When the holiday season arrives, everyone’s excited to set up the quirkiest and spookiest house decor for Halloween and the most festive decorations for Christmas — we all want our home to be the most memorable one on the street. However, coming up with the best atmosphere and aesthetics for the holidays can be more difficult than it first seems. You can find tons of decor pieces out there, and picking the right ones and arranging them into a display that makes sense requires a lot of forethought.  

There’s no need to worry, though — with our buying guide for Christmas and Halloween decorations, you’ll have a much easier time getting ready for the holidays!  

Important features 

• Type of holiday decoration 
• Materials 
• Theme 
• Lighting 
• Price 

Different Halloween and Christmas decorations 

Before you start browsing for holiday decorations, you should think about what kind of pieces you’re looking for. These days, it’s highly likely that inflatables are going to be a big part of your holiday setup, at least if you’re playing it smart — they’re simple to install, and when you need to store them after the holiday season, they won’t take up much space as they’re deflated.  

Still, there are some important considerations when picking the exact inflatables you want to buy. Obviously, a 10-foot tall Halloween archway will require more space than one cartoonish inflatable ghost. Also, you need to think about where you’ll be placing them exactly — any of these inflatables shouldn’t be near trees, bushes, or any branches or sharp objects that could poke a hole in them.  

Plus, you’ll need to consider access to electricity; though plenty of these inflatables come with long cords that make reaching an outlet easy.  

Finally, while inflatables are the biggest part of most holiday setups — remember that there are other kinds of decorations as well, especially for Christmas. You can find everything from amazing advent calendars to stunningly lifelike artificial Christmas trees.  

Materials 

While choosing the type of holiday decor you want matters — there are plenty of other practicalities you need to consider before buying anything. For example, what type of materials were used for the manufacturing of your holiday decorations? No matter what kind of decor we’re talking about, manufacturing quality is vital.  

In the case of wooden decor and figurines, you need to make sure you’re dealing with durable, high-quality wood. This means it’s got enough polish and a decent coating that contains a weather and water-resistant finish; this is especially important for pieces that you’ll be placing outside. The fall weather that follows Halloween can mean quite a lot of rain, and Christmas decor is exposed to cold and snow too.  

Also, make sure any inflatables or figurines you’re planning on buying come with a stable base — you don’t want them to fall over due to wind or other elements. And while we’re on the subject of inflatables, their manufacturing materials matter just as much. 

You need to ensure you’re only getting premium-quality inflatables made with IP44-rated water-resistant polyester — if not, you’ll find the winter and fall weather is not kind to them after just a couple of days.  

Theme 

Naturally, the theme of your decorations is one of the things you’ll spend most of your time on. It goes without saying that, while you can mix and match individual pieces to your liking, some things were just made for certain holidays. An inflatable tombstone surrounded by ghosts is something that won’t fit Christmas as well as Halloween — while an intricate inflatable scene showing Jesus’ birth is something you’ll probably want to save for Christmas.  

Luckily, you can find pretty much any kind of inflatable you can think of when it comes to both Halloween and Christmas. And each holiday has the more obvious, and slightly quirkier decor you can find. 

For example, the obvious picks for Halloween would be haunted inflatable trees and evil inflatable ghosts — however, you can also find weirder stuff like a creepy purple baby with an uncanny smile.  

On the other hand, pieces that most people use for Christmas are the everyday variations of Santa Claus; like the one where he’s waving with one hand and holding his signature bell in the other.  However, there are plenty of wacky options out there as well, such as Santa driving a holiday-themed car or a ridiculous Christmasy airplane. 

Lighting  

Here’s another thing that both Halloween and Christmas decorations have in common — you need to make sure they’re sufficiently lit so people can actually see them. These days, that’s easier than ever with inflatables, considering the fact that most of them have internal LED lighting.  

However, you can’t really go wrong with more light, especially for Christmas — though ambient lighting is just as important for a spooky Halloween atmosphere! Your artificial cobwebs will look far spookier if you accentuate them with some faint light.  

Pricing 

At the end of the day, holiday shopping is just like any other type of shopping — prices are important. So, considering that, what kind of budget is appropriate for your holiday decorations? 

This is the part that, perhaps, varies the most out of all the factors that go into buying seasonal decorations. People are comfortable with spending different amounts of money when it comes to decorations — and it all depends on how much you want to splurge, and your personal preferences.  

However, even if you’re comfortable with spending more money to amp up your holiday atmosphere for Halloween and Christmas — there’s a difference between paying more and overpaying.  

Naturally, the prices on specific inflatables can vary based on factors like their material quality, internal lighting, and most importantly, size. Still, even the biggest pieces rarely go for more than a hundred dollars — make sure you’re not getting a raw deal by sticking to trustworthy stores like Aosom.