Weekly Deals at ChristmasPlace.com

LED Lights ~ time to stock up!  Through this Friday only, buy 2 strands and get a third strand of the same lights free.  That’s a great deal for these long-lasting, economical decorations.  Check out all the colors and styles available this year.

Snowbabies “In a Spin” figurine – 50% off – what a cutie, Snowbaby in a real knit cap, spinning with a penguin pal on a snow disc.  To complement your Snowbabies ornament collection, how about a  13″ tree from Department 56 specially designed to display them to best advantage?  It’s well-priced this week at only  $6.98!

Also, be sure to check out the “Christmas in a Box” gift sets for the troops ~ we still have some available, and time to ship them out before the holidays.

So many things going on of which you can take advantage – hop over to the site and register for the Week 2 Gingerbread Giveaway – ornaments, ribbon, and stems this week! 

And don’t forget, free shipping on all orders over $100, and free gift with your online purchase, either an ornament or an angel. 

* 47 Days! *

~ Janet @ The Christmas Place

LED Lights – a note for crafters

So, this weekend I spent a day with a nearby friend, and she showed off the LED Christmas lights on her tree (which she purchased from a competitor which shall remain unnamed, pooh on her) - they were very pretty.  However, her family is used to warmer lights on their Christmas tree, and the LED strands she used included more blue and purple colors, along with cooler white bulbs.

Being a crafter, she had to experiment on the LED lights herself.  What worked in the end was an application of alcohol inks from her rubber stamping hobby!  She applied Butterscotch Ink from the Ranger Inks-Adirondack reinkers collection, and the white bulbs were warmed right up to a rich, golden shade.

She also tried this color on some of the purple bulbs, and they took on a lovely peach shade when dark, but still glowed purple when illuminated, so that didn’t work.  She ended up buying an extra strand of white, coloring a handful of the lights, and substituting them on her strand.

Just so you know, LED lights come in a variety of colors and in two shades of white, cool and warm. –Oh, and I was just looking in the online store, and our warm lights are on special right now – check it out.

C6 Warm White LED Lights

Hope your lights are glowing on this cold winter day!

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

Winterfest in Sevier County

Winterfest 2008-09 has begun in Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg.  Each year, the three communities display hundreds of lighted holiday decorations throughout the area, and loads of people drive through after dark to enjoy the sights and sounds of the season.  In addition, there are many community events including parades, live performances, a story telling festival, hay rides with Santa, and appearances by local celebrities, to fill the days until Christmas.

The lights continue to glow through February, and there are more activities in the new year.  In January, we celebrate the 19th Annual Wilderness Wildlife Week with free guided hikes, walks, and lectures all about the flora and fauna in the beautiful Smokies.  In February, it’s the 9th Annual Saddle Up! celebration of western life and culture, a week filled with Western music, cowboy poetry, story telling, and action entertainment all over town.

Here in Pigeon Forge, over five million lights are in place - more than enough to delight the kid in everyone – try the Trolley Tour of Lights for an easy ride through town.  Gatlinburg offers a trolley tour of their displays as well.  While you’re touring, be sure to enjoy holiday displays of trees and decorations at many local businesses – especially ours, of course.  We’ve filled our store courtyard and all the trees at the hotel with thousands of blue and colored LED lights, and are quite sparkly and festive after dark!

Click here or here for more information about Winterfest 2008-09.

We are having a lot of fun as it gets closer to Christmas – everyone is ready to celebrate the holiday, and create a little cheer to round out this year.  We’ve continued to receive new merchandise at the store every day, and we carry such a variety of Christmas decorations, from traditional to rustic and contemporary to whimsical, that it is impossible not to find something to fall in love with for your Christmas tree, hearth or front door.

We hope you’re looking forward to Christmas and anticipating the special magic and feeling of joy and peace that Christmas can bring to a home and a community.

Life is good!

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

Green Solutions That Sparkle

Last year, The Incredible Christmas Place introduced you to LED lights for indoor and outdoor decorating.  These amazing and brilliant lights are at work in all kinds of places, from your digital alarm clock and illuminated wristwatch (I always wear mine to the movies), to your television remote and even traffic lights.

Here’s some more cool stuff about LEDs from How Stuff Works.  They don’t use filaments like incandescent bulbs; they emit light through the movement of electrons in semiconductor materials. This is why they don’t burn out like ordinary bulbs – and we must all agree that this is a very good thing when it comes to Christmas lights!

Different colors of LED lights come about because of some really technical stuff that How Stuff Works explains ~ it involves photons and conduction bands and lower orbitals…yeah, I’m not going there… I want you to know about the environmental advantages of these lights.

Longer lasting – because there’s no filament to burn out

More durable – because the bulb is plastic

More efficient – a higher percentage of the energy they use goes to generating light, less is lost to heat, so the electricity demand is much lower with these bulbs – LED Christmas lights use up to 80% less energy than traditional lights.

To expand on these advantages a little more, fewer burn-outs reduce the frequency of trips to the store for replacement bulbs & Tums.  Durable bulbs are safer to have around certain family members (the small ones and the furry ones) leading to fewer trips to the emergency room.   Lower heat output means fewer calls to the fire department.  Taken altogether … lowered energy consumption and fewer emissions = smaller carbon footprint.

LED lights sparkle brilliantly or glow softly.  They are cool to the touch, and the plastic casings make them more water- and rust-resistant.  Like traditional lights, LED light strands are available in varying lengths, from 10 glittering icicles to 100 standard bulbs.  It’s safe to connect up to three strands together.  They come in a wide array of styles:

• White, red, green, blue, amber, and multi-colored
• Traditional bulb shapes, mini bulb shapes, round with a coating that looks like sugar, icicles, and other novelty shapes
• Strands for indoor or outdoor use, mini strands for Christmas villages, and curtain lights

Beauty and brilliance combined with longevity, durability, safety, and energy-efficiency ~ these light strands are the best buy for all your indoor and outdoor decorating.

Wishing you a most sparkling – and green – Christmas all year ’round!

~Janet @ The Christmas Place