Tag Archives: Christmas Lights

How to Create and Decorate a Christmas Gift Basket

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One of the most enjoyable of personal or corporate gifts that you can put together is the Christmas gift basket. This type of gift basket can be color coordinated and decorated with ribbons that are in the colors of Christmas. Red and green is a popular color scheme for a Christmas gift basket as are the colors blue and white or red and white. You can also use glitter, snow, and white tufts of cotton to make the basket look more festive.

One very nice idea for a Christmas gift basket is the Peppermint Twist type of basket in which everything in the basket is red and white including foil wrapped chocolates, Christmas ornaments and candy canes. You can also choose items that taste like peppermint to go into the basket such as mint flavored cocoa or chocolates.

You can’t go wrong with a Christmas gift basket that is filled with the traditional foods of the season such as fruitcake, nuts, oranges, candy canes, Christmas cookies, spiced cider and cocoa mix. If you want to add alcohol to the mix try adding Kailua, Bailey’s or cider. One cocktail that is classic for Christmas is Bolls and 7 up which is used to make a drink called the Snowball.

Another great idea for a Christmas gift basket is one for the grandma or mom of the house who likes to bake Christmas cookies. Consider filling a basket with cookie cutters, sprinkles, glitter and cake decorating tubes.

Another nice idea is to fill the basket with Christmas decorations or the pieces for a nativity scene. You can even light up this type of basket by attaching battery run Christmas lights around it.

The corporate Christmas gift basket can include items such as Christmas themed coffee mugs with your branding on it and ornaments to hang on the office tree. Cookies, coffee and cake are also classic additions to this type of office gift.

How to Decorate Your Yard With Light Sculptures

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Christmas light sculptures are exactly what the name sounds like. You take a bunch of Christmas lights and wrap them around an object to create a form.

There are all sorts of ways to use Christmas lights outdoors. You can drape them on bushes or on house eves and then gnarl or extend the lights to create a unique effect. However some people don’t stop there. They buy wire armatures to create their very own Christmas light sculpture or create a frame for the sculpture out of bendable wire. The most common Christmas light sculpture is probably a star that is made out of lights that have been wired together.

However you can create a Christmas light sculpture around just about any theme. Reindeers, sleighs and Santa Clauses are also a common Christmas outdoor decoration.

Anything that can be wired into a shape can be turned into a light sculpture. This includes Christmas tree, bell and peace dove shapes. If you know how to bend a wire and how to wrap lights around it then you are fully prepared to create your own light sculptures. If you don’t have a lot of money for chicken wire or other types you can create smaller sculptures out of hanger wire. Any wire that will bend will do. You can even make an armature out of cardboard if you warp it tightly with enough lights so that the cardboard does not show.

You can also make interesting shapes out of the natural forms in your back yards. You don’t always need a wire armature to make your very own Christmas light
sculpture. All that is really required for this type of Christmas outdoor decoration is a bush or a shrub. Don’t be afraid to use your fence, trees or rocks or anything that hat you find in your backyard as the foundation for your sculptures. Lighted spiral tree sculptures and lights decorating birdbaths and arbors can turn your garden into a glittering Christmas outdoor display.

Obviously the more strands of lights that you have, the more expensive your electricity bill is going to be after the season of making merry is over. Second of all try to buy Christmas light for the yard that has a pre -manufactured design to it. You can buy all kinds of multi-tiered and draped lights that only use one socket instead of several. This can help cut energy costs.