The Home Depot Holiday Décor [closed]

A few days ago, I told my husband that I had to go to The Home Depot. His response: “What do you need me to buy?” He didn’t understand why I would want to go to a store that, being a contractor, is practically his second home.

 Bestowed with a $100 gift card to spend on holiday decorations, I decided that I’d let my daughters choose a few things, with my approval, of course. Our shopping trip was a lot of fun! Did you know that The Home Depot has an extensive collection of holiday decorations? Neither did I. We always get our Christmas tree there, but – again – my husband usually takes care of this and you can do it without even walking inside the store.

WHAT I LIKED

After letting the girls choose just-the-right tree outside…

We stepped inside the store and lights were the first things that caught our eye. We’re trying to switch to all LED lights because LED last up to 10 times longer than incandescent lights and use up to 80% less energy. The Home Depot is one of the largest sellers of holiday lighting, with several brands of LED lights to choose from, including Holiday Home Accents, Martha Stewart Living, EcoSmart, GE and Sylvania, so if you’re trying to go more ‘green’ in your holiday decorating, this is a great place to start. These Shooting Star lights are super cool. A photo doesn’t do them justice. Unfortunately the white lights were out of stock! Bummer.

Martha Stewart is a leader in home decór so I wasn’t surprised to see her products at The Home Depot. From shatterproof ornaments to beautiful wreaths, there were so many “good things” to choose from. I can never have enough of those pretty glass balls! When my daughters were young, instead of putting the glass ornaments on the tree where they could reach (and break!) them, I’d fill up bowls and vases with them and display these on tables and book shelves throughout the house. I liked the look of this so much that I still do it now, years later.

I’ve always considered starting a little holiday village. I saw a few different pieces here, including a starter set, but I’m not sure I’m ready for what could potentially be a big investment. Especially if my kids will consider it just one more thing to play with!

There were tons of poinsettias around, but the ones that I fell in love with were these tiny plants next to the checkout! They cost around $6 and were super cute. I’m totally going to pick one of these up for a hostess gift at an upcoming holiday party. I have to admit that sometimes I get annoyed when people give me plants (yet one more thing to take care of!) but something like this is manageable and would look great on a mantel or coffee table.

WHAT I BOUGHT

I highly recommend taking a moment to check out the holiday aisle at The Home Depot. I was impressed by the variety of products; most at reasonable prices.

While I really wanted the Shooting Stars, we ended up going with two sets of Starry Night lights. The girls chose a Santa clingy for our door, and a new star for our Christmas tree.

The big purchase was this inflatable dog, however! And I don’t mean big as in price (it cost less than $35!), as I probably should have read the measurements on the box, because I had no idea exactly how big this would turn out to be…

I’m proud to say this savvy shopper only went over my goal of $100 by 68 cents. I could have done a lot more damage, though. There are a few more things left on my list, including those lights! By the way, I was happy to see that The Home Depot also offers a selection of holiday decorations with wording en español… ¡Feliz Navidad!

OUR HOUSE

We put the Santa cling on the door as soon as we got home, and then I went to work on the Starry Night lights. They blink off and on so that they look like twinkling lights! I like that they come in a net form, so I literally just had to lay them on top of the bushes. Took maybe 2 minutes.

Setting up the inflatable retriever only took a moment, after reading the instructions and finding an extension cord. The girls were so happy and proud of their “Big Chiquito,” as they call him, referring to our little dog, who they say he looks like. Talk about an oxymoron, LOL! They want him blown up 24 hours a day “so that no one that drives by our house misses him, because that might be their only chance to see him!” So considerate, aren’t they? I’ve convinced them that big C needs a nap now and then, just like the real one.

It may be a simple set up, but I have to say that it all looks cool at night!

Little Chiquito isn’t sure what to think…

My husband is picking up the Christmas tree with his work van tomorrow, so I won’t have a photo of the star atop the tree until then, but for now it’s sparkling on our mantle. It’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas, that’s for sure!

For more information on what The Home Depot has to offer this holiday season, and help with your home decorating projects, please visit www.homedepot.com/holiday, and follow The Home Depot on Twitter: @HomeDepot and Facebook: www.facebook.com/homedepot.

WIN IT!

Giveaway has ended.

To enter to win (1) $50 The Home Depot Gift Card, please visit homedepot.com/holiday and leave a comment on this post with something you learned at the site.

For extra entries:

• Subscribe to my feed by feed reader or email (or let me know if you already do).
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• Like The Domestic Buzz on Facebook.

Entry period ends Sunday, December 18th, 2011. US entries only, one person per household. Leave a separate comment per entry and a valid email address. Winner, chosen at random, has 3 days to claim their prize.

Disclosure: This is part of a compensated campaign with Latina Mom Bloggers and The Home Depot. The Home Depot works with bloggers such as myself to conduct product reviews. They do not tell bloggers what to say about their products or how to say it. The Home Depot fundamentally believes that people should be free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot often provides product – free of charge – to bloggers for review as they did for this post. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations. The Home Depot provided me with a gift card to shop for the holidays and post my experience. All opinions expressed in this article are my own and not influenced in any way by anyone.