It isn’t even December yet but already, stores, malls, and houses are showing the holiday spirit and decking out their walls and windows with Christmas lights and decors. Christmas decorations are a beautiful sight but without taking the right safety measures, they can also cause fires and other accidents. Here are some ways you can stay safe during the holidays.

The Christmas tree

If you’re buying a new artificial tree this year, check the box or ask the salesman if the tree is “fire resistant.” This doesn’t mean that the tree won’t catch fire if a fire breaks out; it simply means that it will be more resistant to burning and won’t enlarge the blaze immediately.

When placing the tree inside your home, make sure you keep it in a corner away from the door and other areas where people in the household might accidentally walk into it. Do not place Christmas candles or any other sources of fire near the tree (or any other decorations for that matter).

Christmas Lights

If you are reusing last year’s Christmas lights, inspect the wires and make sure that none of it has been damaged by rats. Check the lights for any broken or cracked sockets, loose connections, or bare wires. Replace any damaged bulbs immediately. Never pull on the Christmas lights as this will add stress to the cords and cause it to fray or break.

When using extension cords, tape them to the wall so that nobody accidentally trips on the wires. Make sure you do not plug too many lights or other electrical appliances onto the cord if you intend to use them for a long time; extension cords can burn if they are overused.

Finally, make it a habit to see that the Christmas lights are switched off before heading to bed.

Christmas candles and other decorations

Candles add warmth and holiday cheer to a room, but they can also be a source of accidents as well. As mentioned earlier, do not place lit candles near the Christmas tree or any other decor where the candle’s flames might reach it. Place all candles out of reach of children and pets, and use non-flammable holders. If you are going to light any Christmas candles, make sure you are within eyesight at all times.

If you have toddlers and other small children at home, do not use Christmas decorations that resemble candy because they will be tempted to see what they taste like! Do not use decorations with small removable parts either; children have a habit of putting things into their mouths and they could easily choke on small parts.

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Christmas has come and gone and in a few days, you’ll have to start taking down your lovely decorations and keep them until December rolls around again. Here are some tips on how you can effectively store your Christmas decorations.

Using the boxes that contained your Christmas presents and soft wrapping material like tissue paper, place all breakable ornaments inside. Separate your ornaments according to size and fragility and keep them in different boxes. The most fragile ornaments should be wrapped individually and placed in a smaller box before putting all of them in a bigger box with the other ornaments.

Keep your Christmas linens (table cloths, towels, rugs, etc.) in a suitcase to protect them from moisture damage. An unused shelf works best too. To keep moths away and to keep them smelling nice all year round, place scented dryer sheets between the linens.

Storing your artificial Christmas tree in the box where you got it from might sound like a good idea. However, cardboard deteriorates over time and are prone to insect infestation. Keep your Christmas tree in Christmas tree bags, which you can find at hardware stores in malls.

Organize your Christmas lights and make sure they’re tangle-free before you keep them in a box. Before putting them away, make sure you’ve disposed of the ones that aren’t working anymore. This will also save you storage space.

Finally, label everything carefully and make an inventory of the contents outside each box. Number all of your boxes according to how they should be unpacked; this will also help you keep track of how many boxes of decorations you have. For even easier identification, wrap the boxes in Christmas-themed gift wrapping paper.

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Shades of red, green, and gold are the classic colors for the season and will look great on your dinner table. Start with a solid-color tablecloth, preferably white, and use china with holiday motifs like poinsettias, holly berries, or snowflakes. Should you choose another color for the tablecloth, make sure your dishes and napkins complement this color.

A centerpiece might make your table look pretty but it will also take up a lot of space which could be used for placing more dishes. Consider putting a few tall, slim candles or a small Christmas tree in place of a bulky centerpiece.

Arranging the food properly will make it easier for you and your guests to enjoy them. Keep the one-serving dishes in the middle of the table, and have things like bread and butter surround it. The ham or lechon should be close to the person carving so he or she can reach it comfortably from his or her seat. Alternately, you can also place the lechon on a separate table to leave more room for other dishes.

Follow these guidelines to start off decorating your Christmas dinner table but remember that there are still so many things you can do to make it pretty. Experiment with low flower arrangements, chair decorations, or other color combinations.

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Christmas is less than a week away and with so many things to do on top of work – shopping, partying, wrapping presents – it’s hard to get everything done in time for Christmas dinner. Don’t worry if you haven’t done your Christmas decorating yet. You’d be surprised at how festive you can make your home look using Christmas decorations you already have – if you know where to put them.

Use Christmas greeting cards as decorations. You probably have a collection of cards from friends and family throughout the years. Why not put them to good use and place the prettiest on your fireplace mantle or on the side table of your living room? Another idea is to make use of Christmas-themed photos you receive from loved ones. You could remove the pictures from your frame and replace them with holiday pictures of family and friends.

For an easy dining table arrangement, use your everyday dishes and a white tablecloth. Decorate the table by placing an ornament on top of every dish in different colors. Finish off with a centerpiece or with a clear glass bowl filled with ball ornaments.

Lastly, you can also use your Christmas presents as decorations on their own. Tie huge colorful ribbons on them and place them at strategic places like the front door. You can also place a huge stack of presents on empty corners to make the neglected nooks and crannies of your home look more festive.

You don’t need to buy a whole new set of decorations to make your house look festive for the holidays. Simply making use of what you already have will allow you to welcome your guests and family in style.

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Here’s a new old twist you can try out for Christmas this year. Some Christmas decoration pieces are usually handed down from generation to generation and December is the only time you can bring these heirlooms to light. Why not go for an all-vintage theme this year? Vintage Christmas decorations shouldn’t be too difficult to find and they’re relatively inexpensive too.

If you don’t have a stash of old Christmas decorations hidden in the attic, you can probably find vintage decors at garage sales, flea markets, and antique shops in your area. No time to go out? There’s always the vintage shopper’s favorite online store, eBay, with their almost unlimited collection of antique angels, vintage orbs, and centerpieces.

As with any theme, begin decorating at the focal point of your holiday decors: the Christmas tree. Vintage-style Christmas trees are usually trimmed with bright and colorful glass balls and ornaments. But don’t just limited yourself to glass balls; any old doodad will certainly add charm to your tree. Tree ornaments made of hard plastic are rare collectibles, so watch out for them when you go vintage decor hunting!

Embellish your dining table with antique candle holders, Christmas villages, and vintage Christmas cards. A crocheted, cream-colored table cloth and holiday China with snowflake-shaped napkin rings will also give your dining room that charming old-fashioned feel. For your finishing touch, add novelty pieces like Santa Claus salt-and-pepper shakers.

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Christmas is only a week away and if you’re expecting company for the holidays, now’s a good time to start sprucing up your guest room. It doesn’t take too much time and effort to make your guest room look festive and inviting, and the decor will make your guests feel right at home.

Cover the bed with a Christmas-themed bedspread. You don’t have to buy an expensive comforter set because you’ll only use it for a few weeks every year and it’ll take up a lot of closet space. Instead, get red and green polar fleece that’s big enough to cover the bed. Polar fleece is maks a warm and cozy blanket, but the best part about it is that you don’t have to hem the edges to protect the material from getting frayed. It’s also relatively inexpensive compared to other kinds of fabric.

For quick and easy decorations, hang a colorful wreath or a large stocking on the door of the guest room. A pot of poinsettia will also lend a seasonal touch to the guest room. Tie a green, red, or gold ribbon around the pot or put small Christmas balls on the soil.

If your guest room has its own bathroom, provide your guests with red and green towels and hand cloths to give the bathroom an instant holiday feel. Another thing you can do is to place small, clear bottles of red or green soap and shampoo on the counter or the sink. You could also put a Christmas-themed toilet cover and bathroom mat. This looks especially great on white bathrooms because the colors stand out.

Finally, hanging small bags of holiday scented potpurri adds a wonderful finishing touch to your guest room’s Christmas atmosphere. It’s a subtle finishing touch that will keep your guests’ holiday spirit alive and make them feel at home with you this Christmas.

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Plumbing experts say that their business jumps up at least 20% the day after Christmas. More house guests means busy kitchens and more food wastes down the drain, as well as extra showers and toilet flushes that can wear out your plumbing system. Nobody wants to spend their Christmas day stressing over pipes. Here are several things you can do to avoid holiday plumbing problems.

Don’t pour fat or cooking oil down the kitchen sink as these can solidify and cause clogs. Wipe the grease from your pots and throw them in the trash. Avoid throwing stringy waste like poultry skin and fruit peels in the garbage disposal. Sometimes they can’t grind these items very well and they’ll end up clogging the drain. Don’t wait til the garbage disposer is full before turning it on; put food debris in it while the disposer is running.

In the bathroom, spread out your showers throughout the day or wait ten minutes in between showers. This will allow your drains to to their job and gives your water heater some time to recover. Make sure the water heater is turned up to meet your house guests’ demands, but don’t exceed more than 125 degrees to avoid scalding. Place a wastebasket in the bathroom so your guests won’t use the toilet as the garbage can and instruct them to never flush down cotton balls, facial scrub pads, toilet paper, or similar items.

If you notice that any of your drains are running slower than usual, treat them with drain cleaning products before calling a plumber. Should you really need professional help, make sure to call the plumbing company before your dinner or party starts to avoid extra holiday service charge.

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What with the decorations placed all over the interiors and exteriors of your home, your electricity bill’s sure to skyrocket during the holiday season. It doesn’t always have to be that way, though. Here are a couple of tips that you can follow to save energy and money this December.

Use LED Christmas lights, since these use 90% less electricity than regular Christmas lights and cost only $10 per strand. Fiber-optic decorations and Christmas trees are also great for energy efficiency since they only use one light bulb to light up the entire decoration.

Place a limit on the number of hours your lights are turned on. Wait til it’s completely dark before you switch on your Christmas lights, then turn them off before going to bed. Six hours or less of Christmas light-time is a reasonable amount to to aim for. If you have trouble forgetting to turn the lights off, set an alarm clock to remind you to do so.

Give out presents that don’t require batteries. Research shows that 40% of batteries are purchased over the holiday season. If you do plan on giving gifts that need batteries, consider purchasing rechargable batteries and a charger; the newest models are more energy-efficient than if you keep buying disposable ones.

Cook all your dishes at once. Make the most out of your oven and the energy it uses by baking all your Christmas pastries at the same time. It takes the same amount of energy to heat up a full oven as an empty one so you might as well take advantage of the energy you’re using up. Save the oven for cooking big dishes though, and use the microwave or toaster oven for minor holiday cooking jobs.

Finally, if you’re going somewhere for the holidays, make sure you unplug all your electronics like the TV, DVD player, computer, or radio. These use up electricity even when they aren’t switched on.

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Having an artificial Christmas tree at home is better than getting a fresh tree, safety-wise. The danger of fire is dramatically reduced with an artificial tree, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have any safety issues. If you decide to get a fresh tree for Christmas anyway, here are a couple of things to remember about caring for a freshly-cut Christmas tree.

Fires caused by fresh trees usually occur because the trees are dead and dry, so it’s important to keep your tree alive and moist. Start by choosing one that hasn’t been turned into firewood. Young, growing trees are the best ones to get. You check if they’re healthy by pulling on the pine needles; if they come off easily, that’s not a very good sign. The trunk should also be sticky and the limbs must be flexible.

Once you take the tree home, cut off two inches below the trunk. This creates a fresh cut for the tree to soak in water. If you don’t do this, the tree won’t be able to take in water as efficiently.

The best way to fireproof your Christmas tree is to keep it hydrated. They also dry out with heat, so it’s important to keep your tree cool and far from heat sources like the fire place or heater vents.

Do not dispose of the tree by burning because a burning tree is difficult to control and may burn faster than you expect. Get rid of the tree by the time the new year comes around because the longer it stays in the house, the more the tree dries up and becomes a fire hazard.

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Nothing spreads the warmth and fuzziness of the holiday season the way candles do. But be careful–candles are potentially deadly. The average number of household candle fires occurs during December, with Christmas day bringing the most number of candle fires in a year. About 40% of candle fires occur in bedrooms and account for approximately 30% of fire-related deaths.

So what can you do to prevent this from happening?

The best candle safety tip I can give is to not burn candles at all. You can buy very realistic flameless, battery-operated candles made out of real wax. Some of them are scented and come in holiday motifs, such as this set of winter scene candles from flamelesscandles.net. These make the perfect addition to any holiday display without having to worry about fire-related accidents taking place.

But if you must insist on using real candles, make sure you don’t leave them unattended and that you snuff them out before leaving a room or going to sleep. Keep them away from things that can easily catch fire, like curtains or magazines. Place your candles in sturdy candle holders large enough to collect the dripping wax. Keep candle wicks trimmed to a quarter of an inch, and extinguish pillar candles once they’re two inches away from the holder.

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