Once Christmastime rolls around, everyone scrambles to find the best Christmas decorations and inflatables — we all want to come up with the best possible holiday-themed decor. However, immersing your home in the Santa-themed atmosphere isn’t as simple as it seems — there are tons of options out there, and combining them into an aesthetically pleasing display requires some knowledge and forethought.  

With that in mind, Aosom put together this handy guide on Christmas decorations to help you out!  

Important features 

• Type of decoration 
• Lighting 
• Materials 
• Theme 

Different Christmas decorations 

Before you set out to buy your Christmas decorations, you should consider what kind of individual pieces you want. One of the biggest staples of your outdoor decor is likely going to be inflatables — they’re easy to set up, and they don’t take up a lot of space when it’s time to put them back in storage.  

However, you should consider the space around your yard carefully — an 11-foot Christmas castle will take up more room than a single inflatable Santa Claus. Just be careful not to put them near branches, bushes, or really any trees that could potentially poke and scratch the inflatables and damage them. Also, these require access to an electrical outlet, though most come with at least a 10-foot cord.  

You should also consider some Christmas wreaths and garlands that can be placed directly on your doors, windows, and home facade — as well as LED lighting strings and Christmas-themed lanterns.   

Lighting  

Any type of Christmas decor is far less pretty if you don’t light it up — which is why lighting is always a crucial part of any holiday display. And while we’ve already mentioned LED strings, remember — when it comes to Christmas lights, there’s no such thing as too much!  

Go wild with shining stars on your doors and light strings that run the entire length of your walls. And don’t forget the lighting on your inflatables and other decorative pieces in your yard! Ideally, you want to get inflatables that already have their own internal LED lighting; that way, you won’t need to cover them up with additional strings to really make them pop.  

Materials 

While the aesthetic appeal of your holiday decorations is important — you shouldn’t disregard other factors while choosing your Christmas decorations either. For instance: what kind of materials were used to manufacture them? This is vital, regardless of what specific piece of decor we’re talking about. 

When it comes to wooden figurines, you want high-quality, durable wood that’s also been polished and coated with a weather-resistant finish; this will ensure you don’t have to throw it away after a couple of weeks in the snow, rain, and cold. Plus, you want any figurines or inflatables you buy to have a stable and sturdy base, so you can place them anywhere in your home or yard without worrying they’ll constantly be falling over.  

And speaking of inflatables — seeing as you’re most likely to place them outside, you want them to be as durable as possible. This means only buying the ones that were made with water-resistant, IP44-rated polyester fabric; otherwise, the winter weather will make them unusable pretty quickly.  

You want the same kind of IP44 weatherproofing on any LED light frames for maximum durability — the floor stake design is perfect for outdoor use, as is a waterproof steel frame.  

Theme 

If you’re looking for a specific Christmas theme for your outdoor decorations, there are some elements that most decor options have in common. For instance, there’s the scene depicting the birth of Jesus — you can find it depicted in figurines, animated sets, and even inflatables.  

Of course, an obvious one is Santa Claus. And there’s a surprising number of options here, from a classic Santa or a scene depicting him with his reindeers and sleigh to the wackier varieties like Santa driving a Christmas-themed airplane or his holiday car.  

There are also all kinds of North-Pole-themed inflatables and centerpieces — from giant snowglobes to penguins depicting building their cartoonish igloos, along with every possible kind of Christmas tree you can think of. Gingerbread men, castles, and polar bears are also commonly depicted in Christmas decor.   

Pricing 

Finally, as with any other kind of shopping — buying Christmas decor also means thinking about the appropriate prices. So, what kind of money should you expect to pay for your holiday decorations?  

Naturally, all of this depends on your personal preferences and budget — some people don’t like to spend a lot of money on holiday decorations and opt for a more modest display. Still, even if you want to amp up your Christmas atmosphere with a ton of festive decorations, there’s no reason why you should overpay for them.  

For example, the price of individual inflatable pieces depends on their size, material quality, and whether they come with their own LED lighting. However, bear in mind that even the biggest inflatables shouldn’t set you back more than around a hundred bucks — anything past that means you’re probably getting a bad deal.