How to Decorate for the Holidays With Manly Christmas Decorations

Most Christmas decorations are meant for children.  Candy canes, nutcracker Christmas tree ornaments, inflatable snowmen…  These captivate the imagination of kids, but what about more manly decorations?  Can you express your masculine side with some DIY Christmas decorations that celebrate the holiday spirit in a grown-up fashion?

Yes — and here you can find out how to get duded-up for Christmas without compromising your testosterone.  Kids getting excited about jingle bells and Rudolph is fine, but you’re a man now.  Maybe you’re living in a house or apartment on your own for the first time.  Or maybe you have a wife and kids but would like to decorate your man cave in a way that evokes some caveman Yuletide cheer.

Most men seem to think they’re somewhat apart from the holiday atmosphere; most men don’t think about decorating for Christmas (except maybe outdoor lights).  Which is a shame, because every holiday is a chance to get creative. How, for example, can you put together a kickass Christmas tree?  Why leave all the fun to the kids?

Express your masculine side with a Christmas tree and other holiday decorations that celebrate the season your way.  Just because guys light their farts on fire and snort beer out their noses when they laugh doesn’t automatically mean they don’t want to decorate for Christmas.  When you do your own Christmas thing, at the very least you’ll impress your friends. You might even help free their inner bad elf.

As far as manly Christmas trees go, you cannot get a more masculine tree than a Buckhorn Pine Antler Christmas Tree from Bass Pro Shops.  It’s got antlers, for cryin’ out loud.

Now that’s a tree for a man cave.

(Bet you didn’t know you could buy Christmas trees on the Internet.)

Add a tree skirt that features wild game and your testosterone-fueled Christmas tree setup will be complete.  (You can personalize this outdoorsy tree skirt it with up to 10 letters — choose your holiday message carefully.)

Guys are just as susceptible to the Christmas spirit as anyone (see Darren McGavin in A Christmas Story).  But they don’t necessarily want to hang plush heart ornaments on the fir tree they chopped down in the woods with their Fiskars axe, or place votive candles on the mantelpiece surrounded by porcelain angels holding a banner.

But hey, you got the spirit:  you like the idea of Kris Kringle traversing the world with his bag of Krispy Kremes for all the good boys and girls (including you — because aren’t you good, mostly?).  You enjoy the taste of spiked eggnog and the idea of a Christmas Star that was probably a supernova that occurred around 4 BC.   You think snow is sorta cool.  And you like those oil-drum-sized cans of flavored popcorn.

So, how do you decorate for the holidays, guy?  Without going all Marth-Stew?  Yet still managing to express your DIY Christmas decorating creativity?  Below are festive suggestions for decking your halls with a tree, ornaments, lights, mood-enhancers, food, and more…

Christmas Tree Decorating Solutions

Nothing wrong with having a conifer in your living room that you killed yourself or bought at a tree lot from a grizzled guy wearing a stained beanie (or got from Bass Pro Shops above).  But with regard to decorating a Christmas tree, what kind of ornaments should you hang on it?

Star Wars ornaments.  At right, you can see a C-3PO holiday ornament that’s also a snowglobe.  Shake it and it’ll remind you of school closure days on Hoth.  You can get the Star Wars C-3PO Ornament from Entertainment Earth. 

And click here to get a Chewbacca Snowglobe Christmas Ornament to match.

And that’s not all Entertainment Earth offers for decorating a Christmas Tree with masculine style.  You can’t get any more manly than John Wayne, so check out a pair of John Wayne Western Christmas Tree Ornaments — two 4.5-inch tall, beautifully-detailed resin ornaments of John Wayne in all his gun-totin’ glory.  Try those on for size.

Or how about Betty Boop in a tight holiday outfit?  Betty Boop is known for her saucy sexiness.  But a Christmas Boop in an tight sort of elf outfit is definitely a girl you would not take home to your mom.  Celebrate that cheeky spirit and deck your halls at the same time.  (Any ornament that depicts a scantily-clad female who is not an angel is in your Christmas-decorating ballpark.)

 

 

But Christmas tree decorating ideas don’t have to be limited to science fiction, gun-slingin’, and sex.  There’s also guy-centric tech, hardware, and food — subjects that bold, smart, hungry men have pursued for centuries.

 

In that vein, check out what ThinkGeek, that bastion of products celebrating intellectual prowess, has for Christmas:  Recycled Motherboard Christmas Tree Ornaments, for example.  These are cleverly-carved ornaments made out of printed circuit boards.  Who says electronics can’t be green?  Evergreen, that is, so hang this set of 3 electrical-engineer-approved ornaments on your pine.  They come in a handsome gift box, just in case you want to get several sets to enlighten your more traditional-decoration type buddies.  ThinkGeek has other holiday tech-fest as well.

 

 

Another Appropriate Guy Technology: Airplanes

Besides computers, motorcycles, and women, guys also like airplanes.  And so to continue your virile Christmas decorating theme, you’ll want flying machines represented on your holiday tree.  Here’s the perfect aviation element:  a tin airplane ornament from Alexander Taron, maker of traditional tin toys.  You can find this airplane ornament at Wayfair, and Wayfair also offers an Alexander Taron tin car ornament — also appropriate to hang from your branches.  They’re both retro and hip.

 

 

Nothing Says “Holiday Spirit” Like Bacon

Even more than high-tech gadgets, food is an appropriate idea for decorating a Christmas tree.  But what kind of food?  There’s one clear choice:  bacon.  You must include bacon on your list of Christmas tree decorating ideas.  Nothing says “Have a manly Christmas” more than hanging a rasher of cured pork slices from the branches of your holiday conifer.

But real bacon is messy to string and will spoil in a few days (trust me).  Not to worry, Perpetual Kid has you covered with their Sparkling Bacon Ornament.  Get several.  Don’t eat them, though, they’re made of space-age plastic.  Who needs candy canes?  You’ve got bacon!

 

 

 

What’s More Impressive than Reindeer?  Dinosaurs.

Sure, reindeer can fly (at least, Santa Claus’s can), but nothing says “badass Christmas” better than hanging a few T-Rex ornaments on your tree.  After all, what was the very first animal you were a fan of when you were a kid, even before you’d heard of reindeer?  That’s right, dinosaurs.  And what was your favorite dinosaur?  Probably Tyrannosaurus Rex. 

So it makes a lot of sense to include a few of the formidable lizards hanging from the boughs of your holiday foliage. Get The Rex is Yet to Come Ornament from Modcloth (available in 3 colors).

After all, a T-Rex can eat Santa’s reindeer for lunch.

 And by the way, ModCloth carries many more dude-appropriate decorating accessories that you might want to explore, especially for gifts…

 

There’s more to this idea of DIY Christmas decorations than just buying pre-made ornaments already purposed for the Yuletide season, however.  You also want to venture outside the box some when it comes to exploring holiday decor ideas in an XY-chromosome sorta way.  Thus…

Do-It-Yourself Christmas Ornaments

Christmas ornaments imitate icicles hanging from real evergreen trees in the wild (or growing in rows on Christmas tree farms in northern Vermont), and they also echo the brightness of candles that used to be placed on trees in the days of yore before OSHA and Underwriters Laboratories took all the uncertainty out of life.  In other words, ornaments need to be bright and shiny.  So, what else besides glass ornaments is bright and shiny but also masculine enough to adorn your tree? 

Hex nuts.

But not just any hex nuts.  Marine-grade hex nuts.  The kind you use on sailboats.  Why?  Because it’s cool.  And, after Christmas, you can use them on your boat, or wherever.  West Marine is a good place to get bulk hex nuts.  Half-inch diameter nuts would be a good size.  Click here to go to West Marine and order a bulk pack of hex nuts — a pack of 50, ½-inch diameter nuts in gleaming 18-8 stainless steel goes for about $20.

But you want a combination of colors on your tree (silver hex nuts alone would be boring), so get some bronze nuts to go with them.  Bronze hex nuts are also cool.  West Marine has a pack of 50 ½-inch bronze galvanized hex nuts for $10.

Now you’ve got your hex nuts.  You’ll need a way to hang them from the branches.  Use twine, not string.  String is wimpy, twine is manly.  (Alternatively, you could use wire twist-ties).  Twine is also kind of rough and natural-looking.  It’ll look masculine holding the nuts on your tree.  Get a couple of rolls of jute twine from Gardener’s Supply Company.  (Twine will come in handy around the house, too.)  Tying the loops on your nuts will give you something to do while you’re watching football.

Tree Topper

Your tree will look great with your Star Wars, John Wayne, and motherboard ornaments, and hex nuts in two colors.  For a star on top — well, nothing wrong with using a regular Christmas star.  Here’s a pretty darn cool tree topper:  the illuminated Capiz Star tree topper, available from Target.

Or you can continue your Star Wars theme with a Yoda tree topper from Christmas Central at Buy.com (pictured at right).  That will get you some comments, I guarantee.  May the Noel be with you.

I won’t go into how the Force ties into the energy of life that we celebrate at Christmas (which actually used to be the ancient pagan Winter Solstice holiday) but I will note that this Yoda tree topper will plug into your tree lights and glows green.  A good color for a manly Christmas.  Heck, it might even be bright enough to illuminate your whole apartment or man cave.

 

Light up Christmas with Non-Cutesy Lights

Which brings us to lights.  You’ll probably want some.  Guys like electricity.  From shocking yourself by licking a 9-volt battery to running the Large Hadron Collider, guys appreciate what electromagnetism accomplishes.  It can certainly make your Christmas tree look more festive.  Are there male-oriented Christmas tree lights that will fit your decoration theme?  Of course.  You just have to know where to look.

An example is the wire mesh rattan Star Christmas Tree Lights by Kurt Adler (pictured at left).  These lights are not small.  Each one is 4 inches across.  You get 10 on the string.  These throwback lights will look cool and manly on your tree.

Wayfair offers more Christmas tree light options than you can shake a sugarplum at.  Another non-cute (but sorta cute) possibility is the Lantern Christmas Light Set, also by Kurt Adler.

 To go with the Star Wars ornament theme mentioned above — or just to add a robotic, sci-fi element to your tree decorating — you can now get C3PO Christmas tree lights.  Yes,the Yuletide Force can be with you in the form of a string of 10 lights that ModCloth calls C3-Tree-O Lights. 

Each 5.5-inch C3PO figure lights up with an energy-efficient LED light.  Get a couple of strands of these indoor/outdoor lights, wrap ’em around your tree, and you’ll be decorating your holiday space just like they do on Hoth. 

If you think these C3PO lights are exactly what your evergreen needs, I suggest you order them right away.  The decorating geniuses over at ModCloth will only be able to keep them in stock a little while, since there’s about a 100% certainty they will sell out.  I can virtually guarantee that you’ll be the only person on your block to have them.

 

 

 

Real Fir Tree Too Fussy for You?  Here’s Something Different.

Some guys don’t want to mess with a live Christmas tree.  Especially when it comes to apartment decorating ideas, a tree with needles, branches, and stuff might be a lot of trouble to schlep inside and set up.  Or maybe space is at a premium in your man cave.  Or maybe you just don’t want to fool around with ornaments.  So what’s the alternative?  Get an artificial Christmas tree that isn’t even a conifer.

What could be manlier than a Christmas tree with a black wire trunk and branches and 640 LED lights in the shape of a willow?  This thing is 8 feet tall and ready to spruce up your man cave for the holidays in a way that says “Even Huckleberry Finn would like this tree.”  

The 8-foot Willow Artificial Christmas Tree comes from Wayfair, one of the more diverse and innovative home decorating sources online.

Just set it up and plug it in.

This tree would harmonize with your advanced entertainment technology and a Jack Daniels neon clock.  Nothing could be easier than this tree when it comes to holiday decorating for your apartment.  Except maybe the next tree…

 

 

What could be manlier than a Christmas tree made of metal?  If you prefer a minimalist look, check out the Bronze Wire Christmas Tree Sculpture available at Buy.com (pictured at right).  You can decorate it or not.  This is an unapologetic sort of Christmas tree.  Basically it says, “It’s Christmas.  This is my tree.  It’s as much as you’re going to get, so you may as well enjoy it.”

 

If you want additional tree options, check Overstock.  They have a ton of Christmas trees available, both synthetic and live.  Just click the preceding link or, at their site, search for “Christmas trees” to see dozens of choices.  Plus, they carry hundreds of Xmas accessories for low prices that may further inspire your DIY Christmas decor ideas.

And right now, you can get 10% off and free shipping on your entire order at Overstock if you’re a new customer.

 

What Kind of Lights Work Well on a Metal Tree?  Lights from an Auto Parts Store

You know what’s a cool, dude-type thing to do? Shopping for holiday decorations at an auto parts store.  So, explore JC Whitney, the premier automotive online store, when it comes to accessorizing your live or metal tree.  You actually can put lights on your metal tree.  All you need are a few Magnetic Light Mines from Risk Racing.  These little illumination units are about the size of a golf ball and have 12 rare-earth magnets that enable you to position the powerful LED light to point in any direction.  Rotate the lights to provide whatever illumination effects you like.  If you’re using them with a live tree, stick them down in the branches.  They’re a cool design.

 

And as long as we’re shopping at JC Whitney, here’s something else you can add to your Christmas decoration ideas:  floor mats.

Maybe you don’t want to use the tree skirt from Bass Pro Shops (described above) around the base of your tree, particularly your metal tree.  But you still want something down there besides bare floor.  So here’s the solution:  Green Bay Packers Floor Mats from JC Whitney.  Just get a couple of sets of these and circle them around the base of your tree. 

NFL logo floor mats are a pretty masculine Christmas decor idea.  Of course, if you want another team’s logo, get that.  You can specify the team on the JC Whitney NFL FANMAT page when you order.  I thought Green Bay’s “G” would be appropriate because, if your girlfriend or someone asks you what it means, you can tell them it stands for “Grinch.”  And when it’s not Christmas you can put the mats in your car.

 

Or, tree-wise, you could go in another direction entirely.  Maybe you want a bit more nostalgia in your Christmas decorating ambience, while maintaining a grown-up sensibility — some cuteness combined with humor.  If so, here’s another option that fits the bill perfectly:  the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.

Remember the Peanuts Christmas TV special, A Charlie Brown Christmas?  (How many times have you seen it?)  Remember the bedraggled tree Charlie Brown tries to decorate with a single ornament and it falls over and he says, “I’ve killed it!”  Now you can have that tree for yourself.  Those thoughtful folks at Sears made it a reality.  And you should get Vince Guaraldi’s classic Charlie Brown Christmas album CD and play it while sitting and sipping spiked eggnog and looking at your nostalgic, goofy Christmas tree.

 Click the image at left or click here to get Charlie Brown’s droopy Christmas tree.

 

 

 

 

A Christmas Tree is an Important Part of Your Christmas Decor Theme, but Not the Only Part

You’ll want to have some other Christmas decor items placed strategically around your place to help reinforce the holiday spirit.  But still in keeping with the theme of intrepid dude-ness.

First… when you want to set that “O Holy Night” vibe at some point (and trust me, you will), there is nothing like amazing technology to do it.  What you’ll want to do is turn your apartment or home into a stunning nighttime scene with the Sega Toys Homestar Pro.

Imagine it’s night.  You turn out the room lights, maybe leave your Christmas tree lights on, and then you illuminate the room with a projection of 10,000 stars.  Now that’s some holy juju.  And it will set just the right Christmasy mood to impress that special someone.  You can get the Sega Toys Homestar Pro from Gizmine (I like the black unit myself).  Worth every penny — this is not a toy but a pro-grade planetarium star projector.  This will amp up your magical holiday ambience a thousand-fold.

And if you can’t quite see going for the pro model (though I can’t see why you wouldn’t), not to worry, Gizmine has you covered there, too, because you can both enhance your Star Wars Christmas theme and put on a stunning starry-night display with the Homestar R2-D2 Home Planetarium (<– click to get it), which is under $100 at Gizmine.

See the video below to get an idea of what the Sega Toys Homestar Pro can do:

 

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care

You might not have a chimney (most apartment-dwellers don’t — and no, a bong doesn’t count), but you should still put Christmas stockings up.  How else is Santa supposed to reward your ass?  And don’t limit yourself to just one.  You can put several stockings up and hope that your friends/family get the hint and stuff some schwag in there.  Or you can put one up for your girlfriend.  Or put up 5 or so for yourself and fill ’em with things you like just to be diggin’ the bounty.  Whatever, hang that shit up.  But make sure you use gentlemanly stockings…

Like this camo stocking.  Nothing says “manly Christmas” like a camouflage Christmas stocking.  It implies that you’re Mr. Outdoor Mission Survival Guy (and maybe you are).  Just don’t hang it on your live Christmas tree or Santa might not see it.  You can get an Army Camouflage Christmas Stocking from Newegg.  18.5 inches of gift-receiving capacity.  And it’s good quality — most Army Rangers would recommend this Camo Stocking to a friend.

 

 

 

When it comes to manly Christmas decoration items, you can’t go wrong with a sports theme, any sort of sports theme.  Sports fans have many choices when it comes to Christmas stockings that celebrate their favorite teams.  However, what could be better than hockey?  It’s a winter sport, it’s manly, it requires ice skating…  So try this Pittsburgh Penguins Christmas Stocking. 

Penguins enjoy Christmas, I think, and they are certainly tough birds.  Just like you.

Click here to go to the FansEdge Holiday Decor page and see hundreds of sports-related Christmas accessories for your home.

 Want to save some money on your sports-themed Christmas shopping?   Click here to go to the FansEdge Coupon Page and get $5, $15, or 10% off coupons to use when you shop.

 

You understand that Christmas has been around for quite some time.  In fact, you even appreciate tradition — when it’s seen in the right light.

And the right light is a vintage Christmas stocking that harks back to your boyhood, when you played cowboys and Indians and always were the intrepid hero.

Here’s a Christmas stocking that expresses that most magical of all Christmas times:  the Patch Magic Li’l Buckaroo Hand-quilted Stocking.  It’s difficult enough to find a cool, hand-quilted stocking these days, let alone a vintage design that will remind you (and everyone else) of when you were a little buckaroo.  Nothing wrong with that.  Man has to start somewhere.

The kid riding the horse on the stocking looks a little like Napoleon.  But he seems to be whirling a lariat.  Don’t want to pin down your nostalgic themes too hard.  Keep ’em guessing.

You get two of these stockings when you order from Overstock.

Maybe you want to take this do-it-yourself Christmas decorating theme even farther and include stockings in your creative endeavors.  Why buy a ready-made Christmas stocking when you can actually design your own?  That’s what men do, after all:  build their own stuff. 

But how to do it?  Your sewing chops might be a little rusty.  Or nonexistent.

Not to fear — that’s where Personal Creations comes in.  Personal Creations is a company that lets you create stuff personally.  Stuff that you design.  With features that you select.  So you can create your own Christmas stocking and enjoy it for the rest of your life.

Every time you put it up, you can step back and say:  “I did that.  No one else has a goddamn stocking like that.”

It will make it all the sweeter when you pull your gifts out of it.

Express your artistic, independent manliness with a Christmas stocking that you designed from Personal Creations (such as the Rustic Hunting Stocking, pictured above).

 

Additional Dude-Appropriate Christmas Decor Ideas

You’ll want to set some additional things about your place to further evoke a cool, manly Christmas look.

Like what?  Like a rather serious-looking Santa portrait made out of stained glass.  You can set him on a table, shelf, or windowsill and the head is illuminated to emanate some business-like Christmas authority.  This stained glass Santa Head is from Wind & Weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the other hand, a Biker Santa isn’t bad either.  (Motorcycles are more badass than sleighs.) 

Motorcycle gangs just don’t get their due when it comes to Christmas decorations.  This leather-jacket-wearing, bandanna-sporting Santa makes up for that.  You can get the Biker Santa Claus from Christmas Central at Buy.com.  The figure is 18 inches tall, so he’s not a shy, retiring Santa rider — he’ll enhance your manly holiday vibe.

Try finding a Santa wearing jeans featured anywhere other than Best Stuff for Men.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along with the chopper-riding Kris Kringle, you’ll probably also want to go with a science-fictiony robot Santa.  In a space ship.  Playing music. 

You can get the 10-inch Retro Santa Claus Robot Rotating Figure (in his red rocket ship) from Newegg.  Santa in a rocket, playing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” — who needs Rudolph now?

 

 

 

 

Remaining in a somewhat high-tech mode, how about a multi-hued, 36-inch long, LED-lighted “Dripping Icicle” Christmas Decoration?  You could hang this tube from your ceiling, put it in a window — anywhere you want to add some glowing Christmas hues like a giant sparkling icicle.  The Lighted Dripping Icicle Tube Christmas Decoration comes from Newegg (one of the best places to shop for everything your high-tech Christmas heart desires).

The illustration at right shows an individual, multi-hued tube on the left, plus a suggestion of how to use them — hanging from the ceiling of a high-rise building.  You could do the same at home if your ceilings are high enough — the tubes come in a number of other colors, too.  You can search for them on Newegg.  Or hang just one of them in your man cave.

 

There are other accent pieces that will round out your Christmas vibe, particularly when you’re going to be entertaining friends at your place — or a special lady.  You can do a lot to create a festive air without being wussy.  For example, I mentioned above that you probably won’t want to put out votive candles.  But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use candles at all.  Candles are proven technology — they’ve been around for 2,000 years.  And candlelight can really set the mood on a cold, wintry evening.  You simply want to have a manly candle.  And that means BIG.

Here’s a candle that’s not only hefty, it’s interesting, because it’s made with teak — the 12-inch high Teakwood Candle from Homelement .  It’s a candle made out of a teakwood stump. 

Anything made out of a tree stump will complement the rest of your robust Christmas decor.  Especially with a fucking candle in it. 

Plus it’ll probably burn for a month… plenty of time for several Christmas parties and dates.  (You’ll enjoy your big candle; she’ll like it even more.)  Stick a bow on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you’re entertaining your holiday guest(s) you’ll probably have some food, if only appetizers.  When it’s time to serve whatever you’re eating, put your serving dish on something cool — a rock. 

Specifically, a carved slate serving mat from Occa-Home.  You cannot get a more manly yet upscale serving surface than an Occa Dining Memo Slate Serving Mat.  These carved slate rectangles come in 4 different sizes.  It will make whatever serving plate or bowl you put on it look cool.  Even chips, served on slate, will make your holiday guests realize just how badass you are, in a sophisticated way.  Because who serves food on a rock?

You do.  Because it’s all about your taste, man. 

And when you serve your food, set out these holiday napkins from Sur La Table so your guests can wipe their hands off.

 

Time to add some contrast to your manly Noel scene.  You can include softer aspects.  Such as an accent piece for your sofa.  Something you can put your head on when you lie in front of the fire.  Something your girlfriend will want to cuddle up with.  Yet something that says, “I am totally a badass guy even when decorating.”  Something like the Montana Trees Cushion from Occa-Home.

This cushion is a high-quality, large (about 20″ x 20″) wool and cotton pillow with a bold yet warm alpine tree motif.  It’ll contribute to your festive winter mood.  And it’s named after Montana, which is rugged.  It comes from Occa-Home in the UK, one of the best online decorating stores.  It’s not cheap, but it should last you for the rest of your life.  (Endurance is a manly quality.)  Besides, Occa-Home has a no-questions-asked 30 day return policy.

 

 

You should also toss a Christmas throw blanket on your couch.  Here’s a cool one:  Santa and Polar Bears Christmas Throw Tapestry.  This is not a wimpy little throw, but a substantial piece of holiday art.  It will work well with your dude-centric Christmas room — but will be quite acceptable when your better half wants to snuggle with you on the sofa and insulate herself while watching Black Christmas.

This large (70″ x 54″) Santa and Polar Bears throw will also work as a tapestry.  Nothing wrong with using it as a tapestry.  Kings have been hanging tapestries in their castles for 1,000 years. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Set the Christmas Vibe at the Entrance to Your Domain: a Wreath

All the foregoing “how to decorate” ideas were for your interior — decorating the inside of your apartment or your man cave retreat.  But how about setting the stage for Christmas cheer by visually greeting your visitors with an appropriate holiday symbol?  To wit:  a wreath. 

A Christmas wreath is a symbol of welcome and strength, two attributes you’d probably like to express.  (Why do you think the Greek and Roman champions wore laurel wreaths?)  In fact, a Christmas wreath is one of the oldest Christmas decorating traditions, dating back to the 1500s, well before the story of Santa Claus arrived on the scene.  Get a wreath and hang it on your door or wall.

I recommend the 3-Herb Wreath from Bambeco.  Bambeco is known for “green” products that combine sustainable design and modern technology, which means that they often have cool stuff that you won’t find in other stores.  Such as their 3-Herb Wreath — a Christmas wreath made from organic bay leaves (bay laurel is what laurel wreaths are traditionally made of), organic rosemary and thyme.  The herbs are woven in a circle and accented with red chili peppers.  Can’t get a more manly wreath than one with chili peppers!  Besides…red and green.  Get it?  This fragrant wreath is also practical — you can pluck the fresh herbs and peppers out of it and use them in cooking.

Or, if you want something more rustic, try the GreenGate Brown Wreath with Stars from Occa-Home.  Now this is a manly wreath — it’s basically sticks and wire woven together, with chunky silver stars to evoke the holiday spirit.  It’s artistic and cool.  Definitely not a candy-ass wreath.  It comes in 3 different sizes.  Get more than one if you have more than one door.

 By the way, on the Occa-Home site, you can see the cost of all their items in pounds, euros, and US dollars.  Just click on your preferred monetary symbol in the top bar of their site.

You can get a wrought-iron wreath hanger for your door from Art & Home — at their site, search for “wreath hanger” to see what’s currently available.

 

 

 

To Wrap Up Your Christmas Decorating Theme, Something Cool for the Kids:  A Train Set

Christmas being what it is — a time of celebration, when family and friends gather — it’s likely that sooner or later you’ll have some kids show up.  And when they do, you want to have something that will make their eyes light up.  (Hex nuts are fine for you, but 5-year-old Timmy might not grasp their significance.)

Christmas is a time of reverence for many, of course, but for kids it’s mostly fun and even magical.  And you can set that feeling alight with this final suggested decor item — the pièce de résistance of your holiday DIY decorating efforts:  a Santa’s Flyer Electric Train Set from Bass Pro Shops.

Remember when you had a train set when you were a kid?  Did your parents set it up so it circled the Christmas tree?  That’s what you should do.  Set up the train to circle your live or metal tree.  The multi-car set comes with 12 sections of track.  A musical boxcar plays 12 Christmas carols.  It’s got more cool features — click the text link above or the photo to check it out.  This is the quintessential electric train set for Christmas.  Of course, it would have to be, coming from Bass Pro Shops.  They only sell stuff that works well.

With this final touch to your manly Christmas decorating project, you might even make your own eyes light up.  And isn’t that what Christmas is ultimately all about?