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The season of Christmas lights is upon us. Streets and homes and entire communities feel festive and joyful. Families are searching for their Christmas decorations. As each year passes the Christmas decorations become more cherished. That is, except for one. Older Christmas lights are being replaced as fast as you can say “Jack Frost”. Out with the old and in with the new is the Christmas lighting exception to the old rule.

At first glance it seems as though Christmas lights and Christmas decorations rarely change. We still use the same wreaths, garlands, mistletoe, stars and angels that out grandparents did. We still hang Christmas lighting from the edges of our roof tops. One of the special things about Christmas is the cherished continuity. It always feels the same. However, in reality Christmas lights have undergone a metamorphosis.

Historically, Christmas decorative lighting was cumbersome. It was heavy and fragile which is always a bad combination. Each individual light was hand screwed into the string of lights. One burnt out light bulbs caused havoc. Each bulb had to be individually tested to find the offending bulb. Each year multiple replacement bulbs were required. In short old fashioned strings of Christmas lights were beautiful and joyous but often a big fat hassle.

Science has made stringing our homes with Christmas lights much easier. These days Christmas lighting is almost entirely composed of efficient LED lighting. These new strings of lights are reasonably priced, energy efficient, durable, light weight and last a long time. Putting the lights up and taking them down is no longer a burden.

Small LED lights are also great for creating focal pieces such as light balls and light stars. These focal pieces are starting to get very popular. At one time they were very expensive but now they can be found reasonably priced at Ikea.

The season of glorious Christmas lighting is upon us. Embrace the opportunity to decorate your home for the festive season. Feel free to experiment with Christmas lights schemes.

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Use natural Christmas decorations: You can make your home festive with fresh evergreen wreaths and other cold-weather plants like holly bushes and mistletoe. Green decorations are biodegradable, will not end up in a dump and add an unexpected touch to any house’s decor. There are lots of Christmas decorations that don’t use electricity at all.

Use LED Christmas lights: LED (light-emitting-diode) Christmas lights cost a little more to buy but they offer large energy savings over regular light bulbs. You may save up to 60% on your electric costs for holiday lights if you switch to LED decorations. Don’t forget that there are lots of things to think about when purchasing LED lights. Some hardware stores are trying out Christmas decoration trade-in rebates to help entice people to change to LED Christmas lights.

Use lights you already have: Try to avoid purchasing all new Christmas decorations each season. One of the greatest ways to save money is to go shopping in your own closets! By using Christmas lights again and again you are keeping lots of plastic out of your local landfill and being wise about using resources.

With a little thought you can decorate for Christmas and still be green. As long as your Christmas decorations are in good shape it should be safe to use them all over your home. Don’t forget that your actions now can be a great gift for tomorrow’s generations. Many of these green decorating tips will put more money in your wallet that you can spend on holiday gifts!

Looking for more great holiday decorating ideas and tricks? Check out our site for all sorts of diy home project articles for Christmas or any time of the year!

Image by Randy Son Of Robert via Flickr

I can’t remember the last time I have been more excited for the Holiday Season to start than this year. 2009 was a tough year any way you slice it, but nothing cures my blues better than to see my entire neighborhood lit up with Christmas yard decorations…And it won’t be long now!

My wife tells me that every year I am unpacking our boxes of outdoor decorations earlier than the year before. When I was a kid, my father used to set them up like clockwork the first Saturday after Thanksgiving…rain or shine. But today, you can see stores like Home Depot setting up their Christmas displays even before Halloween.

If you are in the market for some new Holiday decorations this year, get ready to be surprised! You will have many new choices this year– From solar powered outdoor lighting, to LED animal displays with thousands of lights…and from 3-D holographic holiday images, to an amazing selection of inflatable Christmas displays, you will find plenty of new Christmas yard decorations to fit every style, theme, and budget.

Before you begin, please take a moment to carefully plan your new Holiday yard display. With the right planning, your new and improved Christmas yard decorations will be a hit with both your wife and the guy next door. Here’s a few tips to get you going this year.

Let’s start from square one: Does your front yard have a source of electricity? This may sound like a silly question, but it will determine whether your Christmas display will be visible from outer space or not. If you do have power, great! You’re off to a fantastic start. If you don’t an electrical outlet handy, don’t worry…you still have some good options available to you:

1. You will be surprised how may Christmas yard decorations do not require the use of electricity at all, including plywood figurines and cutouts, nativity scenes, bows, garlands, and large Christmas tree ornaments. Decorations like these are actually used quite often in combination with electrical decorations so that they are visible during daylight hours.

2. This year you will find many new solar-powered lights and decorations, including string lights, net lights, and path lights.

3. If all else fails, you can do what my neighbor does to light a big evergreen tree in his back yard: Run a couple hundred feet of extension cord out to this remote location (be sure to use a cord with 12-guage wire for this!)

If power is not an issue, then you can get started with some simple string lighting. Start small by lighting a few trees in the front yard. You’ll also get lots of curb appeal by installing net lights over shrubs and bushes near the house. Icicle lighting looks terrific hanging from a front porch, and a Christmas wreath can really dress up a front door.

Are you ready to do something completely different this year? Don’t know where to start? It’s always easiest to begin by picking a theme and working around that…Here are some ideas for you to get you started: Santa’s village, reindeer, snowmen, toy soldiers, Peanuts characters, candy canes, gingerbread cookies, etc…You can even brainstorm with your kids and have some fun with it!

Once you have a theme, it’s time to pick out the decorations: White lights? Colored lights? Do you prefer a contemporary display, or will you keep it traditional this year? And there’s one more thing to consider…your spouse may like to have some input as well on what the front lawn looks like during the holidays for the next ten years.

I recommend that if you are purchasing your new Christmas yard decorations online, please be careful in your choice of vendors. The fact is that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to know what quality standards your new Christmas yard decorations are manufactured, and it’s just not worth it to gamble on cheap products that can pose a fire risk to your home. You can still find a great deal online with free shipping and no taxes, but from do it from a reputable website like Amazon with solid reputation and no-questions-asked return policy.

Most importantly, have some fun this year with your Christmas decorating! And I wish you and your family all the best for this Holiday season, and here’s hoping that 2010 brings you much happiness and prosperity.

Discover the hottest Christmas yard decorations for 2009 before your neighbor does! Find them all right here this year…