang a wreath on your desk or door. Make it small and simple as possible.
Place Christmas plants with present bows tied around them on your desk and others on the floor.
Place a small artificial Christmas tree in your office lobby or on your desk.
Get some Christmas themed office supplies.
Play Christmas music from your computer.
Hang stockings for everyone in the office. and encourage every body to personalize his/her stocking by adding his/her name.

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Tips And Ideas For Office Christmas Decorations

If you liked these tips, please read more on office Christmas decorations tips and Ideas.

Creative Halloween Costumes For Women

It's almost October 31st again, and that means time for all the ghouls, ghosts and goblins to come out for that fun holiday called Halloween. Each year, people get to dress up in silly, creative, sexy and recent event-inspired costumes to celebrate Halloween for a few days or a week. It let's most people bring out their wild and crazy sides as they can assume the identity of another person, celebrity, character, animal, mythical creature, monster or inanimate object.

If you're a female looking for Halloween costume ideas, look no further. We've got some creative ones for you that won't take too much work or accessories beyond what you already have. You don't want to go as the typical boring French Maid, Cheerleader, Nurse or sexy witch. Instead you want something original, clever and unlike anything anyone else is wearing! One example is to go as the "Cheating Wife". You can wear pantyhose with the back of your skirt tucked into them, messed up hair and smeared make up, with your bra on the outside of the shirt. Another idea you might try is the horror movie victim, where you have a similar look to cheating wife, only with fake blood on your clothes and face, with some tears in your clothes as well. You could also go as the stood-up prom date, simply by wearing a prom style dress with smeared make up as if you've been crying. That will gain you attention and pity all at once!

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Of course you might not want to go as a female who's been dumped, cheating or part of a horror movie. You may decide instead to go as something hot, sexy, and exciting to really get everyone's attention. When it comes to Halloween, you want to be the one who gets noticed, rather than simply blending in with everyone else! Happy Halloween!

Creative Halloween Costumes For Women

Make sure this Halloween holiday you're wearing one of the Hottest Women's Halloween Costumes there is.

Planter Boxes and Other Outdoor Christmas Decorations For Your Home

The holiday season is finally here! Christmas decorations are being put up everywhere, employees start to file their vacation leaves, arrange their trip home for Christmas, and grocery and department stores are getting crowded everyday as well. Just the word "Christmas" makes us smile and excited for the holidays which will mostly be spent with our loved ones.

Decorating our homes with Christmas stuff such as commercial planters or pots, colorful lights, and Christmas trees is also part of the tradition. As the neighborhood lights up with different colors of sparkling lights, the spirit of Christmas becomes more alive and the people is filled up with positive mood.

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Modern Planters For Christmas

Planter Boxes and Other Outdoor Christmas Decorations For Your Home

Home exteriors will never be complete without plants and flowers. In dressing up our home's exterior for Christmas, using modern planters will enhance the beauty and charm of our plants and flowers. Most commercial planters have contemporary designs that can perfectly go well with your entire Christmas decoration.

Large planters can also hold tall plants and even trees so you may want to include them in your Christmas-themed exterior. Make your front doors more inviting with sleek and tall contemporary planters adorned with cascading vines or pretty flowers.

Adding window planter boxes is another great way to beautify your home's exterior. If you use it in your windows up stairs, you will have a more balanced Christmas decoration outdoors. Poinsettia flowers will definitely look good on them specially if you add Christmas balls and ribbons.

Lighting

One of the typical decorations that symbolize the Christmas season is the colorful lights. There are several types of Christmas lights that we can use. They can are usually put on the Christmas tree but you can also place them on your plants, commercial planters, window planter boxes, tree trunks, and on the pillars of your porch or front doors. Some people would even compose an outline of a snowman, Sta. Claus, or other figures and trace them with Christmas lights.

There are other forms of lighting that you can use for your Christmas decorations. Internally-lit modern planters in different colors can be a stylish way to light your pathway. Christmas lanterns would also look great on your patio or porch.

Christmas Tree

A Christmas tree can be placed inside the house or outside. Small Christmas trees can be placed in contemporary planters and line them outside your house. Also, putting a large one outside your house can be a wonderful centerpiece in your garden or lawn. You can then put a hefty amount of Christmas lights on it to make it glow in the center or your outdoor decoration.

There are a lot of other accessories that you can put in your outdoor area to liven up the spirit of Christmas in your home. It doesn't really matter how extravagant your decorations are. The most important thing is to feel the essence of Christmas and be inspired of the positive vibes that it brings.

Planter Boxes and Other Outdoor Christmas Decorations For Your Home

Beth Delos Santos shares tips on how to make your public spaces more attractive and inviting by using containers such as city planters, large planters, fiberglass planters and other types of indoor and outdoor planters. For a complete selection of planters, please visit http://plantersunlimited.com or call 760-603-0888.

Make Your Halloween Party A Hit - Games For Adults

No party is complete without party games; even an adult Halloween party. The games need to be exciting and entertaining in order for you to have a successful fun filled Halloween party. A few ideas that are sure to appeal to adults of all ages are listed below.

Shooting hoop - You can not go wrong when you have this game at your Halloween party. Everyone loves to test their skill to see just how many times they can make the basket. It's fun and exhilarating.

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Pumpkin carving contest - This is a great way for your guest to test their skills against each other to see how they measure up on carving a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern.

Make Your Halloween Party A Hit - Games For Adults

Throwing darts - Throwing darts is a great game of skill. It will keep your guest busy for hours. You just want to make sure that it is located in a safe place where you won't have to worry about any accidents occurring.

Karaoke - Karaoke is a favorite of many adults. They love to show off their singing talent in front of an audience. Even if you prefer to not join in on the actually singing, who don't like listening to others perform their songs? It's very entertaining and you can even offer a prize for the one voted the best from the response of audience.

Tug of war - Tug of War is a great game of strength that is a Halloween hit. Both men and women alike love to show how tough they are. What better way to do this than by participating in a nice game of tug a war. You can have couple match or divide the men and women into two groups and have them compete against each other. The guest can form their own teams and compete against each other to see who is the strongest.

If you still feel like you need a little extra to keep your party exciting, how about a dance contest? Many couples love to show off their dancing skills and this would give them the perfect opportunity. When you include these ideas in your Halloween party you will have something for everyone to enjoy.

Make Your Halloween Party A Hit - Games For Adults

Nicola always enjoys Halloween parties with her family. Visit her Halloween site for tips and information about Easy Halloween Costumes at http://Easy-Halloween-Costumes.Best-Halloween.com

Easy Pumpkin Painting and Design

Halloween is almost here and around where I live there are piles of pumpkins sitting on the front laws of farmers houses with signs indicating to leave a few dollars for each pumpkin. This always seems to be the start of the Halloween season and with that means easy pumpkin painting.

Below are a few ways to help you create an exciting Halloween experience this year for yourselves and your families by learning how to do some fast and easy pumpkin painting.

\"Christmas Decorations\"

First of all, you will want to find some pumpkins that have a somewhat flat surface on one side of the pumpkin. This just makes it easier for younger kids to paint the pumpkins, it's not actually necessary for pumpkin painting.

Easy Pumpkin Painting and Design

After that, go to your local craft store and look for an acrylic paint. This is the easiest to use for pumpkin painting and often you can find acrylic paints in larger bottles, which means enough to go around for everyone. In addition, these are usually easy paints for kids to use and come in a wide variety of colors in case you or your kids want to get crazy with their pumpkin painting.

Next, you will want to think about what it is that you want to create. Be sure to include the kids in the step of the easy pumpkin painting process. Do you want something scary?-possibly something funny? There are many pumpkin painting designs on the internet and you and your kids can get some great ideas by looking around the net for a few minutes.

Some personal favorites are creating pumpkins to look like celebrities. This isn't exactly pumpkin painting, but it goes over well each year as the pumpkins sit in all their celebrity glory on my front porch. For instance, I had a goofy looking George W, on one side of my porch, while on the other I had a Bill Clinton pumpkin. I put wigs on the pumpkins and painted some distinguishing features and added a tie to each for good measure. The kids didn't quite get who they were, but the parents thought it was great!

Easy pumpkin painting doesn't just have to be about painting the pumpkins either, as in the case above. Think about your pumpkins as Mr. Potato Heads and you are instantly drawn back to a younger time and may have some great ideas to use. For instance, take two pieces of corn and stick nails into them. Next drive them into the pumpkin on either side and when people ask you why you have corn stuck to the sides of your pumpkin, tell them that they are not corn- they are the pumpkins ears.

There are as many ways to paint your pumpkin and dress it up as you can come up with. Have fun this Halloween.

Easy Pumpkin Painting and Design

If you want free pumpkin painting designs, templates, Halloween recipes for you and the kids, and a many free pumpkin painting ideas, go to http://www.amazingsalestechniques.blogspot.com and click on the links to get a variety of free Halloween products.

Christmas Lawn Decorations - Tips to Create That Christmas Display You Always Wanted

Right NOW is the time to get the decorations up on the roof and front lawn. Do not wait for "The night before Christmas" to put up Christmas Lawn Decorations. With all the snazzy new decorations out there maybe it is time to retire some of your faded, broken old ones, and the ones that blew away last winter.

By decorating the outside of your home, deck, or balcony, it lets your neighbors and passers-by know you are in the winter festive spirit. What looks more warm and cheerful than a tree in the front yard all lite up or a colorful Santa coming down the chimney? Decorating outside does not have to be complicated. Really!!

\"Christmas Lawn Decorations\"

With a bit of planning you are Christmas Lawn Decorations can be up in no time. You may even get caught up in the spirit of it all and get involved with community decorating contests. Spend what you can afford or be elaborate and go all out but be sure to have all you need before you start decorating. Of course use Led lights and stay "green" in your decorating.

Christmas Lawn Decorations - Tips to Create That Christmas Display You Always Wanted

Thoughts you can use:

Know the space you are decorating
You might pick a theme or color scheme
Know where the electrical outlets are located and working
Be sure to have outdoor electrical cords long enough
Make sure the electrical outlets are working
Make sure electrical cords can be plugged without blowing a fuse
Roof decorations are tied down securely
Keep law decorations visible above the snow

Do not forget to give the kids a tree or shrub to decorate to get them even more excited than they already are. Why not!! Winter does not have to be dreary especially at Christmas so get those Christmas Lawn Decorations up.

Christmas Lawn Decorations - Tips to Create That Christmas Display You Always Wanted

Christmas Lawn Decorations - Show your Christmas Spirit by putting up outdoor lawn decorations for the holidays. Start planning now! http://www.christmaslawndecorations.ca.

Christmas Lawn Decorations - A Beautiful Holiday Home Made Better

You've got the icicles lights up on the eaves. You've got the net lights draped over the bushes in front of the living room windows. You've got a nice fresh holiday wreath hanging form the front door. But still it seems like there might be a little something you could add to make your holiday home even cheerier. And that something is a set of Christmas lawn decorations to make your neighbors really sit up and take notice.

When Christmas lawn ornaments first became popular, they were pretty much just simple plywood cutouts that were painted in the shapes of Santa and the reindeer, or a relatively simple manger scene. These were lit with some simple work lamps from the garage or a couple of spotlights that were usually used for landscape lighting.

\"Christmas Lawn Decorations\"

Nowadays, though, there are so many kinds of lawn ornaments that are available online that it is almost enough to make your head spin with the amount of choices.

Christmas Lawn Decorations - A Beautiful Holiday Home Made Better

You can still find all kinds of cutout figures. If you buy these precut and decorated they are often made of thick Styrofoam or building board. And you can also find lots of websites that offer patterns for cutting these out yourself at home. The quality of these patterns varies a lot. And if you can find some that you have to pay a little bit for instead of just opting for the free ones, you will usually get way better patterns.

Not that paying for something is always better than getting the free version, but in the case of these patterns on the internet, the paid ones are a lot better. And the amount of money is very little. Usually less than 15 dollars.

Lots of folks also really Christmas inflatables. These are those big balloon shapes that people pump up with an air pump and then tether to stakes in their front yards. They come in all kinds of shapes, like Santa and elves and reindeer and even really big nutcrackers like the character from that famous ballet. The pumps do need an electric source to run the motor which powers the fan, so you will need an extension cord or two. But otherwise these are pretty much ready to go right out of the box.

The internet has made it easy to find the Christmas lawn decorations that you really want. And usually, with a bit of searching around, you can find websites offering these at pretty nice discounts too. That is a really nice thing right around Christmas, to get what you want a bargain price.

Christmas Lawn Decorations - A Beautiful Holiday Home Made Better

The internet is ready to serve up a big bunch of bargains on outdoor Christmas decorations with just a little bit of searching online. Visit www.DiscountChristmasShop.com for some of the best bargains on discount Christmas shopping.