It’s never too early to start thinking about decorating for the holidays (??)

If it seems as if retail stores are setting up their Christmas decorations earlier and earlier, it’s not your imagination. I trotted over to Lowe’s for a tour of their holiday season displays on October 16th. Okay, so maybe I’m a bit of a grump when it comes to any holiday, but to be honest on October 16th I hadn’t even bought my one measley pumpkin yet for Halloween! (My kids think I’m a bit of a party-pooper.)

Apparently though, I might be in the minority regarding my views on the timing of holiday decorating, as one of the Lowe’s tour guides told me that they’d already sold out of a miniature “Graceland” replica at the Markham store….in October!

Lowe’s has a wonderful selection of LED lights this year, and finally, the LED white lights actually light up white and not blue. Better yet, GE has come up with this great display where you can actually see what the lights look like lighted by pushing a “try me” button. Now you really do know what you’re getting!

Lowe’s also had a great selection of artificial trees many of which already have the lights on them. We’re a “fresh tree” family so I don’t have a lot of experience with artificial trees (although they are looking pretty life-like these days), but the new ones have a great feature where the tree stays lit even if you have to take out a burnt light bulb out to change it. A 7 1/2′ tree comes with 900 clear lights pre-strung and costs $298.00 (SKU:223563).

Fresh trees will be available starting in mid-November.

One of the other products I liked was a small string of lights for your wreath, or mantel or somewhere where you might not have access to an electrical outlet. The string comes with a battery pack that can be hidden behind the wreath, providing nice decorative lighting without a big cord going to a near by outlet. (a string of 10 lights plus battery pack is $1.97 — batteries not included) (SKU: 262917).

If you have any combination of kids, cats or dogs, the shatterproof ornaments will really appeal to you. A box of 27 for $18.98 includes a variety of colours (made by Holiday Brand).

Finally, there was a large selection of outdoor ornnments that Clark Griswold would envy. Perhaps the most “Griswold-ish” of all was the display of three white trees with lights that changed to seven different colours in time to the symphonic sounds given off by speakers placed somewhere amongst the trees. The “White Holiday Light Show Trio” consists of three trees (4′, 5′ and 7 1/2′ tall), plays five Chistmas songs, uses LED lights and collapses down for easy storage.

For more information on Lowe’s go to www.Homestars.com for reviews, then to the Lowe’s website to find your nearest store.

Posted by CathyR